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

  • From: "Jared Wright" <wright.jaredm@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2006 16:10:34 -0500

The issue of brackets is, well, a bit convolluted to be sure. I'd say for 
guaranteed success in all circumstances, use parentheses. They're close enough 
and are far more consistent from translator to translator. While some 
applications utilize them in grade two settings, the Braille symbols you cited 
for brackets are actually part of Nemith code, which isn't applicable for most 
of Bookshare's material. I don't have a definitive answer, but I can suggest 
that you fall back on parentheses, as they're more consistent all around and, 
from my vantage point, don't have any offsetting disadvantages.

Jared


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Maria Kristic 
  To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 11:55
  Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Questions about brackets, Braille translation, and 
multiple spaces between words


  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
  Skype: MariaKristic
  AIM: MCKristic
  E-Mail and MSN: maria6289@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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