[rsherwood12]

Hi Michael,

I did not see your question in the Math and Science forum, so I am posting the feedback I received from a knowledgeable Nemeth transcriber:

-----

Putting aside for a moment what we should do in the braille transcription, I want to suggest a reason why the Spanish word "o" meaning "or" is carrying an accent in this glossary entry. I believe the reasoning is the same as that for using an accented o between numbers. To explain that, I will translate a quote from the Spanish language Wikipedia entry on accents in Spanish:

"La o entre números en ningún caso debe tildarse. Anteriormente se tildaba cuando estaba entre números para no confundirla con el cero, pero actualmente se considera que el riesgo de confusión es mínimo y se escribe 1 o 3, 52 o 26, por ejemplo. Recuérdese que ante un número cuyo nombre empieza por o se convierte en u, como en 79 u 80 (setenta y nueve u ochenta)."

"An o between numbers should under no circumstances be accented. In the past an accent was used when it was between numbers in order to avoid confusion with the zero, but nowadays we believe that the risk of confusion is minimal and we write 1 o 3, 52 o 26, for example. Remember that before a number whose name begins with an o we convert to a u, as in 79 u 80 (setenta y nueve u ochenta)."

Personally, I think the most reader-friendly transcription would thus be one that ignores the acute accent on the Spanish word o. I suppose a transcriber's note should be used to explain that the printed ó has been transcribed as o in braille.

 -----

I hope that explanation is helpful to you in transcribing this glossary.

Best,

Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Hi Michael,

Great question. The short answer is that I would recommend using World Braille Usage (WBU) only for the accented characters in the alphabet and UEB for any other signs such as punctuation marks (including the UEB inverted exclamation and question marks), typeface (italic, bold underlining), etc. You do not want to mix the Spanish italics with the UEB bold, underlining, etc.

The reasoning for this recommendation: According to UEB 13.6.4 under Using Foreign Code signs, when you are using the foreign language alphabet for letters and accented letters, it is "permissible though not required to use the foreign code signs" for any other elements of the language. Also, Method 3 in the Provisional Guidance for Transcribing Foreign Language Material in UEB states that foreign language signs for accented letters are used for the foreign text, but all other signs including punctuation and font/emphasis indicators may be in UEB.

None of the guidance available to us at this time states that you are required to use either UEB or WBU for punctuation and typeface, so as long as you are consistent within your transcription, and the reader is expected to be familiar with the signs you use, you are allowed to use the Spanish punctuation and italics signs from WBU. However, because WBU lists the emphasis indicators found in other language but does not tell you how to use them (and Spanish is different than UEB), I would still follow UEB for italics, bold, etc.

I hope that clarifies. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Thank you for your patience, Michael. I am not familiar with transcribing Spanish and Nemeth together. I have asked a few knowledgeable people but am awaiting responses. You might receive a more prompt response if you also post your question in the Mathematics, Science and Computer Notation forum.

I will update this post if I hear back with answers.

Sincerely,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Hi Michael,

The method you describe for the actual glossary entries sounds correct: uncontracted braille for the foreign language entry words and appropriate accented letters for the foreign language (BF21.6.3.b and c). This is currently called Method 3 in the Provisional Guidance for Transcribing Foreign Language Material in UEB, though the specific name/method number may change when the Guidance document is finalized.

I would like to clarify that Sample 20-4 in Braille Formats is NOT actually in Method 1. It is simply an English pronunciation key. There are no foreign or anglicized words, and the letters with diacritical marks are not foreign; they are UEB symbols. It is still the appropriate example to follow for the English portion of your pronunciation key, because the words in most of your key are English.

For the Sounds in Foreign Words section, the Symbol column would use UEB for the pronunciation symbols, as with the rest of the key. For the words in the Examples column, I recommend using uncontracted braille and the appropriate foreign language symbols for the accented characters ("Method 3"), since they will appear this way if/when the reader encounters them in the body of the text. The German o-umlaut ⠪ and u-umlaut ⠳ (found in World Braille Usage, p. 182) would be listed on the Special Symbols page.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Thank you for the question. I am running it by my committee, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Best,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Good morning,

Since there are currently no published guidelines on Latin, NBA is recommending that transcribers use the UEB modifier (UEB 4.2) for "macron above following letter" ⠈⠤ (dots 4, 36). In addition, we are  recommending that the Latin text be uncontracted and all punctuation signs be in UEB.

Here is an example from the Winter 2016 Bulletin article on Latin. I have underlined the macron symbol in the braille:

Scintilla est fēmina Rōmāna; in casā labōrat.

⠠⠎⠉⠊⠝⠞⠊⠇⠇⠁⠀⠑⠎⠞⠀⠋⠈⠤⠑⠍⠊⠝⠁⠀⠠⠗⠈⠤⠕⠍⠈⠤⠁⠝⠁⠆⠀⠊⠝
⠉⠁⠎⠈⠤⠁ ⠇⠁⠃⠈⠤⠕⠗⠁⠞⠲⠀

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Best,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Hi Christina,

Thank you very much for your question and the print. You are correct in looking for the symbol in UEB 4.2 Modifiers since this is simply a foreign name appearing in an English context. In this instance, I would advise you to use the first transcriber-defined modifier ⠘⠸⠂ placed before the letter and list it on the Special Symbols page as "double acute accent above following letter" because as you noted, it is not one of the modifiers provided for in the list.

The name, in uncontracted UEB, would be transcribed as follows:

⠠⠚⠑⠝⠘⠸⠂⠕⠀⠠⠞⠁⠅⠘⠌⠁⠉⠎

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Good morning!

Thank you for the interesting question. Can you clarify: Is this a textbook being used by Spanish-speaking students in Mexico? If so, according to Method 4 of BANA's Provisional Guidance for Transcribing Foreign Language Material in UEB, you would most likely transcribe it using the full braille code in use in Mexico, in which case I would not be able to advise you on the specifics.

According to World Braille Usage (page 93), the governing bodies for literary braille standards in Mexico are:

• Latin American Braille Council [Comisión Braille Latinoamericana] (CBL)
• Latin American Blind Union [Unión Latinoamericana de ciegos] (ULAC)
  http://www.ulacdigital.org
  Braille@ulacdigital.org
• Consejo Iberoamericano del Braille (CIB) ADTA@once.es

It might be worth trying to contact someone at one of those agencies to see if there are published braille alphabets used in Mexico for the indigenous languages.

If the student is expected to be familiar with Unified English Braille conventions and symbols, then the only alternative I can think of is to use the Modifiers provided in UEB 4.2 to indicate to the student which type of accents/modifiers are used on the letters (acute, breve, solidus overlay, etc.). This would not be using the foreign accented characters normally used in those languages, but would at least allow the student to read the words in some form. Skimming through your print example (thank you for that!), it looks like there are a few modifiers which are not in the list in 4.2, so you would have to use the transcriber-defined modifiers for those and let the student know what they mean on the Special Symbols page (for example, ^_1 could be used to represent "bar under following letter" for the two letter a's in the first phrase).

Sincerely,
Rebecca

 

[rsherwood12]

Hello again,

I did a brief search online for the French braille code and while I am not fluent, I know enough French to discover that while World Braille Usage provides a brief overview of the alphabets and punctuation marks used in French braille, it does not tell you how to use them. For instance, under the French alphabet, the "Antoine Numerical Notation: Figures" are listed on page 181 of WBU, but scanning through the full French braille code, I notice that the 2-cell Antoine numbers in the list are not simply substituted for print numbers. The dot 6 is used as a sort of numeric indicator, and there appear to be specific rules about when and how to use a numeric indicator. This is just one example.

Also, it is difficult to know what the readership of these brochures will be familiar with. Will they be in the US or another country, will they have seen materials in the full French or Spanish braille codes, or will they be more familiar with UEB braille conventions?

Unless your agency or the person requesting the material specifically asks that you use the full Spanish or French braille code, I think the best course of action would be to use Method 3 in BANA's Provisional Guidance for Transcribing Foreign Language Material in UEB: uncontracted braille, World Braille Usage for the accented characters, but UEB for punctuation marks, typeforms, formatting, etc.

I hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Rebecca

 

[rsherwood12]

Thank you very much for the question. This area is still up for a bit of debate as BANA works out specific recommendations for texts entirely in another language for native speakers of that language.

I am taking a little time to look up the specifics of Spanish and French braille and will respond again when I have more details.

Best,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Thanks for the quick reply, Cindi!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Hi Michael,

Thank you for your question.

It is true that the exception in section 5.8.3.2 of the Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics says, "If one part of a tactile graphic requires more than one page for a key, the graphic would be placed on the left-hand page and the key on the following right-hand pages." However, in this case, I think because it will fit, it is preferable to have the key and the graphic on the same spread (facing left- and right-hand pages). The guideline still definitely applies if there are two key pages in addition to the graphic page, but nothing in the guidelines prohibits placing part of the key on the page with the graphic.

Also, depending on the length of the explanations for the keys (words versus longer phrases), it might be possible to put the key in 2 columns (G&S 5.8.4.9) and keep the key to one page.

Best,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

This is also for a kids' magazine, so I'm weary of using too many symbols they might not be familiar with.

Thanks,
Rebecca

[rsherwood12]

Thank you for your patience while I was discussing this issue with my committee. Attached is a sample showing how you might reproduce the Nonpolar Bonds as raised line drawings.

The print shape of the chemical structure is reproduced. However, there must be space between the lines and any chemical names or letters, so it is necessary to shorten the lines between letters, or add space to the shape to accommodate the braille letters.

I have asked someone who is familiar with chemistry about the second set of bonds, and I will update my post for you as soon as I can.

Best,
Rebecca

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[rsherwood12]

Hi Kimberly,

Thank you for your question and for providing the print sample.

Can you first tell me whether you are using UEB Technical or Nemeth within UEB, and also whether you are in the US or Canada? My recommendation may vary depending on where you are located.

Thanks,
Rebecca

 

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