We adopted UEB in Australia 11 years ago now, and it wasn't until the Rule Book
was finalised and we worked on the Australian Training Manual that I discovered
the importance of unlearning what I knew, and starting my knowledge of braille
rules from scratch.
The two concepts which I needed to get my head around are the Standing Alone
Rule and the rules for Lower Signs.
I also needed to grasp how to use the Shortform List in determining longer
words which can contain shortforms.
The Standing Alone Rule affects both Wordsigns and Shortforms.
It is applied to a string of characters between spaces, hyphens or dashes.
consider the fictional electronic address
braille-for-us.org
The three separate strings separated by hyphens are "braille", "for" and
"us.org"
"braille" is standing alone so the shortform may be used.
"for" is a strong wordsign, so the contraction may be used.
in "us.org", the "us" is is not standing alone as there are characters
following the fullstop, thus the "us" wordsign may not be used.
correct UEB would be brl-=-us4org
If the address was in fact brl-for-us.org
then the grade 1 indicator is required. ;brl-=-us4org (see 5.7.2 in the
rulebook)
Another important rule to remember with regards to electronic addresses is that
as soon as you have a number, grade 1 mode is initiated and no contractions,
wordsigns or shortforms should be used until the next space, hyphen dash or
grade 1 terminator.
In the longer examples you gave of loveletters.org and childbereavement.org
you need to always look at the whole string to apply the rules. As these
strings break the standing alone rules as the fullstop is in the middle of the
string, no wordsigns or shortforms can be used, even if they were allowable on
the shortform list.
However, other contractions may be used. So
loveletters.org become lovelett]s4org and
childbereavement.org becomes *ildb]1ve;t4org
With regards to theatreroyal.org
Correct UEB would not have the er between theatre and royal contracted as per
10.11.1 of the Rulebook.
DBT does not always recognise compound words, as in this case, but a good
transcriber would preempt this and ensure the contraction wasn't used. I use
the code [/] in DBT for this purpose.
However, I have found that the list of common compound words which DBT
translates correctly increases with each update.
I hope this all helps.
Whilst it appears complex, I am finding that people who are now learning
braille from scratch, do not seem to have the same hangups over these issues
than those of use who have had to unlearn existing concepts.
Keep up the good work, and keep asking questions.
Kathy Riessen
Coordinator Accessible Format Production
South Australian School for Vision Impaired
Tel: 08 8277 5255
Email: Kathleen.Riessen440@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
________________________________________
From: ueb-ed-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <ueb-ed-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of
Don Winiecki <dwiniecki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, 14 April 2017 22:26
To: ueb-ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ueb-ed] Re: Use of contractions in websites
Thank you Margaret,
In grade 2 mode, CHILDRENFIRST and CHNFST could be made distinctively different
using a grade 1 word indicator.
Having said that, I understand the points you are making. Adding grade 1
indicators would add complexity to the reader's task, and I would not disagree
with the advice that transcriptions should consider the skill level of a
reader—it would be silly to use grade 2 mode when readers are not fluent in
grade 2.
I can even say that I would not disagree with the idea that URLs should only
ever be written in grade 1 mode. I remember when I was going through lessons
on UEB transcription that I was a bit puzzled when I found that URLs should use
contractions!
However, the rules of UEB are the rules and when it comes to transcription, my
biggest fear is that in an effort to make something readable, I actually add
idiosyncratic variation that—in the end—actually adds confusion for the reader.
...which of course is one of the biggest reasons groups like this exist at all.
Best,
_don
On Apr 14, 2017, at 5:39 AM, Margaret Bradshaw
<margaret.bradshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:margaret.bradshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
wrote:
Greetings Don
Not an intrusion at all! Personally, I learn a lot from all the contributions
people make here.
Apart from the standing alone issue, shortforms in websites would be misleading
on a practical level.
For example, if it was possible to use the shortforms for children and first in
a website combining the two words, how would the reader know to type
c-h-i-l-d-r-e-n-f-i-r-s-t and not c-h-n-f-s-t?
In the UEB rule book, section 10.12.3, the example of “brailledocuments”
appears in the middle of the list, with the ED uncontracted – presumably
because the letters appear in different words.
Although I understand what you mean, I’m wary of saying that we use a
contraction “anywhere it occurs” just because we’re likely to find an example
where it’s not used.
Thanks for the list! I’m going to go chew over it again.
All the best
Margaret
From: ueb-ed-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ueb-ed-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:ueb-ed-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Donald Winiecki
Sent: 14 April 2017 12:22
To: ueb-ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ueb-ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ueb-ed] Re: Use of contractions in websites
Apologies for the intrusion.
I'd like to ask about a part of Ms Bradshaw's comment about shortforms and
contractions in website/URL names or paths. It is my understanding that
websites/URLs can include shortforms and contractions so long as the use does
not run afoul of the standing-alone rule. That is, it's not a proscription of
the use of shortforms or contractions in URLs, but an application of the
standing-alone rule and other rules.
For example, in LOVELETTERS.ORG<http://LOVELETTERS.ORG>, we would not use the
shortform for LETTTER because the word is (a) not standing alone in this usage,
nor (b) does the word LETTER begin the word.
In CHILDBEREAVEMENT.ORG<http://CHILDBEREAVEMENT.ORG> we would not use the
wordsign for CHILD because it has to be standing alone. We would not use the
contraction for BE because it does not begin the word. We would not use the
final-letter groupsign for MENT because it is only used at the end of a word
(though it can appear with a trailing S). However, we would use the strong
groupsign for ER because we use it anywhere it occurs.
In BRAILLEDOCUMENTS.ORG<http://BRAILLEDOCUMENTS.ORG> we would not use the
wordsign for BRAILLE because -- while it can occur as part of a longer word,
that longer word has to be standing alone. We would not use the final-letter
groupsign for MENT because it is only used at the end of a word (though it can
appear with a trailing S). However, we would use the strong groupsign for ED
because we use it anywhere it occurs.
In THEATREROYAL.ORG<http://THEATREROYAL.ORG> we would use the strong
contraction for THE. However, I don't know if we would also use the strong
groupsign ER, because it is not to be used when it spans compound words (see
`viceroyal` in the exceptions listed in 10.4.1). That said, I have to admit
that its use does not trigger my ire either, but per the UEB rulebook it does
seem to be wrong in this case.
I am more than happy to be taught that any of my assessments are incorrect,
especially with a pointer to the rule or common-usage that helps me understand
my mistake(s).
Best,
_don
On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 12:49 AM, Margaret Bradshaw
<margaret.bradshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:margaret.bradshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
wrote:
Greetings
We’ve had a few websites recently which have caused us question.
I know that we don’t use shortforms in websites for obvious reasons and, thus,
we sometimes use contractions which look very “wrong” as a result. (For
example, we would use the ER sign in Loveletters.org<http://loveletters.org>)
When we have a series of words making up a website, do we ignore the way the
words would or would not be contracted outwith the web scenario – if typing the
website would not be hindered by “bad” contracting – or do we respect the sorts
of rules we would normally use in making contraction decisions?
A couple of recent examples:
Theatreroyal.org<http://theatreroyal.org>
(Duxbury is translating this using the ER contraction. Whilst it looks really
wrong, it actually wouldn’t get in the way of someone using this version as a
reference for finding the site on the web.)
Note: UEB Rulebook 10.12.3 shows the example of c:\brailledocuments\letters.txt
with the ED uncontracted and looks correct.
Childbereavement.org<http://childbereavement.org>
(You would – of course – not use the BE contraction, but could you use the ER
contraction in “bereavement” in this instance?)
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Margaret
(Bradshaw)
Royal Blind see a community in which blind and partially sighted people,
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delete it without using, copying, storing, forwarding or disclosing its
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Royal Blind see a community in which blind and partially sighted people,
including those who also have other disabilities, are fully included and lead
fulfilling lives. We empower those with a visual impairment to achieve their
potential and a brighter future.
Royal Blind School<http://www.royalblind.org/royalblindschool/> | Learning
Hub<http://learninghub.royalblind.org/> | Forward
Vision<http://www.royalblind.org/forwardvision/> | Braeside
House<http://www.royalblind.org/braesidehouse/> | Scottish Braille
Press<http://www.royalblind.org/scottishbraillepress/> |
Kidscene<http://www.royalblind.org/kidscene/>
Royal Blind<http://www.royalblind.org/>, Scottish Charity Number: SC017167.
Associated charity Scottish War Blinded<http://www.royalblind.org/warblinded/>,
Scottish charity number: SC002652
Address: 50 Gillespie Crescent, Edinburgh, EH10 4JB. Tel: 0131 229 1456.
Web: www.royalblind.org<http://www.royalblind.org>
This email and files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended for
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