Reply To: Arrows for shift of decimal point location
Katrina,
Thank you for your question and for specifying what code [combination] you’re using. It is quite a practical question, since we’ve all seen these arrows in print.
The Nemeth Code does not directly address these “jump” arrows. The best way to represent them is with tactile graphics. Since the print editor felt jump arrows were an important teaching tool in the book, to omit them would be to give the braille reader fewer tools than the print reader gets. So, all the arrows should be drawn/spurred.
Since we know it is sometimes impossible to produce tactile graphics, we might suggest that, if you must, within the text at each point where a jump arrow is used, you include the commentary that’s given in print about what the arrow illustrates (e.g., “7 places to the right”) or insert a TN to do the same thing. If you use only commentary or TNs to explain jump arrows instead of including them as tactile graphics, I would suggest that you include a sample TG or two at the beginning of any volume in which these arrows appear, with the goal of showing the braille reader what the arrows look like and how they spatially relate to the numbers and decimals to which they apply.
Please note that if your print text includes a caret, that should be included within the braille, in accordance with Nemeth Code section 161 (a screenshot of which should be attached).
Keep on rocking and rolling!
–Kyle & the NBA committee on Nemeth Code for Math and Science
