2024 Updates to Braille Formats and Blank lines question
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I am currently working on a textbook for a 3rd-grade student. We have encountered a unique situation, and our agency's transcribers and proofreaders are split about how it should be formatted. In this case, we have a cross-reference which Braille Formats 9.6.1c. requires there be a blank before and after the note to avoid the impression that it is "attached" to the previous or following paragraph, that ends on line 25 of a braille page. The cross-reference also ends the print page. On the next braille and print page there is a centered heading. In the Updates to Braille Formats; Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription, 2016 Approved March 2024 under the section Blank Lines the second bullet which is labeled: Braille Page Change and Blank Lines, directs that when rules determine that a blank line follows the text (e.g., a list, a box or poem) and the text end on line 24 or 25 of a braille page, the required blank line is placed at the top of the next braille page; line 1 if there is no running head or line 2 if a running head is used.
Some transcribers and proofreaders believe that this means a blank line is required before the heading and some think that because it is the end of the print page and the start of a new idea signaled by the centered heading a blank line is not required as the student could not confuse a connection between the cross-reference and the centered heading. I have included images to help clarify the conundrum. For context, the project is Uncontracted, single-sided, and double-spaced as the student is new to Braille.
Hello Heather,
Thank you for your question.
In this situation you actually have 2 governing guidelines to consider in determining the use of a blank line.
The first you have already identified which correctly states that a blank line is needed on line 1. (or in your situation line 2 because the book is double spaced.)
However, in this situation you must also consider the guidelines for centered headings BF4.4. This guideline indicates that a blank line is required before a centered heading. So since there is text on line 25 a blank line is needed before the centered heading which in this case is line 1. (or in your situation line 2 because the book is double spaced.)
It is also important to remember that, with the advances in technology, students are often reading refreshable braille and therefore do not have the effect physically turning the page. This makes it more important to have good line spacing to reinforce a format change.
Michael
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