Dan Gergen
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Hello Kim,
Thank you for including an image of the print text. Your question was discussed among committee members and the Rules of UEB were consulted so we can give you an informed answer. Your print example shows a fully capitalized passage as
A STEPPING STONE BOOK™,
In simbraille, you used the capitalized passage indicator and you terminated it before the trademark symbol which is followed by a comma in the last symbols-sequence.
In UEB §8.5.3 it states, "A capitalized passage is terminated by the capitals terminator immediately following the last affected symbols-sequence."
We also discussed UEB §8.6.2, "The capitals terminator may precede or follow punctuation and other terminators but it is best that indicators and paired characters such as parentheses, square brackets and quotes be nested. That is, close punctuation and indicators in reverse order of opening."
The committee recommends terminating the capitalized passage after the comma. We hope this helps.
Hello Kimberly,Thank you for your question and also for providing an image. This was discussed with the members of the UEB Literary Committee and we have agreed that yes, you may use the lower sign in in the sequence in.);UEB 10.5.4 explains the lower sign rule as it pertains to "enough" and "in" and states: Use the lower wordsigns for "enough" and "in" with any number of lower punctuation signs provided the sequence includes a sign with upper dots.The abbreviation for inches is shown in your example as "in" followed by a period, which has only lower dots but is followed by a closing parenthesis which contains an upper dot. A semicolon that contains only lower dots ends the sequence. Although "in" would be a lower groupsign in the whole word "inches" it would be governed the same by the lower sign rule as a lower wordsign or lower groupsign.In your example, the lower sign "in" (dots 35) may be used since it is in contact with the upper dot contained in the closing parenthesis.If not for the parentheses, you would not be able to use the lower sign because the sequence would contain only lower dots.I hope this information is helpful.I'm sorry for the delay in responding during this current national emergency. I have spoken to other experts on the UEB Literary Committee to get a consensus. Thank you for providing the detailed attachment and simbraille example.
UEB §9.1.2 mentions that "Typeform indicators are considered necessary in braille when the print change in typeform is significant because it indicates emphasis or shows distinction."
This applies to the emphasized numbers in bold or italics in your print index example since the instructions point the reader to the italics and bold numbers and aren't focusing on the punctuation.
As far as including punctuation in bold or italics, —in this instance, §9.1.1 tells us "it is not always necessary to indicate them when transcribing into braille." It doesn't always have to be a stringent application of the rules. You can ask yourself —would including the commas in using a typeform word indicator for single numbers (6, 9, and 4,) as well as all numbers (10+) followed by a comma add anything significant to the transcription? You are already using the bold or italic word indicator for page numbers 10 and above.
There is no specific example in UEB as you found out, so other rules need to be considered. I think it would be sufficient to use the bold or italics symbol indicators for the one-digit numbers in your index. However, the committee agrees that it would not be wrong to use typeform word indicators.
Hello Deborah,
I'm sorry I'm so limited in what solutions I can provide since the Ask an Expert forums should not be used for specific help with trial manuscripts. In Lesson 20, §20.9 it states "The certification manuscript should be the work of the student and no one else." Part of passing the test and manuscript is knowing how to look up things for yourself, —which is something you already have a habit of doing when you looked for your answer in Braille Formats. Research is something you'll be doing consistently beyond certification. We have all been in your position and it's a good habit to nurture.
So my advice is to use your investigative skills and look in the Rules of UEB and search for the groupsigns in question and look into contraction preferences. You studied it already, you just need to look back. You'll easily discover the answers.
Lynnette,
Sometimes, the rules are relaxed for special situations. If the purpose of using the typeform is to draw attention to the handwritten script being studied —as with any other distinct typeface, such as Old English or calligraphy —then in this case according to BF §5.1.2 you would retain the script passage. UEB says you would place a script passage indicator before each text element (the paragraph and the attribution), and the script terminator following the attribution as stated in UEB §9.9.1.
You are right about the difficulty in finding examples of script text. There are so many print typefaces that represent script (see attached example). In literature, it's usually seen in reference to a hand-written note, like your example.
Best of luck with your workshop.
Lynnette,
Thanks for getting back so quickly. This looks like a brief note or an informal "letter" to someone. The UEB Literary committee consulted with the Braille Formats committee and agree that in this example, the addition of the script typeform applied to the entire text would not add anything for the braille reader and could be ignored. You can refer to Braille Formats §5.3 for the rule.
The Rules of Unified English Braille §9.9.1 does state that when a typeform passage extends over more than one text element, each element (e.g. paragraphs) is preceded by the typeform passage indicator and the terminator is placed where it ends. The paragraph and the attribution are different text elements. Braille Formats §9.4.1c tells us to retain typeforms that are needed for titles or some other text that requires distinction. That may not be the case in your example.
I would ignore the script typeform altogether.
Hello Lynette,
Thank you for your question. This seems to be a Braille Formats/Textbook question. We'll try to get you the best answer.
Can you be more specific? It would be difficult to determine the best advice without seeing the example. Can you provide an image or attachment of the print text?
"Deborah,
I need to ask, is your question directly pertaining to content found on any certification exam or your trial manuscript? (Please read the forum rules—the first post in the list of UEB forum questions—and let us know if you're using this book for your certification.) If not, we will be happy to help, however, if this is the print book for your manuscript, we recommend you choose another one due to the possible complicated nature of reproduction notices pertaining to foreign copyright owners."
Deborah,
You should look at Braille Formats §2.3.6 Publisher and Copyright Segment. But it would be great if you would try and send an image of the copyright page. It would help if we knew what was missing in the front of the book, such as book title, author's name, publisher's name and city, copyright date and owner, publisher's website, ISBN(s), printing history?
Hello Deborah,
Your jpeg file exceeds the allowed 1000 KB file size. Can you save it in a compressed file format? I'd like to see it.
Is this a self-published book?
This is a question for the Braille Formats forum but we consulted the moderator for the best answer: There is no specific rule for what to do when the print book doesn’t list a publisher anywhere. It’s recommended to just leave the publisher’s name blank in that section of the title page, adding that you should not make a “guess.”
Good morning Barbara,
UEB has many braille equivalents for symbols and shapes. Radio buttons or similar graphical elements that allows the user to select or unselect are not defined or covered anywhere else in the code. However, there are options for "transcriber-defined" equivalents in UEB.
I discussed your inquiry with the UEB committees and we agree that UEB §11.7 Shape symbols has your answer. The unfilled or "clear" button can be brailled as a circle, which is shown in the §11.7 symbols list ⠫⠿ (dots 1246, 123456).
It may be important to use the same type of symbol for the “blue-filled” circle, rather than switch to a transcriber-defined shape for just one of these. §14, page 65 of the Guidelines for Technical Material lists shape indicators and page 66 has examples of shapes and filled-in shapes. You could use either the symbol for the filled (solid) shape indicator ⠸⠫⠿ (dots 456, 1246, 123456) or the shaded shape indicator ⠨⠫⠿ (dots 46, 1246, 123456), both of which are listed on page 65 of the GTM. If there is nothing in the text referring to a "blue" circle, you would not need to mention the color.
There would be nothing wrong with using a transcriber-defined shape for both radio buttons, one being clear and the other blue, using letters to describe them. But it may be a better representation of print to use the Shape Symbols and Composite Symbols from GTM §14.
Thank you, Julie—
This question forced me to look at super and subscripts in different sections of UEB Guidelines for Technical Material and had wondered if the second superscript indicator would have the effect of adding another level above, making the [6] in a super-superscript position. But the grouping indicators seem to alleviate that worry. I think I'll go with the superscript indicator on each number. I would only need the grade 1 on the [5] since the second indicator —before the [6] —follows a number and is already in grade 1 mode, correct?
Thank you again for your fast response.
UEB §10.13 reads in part, "Be aware that the braille authorities of some countries have specific guidelines on word division and such guidelines if available should be followed."
Braille Formats §1.10.1 "Hyphenated compound words may be divided between lines at an agency’s discretion." The Library of Congress/National Library Service is the agency that students have been receiving their assignments and grades from. For the sake of our student-transcribers, the instructions in §20.5, I believe are in compliance with UEB and Braille Formats. (Julie, do you agree?)
I don't think the language in §20.5 is establishing a "separate set of rules." It's something totally unique that only applies to the trial manuscript and not something that must always be done. The manuscript is a test and quite often instructions in many other institutions have rules for testing that are different than in "the real world."
The NLS course is only a gateway to the world of braille transcribing and follows the Rules of UEB and Braille Formats and provides consistent cross-references to those codes for students' further study. If you are at all familiar with the course, you would know that the division of hyphenated compound words is mentioned in Lesson 12, on page 12-10.
In the instructions that precede the Lesson 12 exercise, students are given this further instruction:
"... When room permits, hyphenated-compound words may be divided between lines, but only following the hyphen. ... "
So again, —the §20.5 instruction is only a temporary request between the grader and the student. It is not a separate rule.
Students of the NLS course are made aware that they do not divide symbols-sequences in the trial manuscript. Instructions are contained in Lesson 20, §20.5 "... do not divide symbols-sequences between lines unless they are too long to fit on one line."Students preparing their manuscripts should be reminded of this.
