Hello,I am not sure I want to get into the discussion of whether UEB is better or worse than any other Braille system, Susan does make some good points and I would like to give some detail of how I work as a Braille user.
Firstly a quick background. I am based in the UK, so I was initially taught BAUK and this probably is still my primary Braille code. I have seen a little Nemeth, however either through habbit or something else I have never managed to swap to it as my primary Braille code for mathematical content.
My work is mostly computer programming, and for that I do use a Braille display,. For that I use the simple US 8-dot computer Braille mapping (in BrlTTY what is termed NABCC). My main reason for this is that the simple one-to-one mapping of what I read to what is on the screen has a simplicity which allows me to just get on with the actual coding. Also if the source code, or other text files, have some tabular layout then the one-to-one mapping of cells and characters means I can appreciate the formatting and meaning of the code in the same way someone sighted probably does. This last point is really so when using a unix console.
Now to a point Susan made regarding input. I do type using a standard keyboard. I am not fully sure on my reasons why, but Braille input has always seemed awkward, particularly when dealing with a computer. May be its I learnt to touch type first and so that is my natural language when writing, or may be something else. May be its a feeling of issues with back translation, which may be leads me to another of Susan's points.
Back translation being reliable with human produced Braille. There are a number of errors in my writing of Braille which may occur for me: I simply forget a particular contraction so may write out something in grade one, I make a typo or I fall into what I term relaxed or slack Braille (simply I know that a human reader has common sense in most cases so may drop certain strict rules where the meaning is obvious to a human, .profile might be such an example as in a unix book disprofile would not make any sense to a unix user).
May be some of these errors should not occur (particularly me relaxing certain rules), but I doubt all these errors can be prevented (typos in particular). So yes could back translation ever be resistant against these errors, or at least detect errors?
On a slightly separate note, I personally feel back translation is a wrong approach, if someone can only work in Braille then they are setting themself up for a life of reliance. The reliance may be on software or it may be on a human transcriber, but still relying on something else performing correctly. Being able to type my own stuff I feel it gives me greater independence in producing something as and when I want it.
Michael Whapples On 28/01/2015 19:14, Susan Jolly wrote:
As most of you know, I have long opposed UEB for use in the United Statesand, not surprisingly, I still do so. Just to be complete, I am a sightedretired computational scientist who became interested in braille software development back in 2000. Because of this interest I was lucky enough to meet John Boyer back then. I would estimate that I have spent the equivalent of at least two working years on UEB issues: studying UEB ingreat detail, trying to help various organizations who were opposing it, andcarefully documenting my objections on my website. I realize that thecurrent situation is unlikely to change but I would like to respond to a fewof the comments in this thread. As a programmer for more than 40 years I find it essential when I readtechnical material that includes software fragments that these fragments are identical to what would appear in working software that incorporates thosefragments. That is, I should whenever I wish, be able to copy and paste these software fragments directly into actual computer code. I find it impossible to comprehend why braille-using programmers wouldn't prefer tolearn, read, or write computer code using the same characters that sightedpeople do. I've seen programs written by persons whose native language isFrench or another non-English language which uses a similar alphabet to English (ASCII)and while the comments are often in their native language, they do nottranslate the keywords of the programming language to their native language. (It's possible that there are cases I'm unaware of where there are forms ofprogramming languages that use other alphabets where compiling requires backtranslation.)On a similar note it is my impression that many braille-using adults prefer to directly enter print or computer code using either a standard keyboard orthe default 8-dot computer braille table built into their braille display and have no trouble switching back and forth from computer braille to six-dot contracted braille.Since the deficiencies of UEB math have been well-domented elsewhere I havejust this one statement. As a computational mathematician I have been continually impressed with how Nemeth math represents the true nature ofmathematics in a way that I've not seen any other braille system come closeto. Next I'd like to make two technical comments about translating andback-translating. First, both of these processes are technically speakingexamples of parsing. Those of you with an advanced computer science background are likely aware that the standard techniques long used for lexical analysis and parsing are quite different from the way these processes are handled in table-based braille software. I understand that the use of tables is intended to make it possible for the same engine totranslate according to numerous braille systems and I've observed that the popularity of this feature is a primary reason for the widespread adoptionof liblouis. However, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the advances in parsing lead to new approaches to braille software in the future.The second comment is specific to backtranslating UEB. My understanding isthat there is a "mathematical" proof that the prefix-root nature of UEBmakes it possible to automate fully correct backtranslation of UEB. (It may be that the use of shortform contractions violates this; I'm not sure. Ifso, one would need to scan for shortforms first.) However, my concern is not whether correct UEB can be automaticallybacktranslated, my concern is whether human-produced UEB, which is likely tocontain various errors, can be automatically backtranslated. It is important to realize that it is the presence of extra rules more than the elimination of a few problematic contractions that makes accurate UEBbacktranslation potentially automatable. For example, as was pointed out in an earlier post on this thread, UEB allows a leading period (full stop) ifthe item is preceded by a Grade 1 indicator. In other words, the realquestion is whether a UEB backtranslator can localize braille errors just asa compiler can generally find all the mistakes in a piece of code without crashing. Finally, congratulations and best wishes to everyone who has been and/or still is working so hard to make liblouis a success. This is truly an impressive project of worldwide importance! Sincerely, Susan Jolly www.dotlessbraille.org For a description of the software, to download it and links to project pages go to http://www.abilitiessoft.com
For a description of the software, to download it and links to project pages go to http://www.abilitiessoft.com