The last section of "Moon, Matches and Microchips", accessible from http://www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/index.htm, implies that Moon script was in use in 1988. The following, from the recently updated http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_factlist.hcsp, suggests that it is still in use:[1] http://www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/typeindx.htm
Is Moon Type in actual use, or just a historical curiosity? William Moon was a 19th century figure.
RNIB can help you put your information into the format you require. A number of factsheets on braille, Moon, large print and other media are available free of charge from RNIB Customer Services, PO Box 173, Peterborough, PE2 6WS, telephone 0845 702 3153.
See also http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_aboutbm.hcsp. And there is a long (and recent) discussion about whether Moon might be more suitable than Braille in http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_rnib003514.doc, section 4.7.1.
So Moon is not just a historical curiosity. The only reason for it not being suitable for Unicode, and the BMP, is the argument that it is a cipher of Latin. But it has different layout characteristics as well as its abbreviations and contractions. And surely Braille could equally be considered a cipher of Latin script (although the same symbols are also used as a cipher of other scripts).
-- Peter Kirk [EMAIL PROTECTED] (personal) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) http://www.qaya.org/
