[bksvol-discuss] Questions about brackets, Braille translation, and multiple spaces between words

  • From: "Maria Kristic" <maria6289@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:55:51 -0500

Hi all,

In reading some of the recent messages on-list, I, as someone new, have a
few questions.

1.      First, about brackets. Someone mentioned that brackets didn't appear
in Braille copies of books. As there is a Grade 2 Braille equivalent for a
bracket, albeit two cells long (dot 6, dots 2-3-5-6 for an opening bracket
and dots 2-3-5-6, dot 3 for a closing one), I'm wondering, what does the
Braille translation software used by Bookshare do to them? I would think
that, since there is a Braille character for them, they are translated
correctly, but apparently, that's not the case? What's done to them, then?
Are they converted in to words, as in the words "left bracket" or "right
bracket"? I know that Duxbury will convert symbols with no Grade 2
equivalents to words rather than leaving them in Computer Braille, and I
can't even begin to tell you how much that irritates me (for instance, a \
symbol would appear in a BRF file as literally the word "backslash" (without
the quotes)), but I just checked with it, and even Duxbury translates them
correctly, which is making me wonder? If no one knows for sure, can someone
please point me to a book which they know should, in theory, contain
brackets, so that I can take a look to see for myself? I ask because I used
them in Girl in the Shadows, so I want to know whether anything out of the
ordinary happens with them; this way, I can decide whether I should be
worried about this issue or not.
2.      Second, out of curiosity, does anyone happen to know which Braille
translation software Bookshare uses? If something strange is indeed
happening to brackets, I'm wondering which translator exhibits this odd
behavior?
3.      Finally, I'm wondering about the issue someone mentioned about words
with multiple spaces between them. I thought I'd read on this list before
that the software which converts books to BRF and DAISY converts all
multiple spaces in to one (someone was told, therefore, not to indent
paragraphs), so I'm confused. If the software converts all multiple,
consecutive spaces to one, how can there still be words with multiple spaces
between them? Does this stripping of spaces take place only in specific
places, such as the beginning/end of a page, the beginning of a sentence, or
somewhere else?

Thanks much to anyone who can clarify this for me, and hope all of you have
a happy holiday season!

Regards,
Maria
________________________________________
Maria Kristic
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