[bksvol-discuss] FW: Message from The Hadley School: United States Adopts Unified English Braille Code
- From: "Kim Friedman" <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <the.bee@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Lynn I'" <lynnskyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Constance Griesmer'" <lake@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'weatherjunky @dslextreme.com'" <weatherjunky@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <pagesplus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:23:58 -0800
Well, fellow Braille readers, what do you make of this? Regards, Kim
Friedman.
-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Dicey [mailto:adicey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 2:35 PM
To: NFB Florida List Group
Subject: Message from The Hadley School: United States Adopts Unified
English Braille Code
Dear Friends,
Passing this message from The Hadley School For the Blind along to you.
With Best Regards, Alan Miami, Florida
Dear Students,
On November 2, 2012, the Braille Authority of North America voted to
adopt
the Unified English Braille Code (UEB) thus joining all other
English-speaking countries in the adoption of this code. UEB will
eventually
replace the current uncontracted and contracted braille code (English
Braille American Edition or EBAE). The U.S. will continue to use the
Nemeth
Code for Mathematics and Science Notation. UEB is based on the current
uncontracted and contracted braille code. Letters and numbers will stay
the
same as they are in the current literary code. UEB eliminates only 9 of
the
189 contractions and adds no new contractions. UEB simplifies some
rules,
changes a few punctuation marks, and introduces a few new signs like the
bullet symbol for making lists.
If you are a Hadley student enrolled in one of our many braille classes,
you
may wonder whether you should continue learning uncontracted or
contracted
braille. The answer is clearly "yes." First, transition plans will have
to
be developed and then an orderly transition to UEB will take place. This
will take several years. Until the U.S. has a transition plan, teachers
and
rehabilitation personnel will continue to teach the current code.
Braille
reading children and adults will continue to learn and read the current
code, and braille books, magazines and other materials will continue to
be
produced in EBAE.
Even after the plan is adopted, all the braille books already produced
will
still be in circulation for many years to come. Once we have a
transition
plan, you will be able to learn to read UEB without difficulty if you
know
contracted braille and you will be able to quickly learn to write UEB.
The
time that you spend now to thoroughly learn contracted braille will make
it
easier to learn UEB later. To this end, all EBAE errors in your Hadley
braille courses will continue to be marked as incorrect.
We will take this code change in stride. Longtime braille readers,
teachers
and transcribers know that there have been regular changes to the
literary
braille code. The last code change was in December 2007 and Hadley
updated
our braille courses to incorporate these changes. What is different
about
UEB is that this particular code change also comes with a name change.
Rest
assured that Hadley already has plans in the works to teach UEB to
braille
readers as well as sighted professionals and family members. If you have
not
yet signed up at www.hadley.edu for eConnect, you may wish to do so.
You'll
receive emailed announcements of our seminars and new courses. The
Hadley School for the Blind 700 Elm Street, Winnetka, IL 60093 Toll Free
Telephone: 800-323-4238 www.hadley.edu
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