To be specific, computer braille is 8-dot. 0 braille is a 6-dot equivalent to cover when 8-dot braille is not available. In the case of the old Braille 'n Speak, 0 braille was utilised to cover the lack of dots 7 and 8. If one actually looked at the ASCII, one would quickly discern that u-chord (for uppercase letters in the Braille 'n Speak) actually added the dot 7 to the lowercase letter. More specifically, it changed the ASCII code from the lowercase letter code to the uppercase letter code.
In print, upper and lower case letters are completely different. Braille's 6 dots is only enough distinct dot patterns for 63 (including the space, or null character) symbols. ASCII requires 7 bits, not 6 bits, for 127 distinct characters. 8-dot braille provides ASCII 255 8-bit symbology. This covers alphanumeric characters, punctuations, charage returns, line feeds, and other symbols, as well as specialised control characters in the higher 8-bit (8-dot) ASCII control lexicon. Ascii character sets in the 127 to 255 bit set include many control characters as well as accented characters and such. Therefore, 0-braille utilising 6-dot has always been merely an approximation for systems which could not facilitate 8-dot braille entry. David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA Email: [email protected] Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 Sent from my iPhone > On 14 Sep 2015, at 21:26, Georgina Joyce <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello David, > > There has been for some time 6 dot computer braille. Anyone used the original > braille n Speak saw this. > > Lower case letters a - j were numbers and abbreviations like the t.h. 1 and > 4,5,6, was punctuation such as the question mark and brackets. etc. Before 8 > dot braille. I think some people call it grade 0. > > Regards. > > Gena >> On 14 Sep 2015, at 04:14, David Chittenden <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Computer braille is the same as 8-dot braille. In computer braille, there is >> a different dot pattern for each symbol. For letters, uppercase letters have >> dot 7 added to the letter. Numbers and punctuation are different. Remember, >> print is not contracted. >> >> One cannot have contracted braille checked if one wishes to use computer >> braille. >> >> David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA >> Email: [email protected] >> Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On 14 Sep 2015, at 11:46, Caitlyn Furness <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi, >>> OK, this is probably a stupid one, but is computer braille the same as 8 >>> dot? >>> >>> And, if I have 8 dot mode turned on, can I leave the contracted box ticked? >>> >>> I suppose I’ll have to get used to reading in 8 dot mode if this is the >>> same as computer braille, but honestly, so far, when I’ve tried using it, >>> it bugs me-it’s like reading grade one! >>> >>> Thanks for any help! >>> Caitlyn >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected]. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
