Reply To: Labels, Edited Copy, Symbols and Math
I'm standing in for Joanna for this one...Let's see if I can handle all your questions (I'm adding my own numbers for clarity):
1. I can't find the original question regarding marginal labels. It sounds like you have that right...if you still have questions about that can you please repost it - either here or on the UEB forum?
2. In regards to items listed on the symbols page of a UEB document, for the time being, we have been noting any character that may be new or unfamiliar to our customer base, including but
not limited to punctuation and indicators that have changed configurations and/or use, along with those that are currently listed based on EBAE and BF guidelines. Is this necessary or
should we just follow the general guidelines of unfamiliar or rarely used characters?
ANSWER: I don't know if it's necessary, but it's probably helpful for the reader to list symbols that are unfamiliar to them. There will be a list of what symbols will be required on the Special Symbols page in the updated Formats book.
3. In the UEB sample documents listed below there is a note similar to “The Following Unified English Braille symbols are used in the instructions. This List is in braille order and each symbol is preceded by the dot locator .=.” which accompanies the symbols lists used in the document: Is this something that should be noted in documents to aid the braille reader during the transition period from EBAE to UEB or were these notes included as a courtesy in these particular example documents?
ANSWER: In the documents listed (I did not include your original list, but they can be found on the BANA website) the symbols statement you note was included as a courtesy. It is not a required statement. Again, listing symbols that might be new to a reader may be a good idea during the transition...but symbols such as the parentheses will not be REQUIRED on the Special Symbols Page.
4. It’s our understanding that the UEB Guidelines for Technical Material has not been adopted by the United States and that Nemeth code, or the Nemeth-based chemistry code, will continue to be used in formatting actual math and technical notation when applicable as outlined in the document Provisional Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code within UEB Contexts.
However, does this apply in a non-technical text where there is only sporadic math symbols or actual math problems like that outlined in BF §1.3?
ANSWER: Math should be done using the provisional guidelines for Nemeth and UEB. If a literary text has simple math (like "the backyard is 32 ft2 [pretend that's a superscript!]), UEB symbols may be used. If there are calculations or higher level math, Nemeth should be used - basically the same as BF 2011. UEB was adopted as a whole code (this actually includes the Guidelines for Technical Materials). Section 11 has valid guidelines for doing math. The US agreed to keep Nemeth and we've adopted the Provisional Guidelines as a a way to do that. It's been agreed that higher level math will continue to be done using Nemeth.
If I didn't get all your questions, let me know!
Cindi Laurent