Thanks for the info about the Braillists forum. Personally, I would really love
to be able to use headings in Braille documents. You know, actually use the
table of contents. That’s why I wrote this.
Seems we got electronic brf files and could do Web Braille here in the United
States with the National Library Service. Translators got more sophisticated.
But then, progress on digital documents just stopped.
From: varioultra-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:varioultra-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] ;
On Behalf Of Dave Williams
Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2017 6:04 PM
To: varioultra@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [varioultra] Re: Off Topic: Fantasy: BrailleTopia
Mary
You may like to share this with the Braillists forum. www.braillists.org
<http://www.braillists.org> .
That may be a good place to explore whether a hyper braille markup language is
really required.
Dave
Sent from my iPhone
On 23 Jul 2017, at 23:11, Mary Ward <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote:
I’m not sure where to say this, so I’ll say it here.
I’m reporting live, I wish, from Blind Utopia, where we have brought Braille
all the way into the 1990s with the creation of HBML, hyper Braille Markup
Language. With Braille fast becoming a primarily, though not exclusively,
digital medium, all the Braille authorities came together to create the World
Braille 2.0 Authority to create an enhanced, more dynamic Braille code. In
the first version of this new code, users of Braille are able to input Braille
into Braille-aware devices, such as cell phones, and are able to submit
messages and other texts with almost no errors in translation. But the more
life-changing advances for end users have actually occurred in the area of
reading. Because of the new markup language, which is fully integrated into
the latest HTML version for sighted users, and which is now fully implemented
in all known paid and free Braille translators, Braille users can now perform
many simple tasks in Braille files that were formerly restricted only to
non-native Braille documents used by other word processors and off-the-shelf
applications. Not only can Braille users easily leave the title page, table of
contents, and other preliminary materials and go straight to the book they are
reading without having to search for specific text, but they can also move by
HBML elements or skip elements, depending on need. Braille readers can now
navigate by headings, tables, lists, list items, links, and nonlinked text.
Braille readers can even navigate by graphics in documents that have been
converted from other formats into HBML by Braille translator software. Gone
are the days of struggling to get past the table of contents and title page in
library books translated into the old brf format. Do you remember having to
search for text in order to get to a chapter or section? Do you remember
putting the text into the search box only to learn that you used the wrong
code, such as Grade 2? Gone are the days of searching for a chapter by its
page number only to discover that the page number you are seeking is the
unavailable print page rather than the Braille one or vice versa. With HBML,
Braille readers have moved from third or four class into the very highest level
of second class readership.
