Dear List,
I have been doing some research on this subject and I can't say I have a
handle on it, but this is what I discovered so far. (I'm talking about
languages which use an alphabet like ours.)
1. When using the BN, you must write the document in computer braille.
2. QT users must use the unicode tables for the special accented symbols.
3. According to BANA rules, foreign languages should be written in grade 1
uncontracted braille. This cannot be done on a BN, but it can be done on a
PC using DBT Win. You must use the grade 1 code so the document will
translate into correct grade 1 braille. You must also insert the special
characters either by locating them on the code lists or by holding down the
alt key and typing the numeric ansi or unicode value. The BAUK rules are
different from the BANA rules and they handle foreign languages using
different rules. Both the American and British tables use English as the
primary language and the foreign language as the secondary language.
4. Some users on the list mentioned they can write special symbols on the
BN using 8 dot computer braille. Bu QT users can't do this.
5. There is a difference between writing braille in a foreign language so
blind people can read it and writing foreign languages so sighted people can
read them.
6. Grade 1 braille is not the same as computer braille and computer braille
is not the same as the computer braille code.
7. If a blind person is reading an American English textbook which has
English and a foreign language passages in it, he or she will be reading the
English text in grade 2 and the foreign language in grade 1 braille so the
punctuation for the foreing language should be the same as grade 1. For
example, the comma is dot 2, the period is dots 2,5,6 and dot 6 is the
capital sign. Each foreign language has its own braille symbols for the
accented letters, the inverted question mark and exclamation point and so
on. But if a person is reading a book with an occasional foreign language
word in it, he or she will read grade 2 braille English with the foreign
language word showing the accents with dot 4 in front of them.
8. If a blind person is reading an assignment he or she has prepared for a
sighted teacher to read, the blind person will see computer braille on his
or her display. BN QT users must remember to pres the enter key followed by
read control b c to make sure the braille they see is computer braille. The
computer braille symbols for punctuation will be different from their
textbooks: the period will be dots 4,6, the comma will be dot 5, and the
special symbols such as inverted question mark inverted hyphen and accented
letters will appear as blank cells unless you assign them to a special
symbol.
8. In order to see the capital signs in computer braille, you must have 8
dot braille as your display option. Capital letters should appear with dot
7 at the bottom of each letter. But if the capital letter is a special
symbol, it will appear as whatever dots you assigned to it.
9. It is not possible to write accents in 6 dot braille and have them
translated into correct print. For example, you can't press dots 1,2,5,6 or
shift 9 for a Spanish a acute.
I would love for someone using 8 dot braille to send me privately a list of
the symbols for Spanish and German and how a person is able to write special
symbols without using the tables. It could be that each foreign language
has its own computer braille symbols and they might be different than ours.
Lastly, the computer braille on the BN is not the same as the Computer
braille code. The computer braille on the BN has a one-on-one
correspondence between the symbols and one cell is used for each letter or
symbol. The computer braille code uses two-celled symbols and it is much
more complicated. For example, all of the capital letters are brailled
using dots 4,5,6 in front of them. Here again, the American Computer
braille code and the British computer braille code are different.
If this sounds confusing to you, it's confusing me, too.
Terri Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA.
___
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