[kdejute]

Thank you for the question, Barb.

I would say yes. On a math worksheet, any equals sign needs to be in Nemeth Code. If there is an anchor before that equals sign and/or a link after it (even if both the anchor and link consist of nothing but words/letters), those need to be included in the switch indicators that are required for the equals sign.

This prevents us from either 1) using both the UEB equals symbol and the Nemeth equals symbol in the same document or 2) switching into Nemeth Code only for a sign of comparison while leaving its anchor or link outside in the cold.

Once you've used Nemeth Code for anything in a transcription, then the whole transcription should abide by the marriage of Braille Formats and Nemeth Code formatting rules.

Please do not hesitate to follow up here with any questions or worries you have about this.

–Kyle

[kdejute]

Thank you for the question and for including the print sample.

According to my understanding of the sixth bullet under section 6.5.1.10 of the Tactile Graphic Guidelines, you can present your line plot vertically so that its mixed number labels will fit. Doing that might look something like the attached image for a transcription using Nemeth Code within a UEB context.

(In that image, the first braille page contains the title of the line plot and then a TN that says "Full braille cells are used to represent print x's." On the next line of the TN is the word "Key". That is followed by a blank line and then, in 1-3, ⠸⠩⠀⠿⠀⠨⠅⠀⠼⠂⠀⠎⠞⠥⠙⠑⠝⠞⠀⠸⠱ followed unspaced by UEB's closing TN indicator. The second braille page begins with an opening Nemeth Code indicator followed by a blank line and then the uncontracted label Inches. Below that, the lines of the number line that is the foundation of the line plot are spurred/drawn in; the number labels that are printed below the number line are brailled to its left without numeric indicators; and the full cells that represent the x's used in print are brailled on the right side of the drawn-in number line shape. The number labels begin with 5 3/4 and proceed downward down the page. The number line is followed by a blank line and then the Nemeth Code terminator in cell 1.)

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[kdejute]

Tung,

Thank you for the question. I would format the paragraphs you’re talking about as displayed LITERARY material. That is, according to Braille Formats 2016, in 5-3 with a blank line before and after.

Please let me know if you have follow-up questions or concerns.

–Kyle

[kdejute]

Thank you for your questions and for the examples.

To your first question: When a key is created in Nemeth, the whole tactile should be encapsulated in Nemeth. This is in accordance 1) with §5.7.2 of Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics 2010, which says, "The texture, symbol, or key used in the graphic must be an exact match to that used in the key listing." and 2) with a preference to reduce the number of switch indicators used in a transcription (i.e., better to have the whole graphic in Nemeth than to enclose individual labels within switch indicators within the graphic.)

So, I believe your Example 2 is technically correct.

To your second question: To the best of my knowledge, within Nemeth Code a numeric key can be used to represent items in a tactile graphic even when numbers that are not part of the numeric key are also used in that tactile graphic. See §187 of the Nemeth Code, which does not prohibit the use of a numeric key in the presence of other numbers. Nonetheless, I would consider using an alphabetic key instead of a numeric key in your tangram examples. I hope that using a key like sv, fi, tf, and wf instead of ⠼⠁, ⠼⠃, ⠼⠉, and ⠼⠙ would help the reader avoid mistaking a numeric key value for a measurement value.

Either way, I applaud your question and your approach to keying; they are thoughtful without being overdone.

–Kyle

[kdejute]

Greetings, Shawn! Thank you for the question.

Nemeth Code section 77.iii (about non-use of the subscript indicator) does not apply to your situation, because the abbreviation SD (Standard Deviation) is neither a "letter which has a separate identity" nor "a two-letter abbreviation for a chemical compound". The abbreviation SD for Standard Deviation is a two-letter abbreviation for a concept or value. So, you do need to use the subscript indicator before the subscript numeral 2 that applies to SD. Similarly, you do need to use the subscript indicator before the subscript numeral 2 that applies to the abbreviation SS and then the baseline indicator before the horizontal fraction line that follows it.

We could say that any abbreviation other than a two-letter chemical compound or a function name does not satisfy the Nemeth Code criteria for omitting a subscript indicator.

In addition, you do need an English letter indicator before the abbreviation SD, because it is an abbreviation that corresponds to a shortform word and is not followed by a period. You're doing it riiiiiight!

I too look forward to an updated rule book with UEB in it and possibly more examples.

Cheers!
–Kyle

[kdejute]

Michael,

Thank you for the sample, your suggestion, and the request for input.

I believe I would do as you suggest, putting the author's comment outside the Nemeth switch indicators required for the spatial problem, with a TN embedded in the author's comment to tell the braille reader what is being referenced. For example,

---

blah blah blah narrative text blah blah blah ⠸⠩

<spatial probelm transcribed according to Nemeth Code rules>

⠸⠱
What does this number ⠈⠨⠣93 on last line of problem above⠈⠨⠜ tell us? ⠸⠩

<spatial probelm transcribed according to Nemeth Code rules>

⠸⠱
What does this number ⠈⠨⠣10 on first line of problem above⠈⠨⠜ tell us?

---

Thank you again for the question. I welcome any follow-up or feedback you have.
–Kyle

[kdejute]

Thank you for sharing here your conversation with the BANA General Committee on UEB. Now we can all take the reasoning they explained into account when investigating print and generating braille.

Sincerely,
Kyle

[kdejute]

Katrina,

Thank you for your question and for specifying what code [combination] you’re using. It is quite a practical question, since we’ve all seen these arrows in print.

The Nemeth Code does not directly address these “jump” arrows. The best way to represent them is with tactile graphics. Since the print editor felt jump arrows were an important teaching tool in the book, to omit them would be to give the braille reader fewer tools than the print reader gets. So, all the arrows should be drawn/spurred.

Since we know it is sometimes impossible to produce tactile graphics, we might suggest that, if you must, within the text at each point where a jump arrow is used, you include the commentary that’s given in print about what the arrow illustrates (e.g., “7 places to the right”) or insert a TN to do the same thing. If you use only commentary or TNs to explain jump arrows instead of including them as tactile graphics, I would suggest that you include a sample TG or two at the beginning of any volume in which these arrows appear, with the goal of showing the braille reader what the arrows look like and how they spatially relate to the numbers and decimals to which they apply.

Please note that if your print text includes a caret, that should be included within the braille, in accordance with Nemeth Code section 161 (a screenshot of which should be attached).

Keep on rocking and rolling!

–Kyle & the NBA committee on Nemeth Code for Math and Science

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by kdejute. Reason: response edited to emphasize importance of TG for jump arrows if at all possible

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[kdejute]

You're quite welcome! Thank you again for the question.

[kdejute]

Just for the record: We're talking about a transcription using Nemeth Code within UEB contexts.

I think you are asking where to braille a period that's printed at the end of a key when that key is enclosed in TN indicators (which keys usually are). A period that is part of the print key belongs inside the TN indicators that enclose the key.

[kdejute]

Melissa,

Thank you for the question about using UEB to transcribe an angle sign.

The angle symbol from UEB for Technical Material (section 11, beginning on page 50 of the Guidelines for Technical Material) is a "miscellaneous symbol" and not a shape, so it does not have a terminator that can be used with it. The next consideration is: Do we need a grade 1 indicator of some kind? Since the UEB angle symbol (⠸⠪) does not have a grade 2 meaning, it does not need a grade 1 indicator before it.

Thus, we can conclude that the appropriate transcription for  ∠ZAX  is  ⠸⠪⠠⠠⠵⠁⠭

See also the self-directed "UEB TECHNICAL" course from CNIB (especially #5 on pages 17 and 18 for a sample transcription of an angle symbol unspaced from the angle's name).

Cheers!
–Kyle

[kdejute]

Excellent follow-up.

Our broken hearts go out to the student saddled with this book, whose print is ... less than ideal.

[kdejute]

I agree with the transcriber that a superscripted abbreviated function name that does not have an argument [letter, number, or expression following and paired with the function name and printed at the same level] and is followed by material on the base line should be followed by a baseline indicator.

In other words, a baseline indicator is appropriate following the "ln" in the superscript of the example included.

Thank you for your time and for the question.
–Kyle

[kdejute]

Katrina,

Thank you for the question.

First, your comma between two items at the superscript level (within an enclosed list or not) merits use of the contracted comma. See Nemeth Code §78.

So, for your print (Thank you for attaching an image of that lovely equation!), we should have braille that looks like this:

⠨⠽⠀⠨⠅⠀⠐⠨⠽⠣⠈⠱⠻⠑⠘⠊⠨⠹⠷⠭⠪⠞⠾⠐⠬⠀⠉⠲⠉⠲

That "c.c." is spaced away from the symbol of operation that precedes it because I have good reason to believe it is an abbreviation (for cubic centimeter). I googled psi c.c. and came up with a collection of results for unit conversions using these items. More digging got me to a discussion of ψ as a unit of pressure and c.c. (or cc) as a unit of volume.

[If we couldn't find an explanation of c.c. as an abbreviation, then it would probably still be safest to treat the print dots that are between and after the letters as periods and not as decimal points.]

Again, thank you for the question. Please let us know if you have follow-up questions or concerns.

Keep on rockin' that Nemeth Code!
–Kyle

[kdejute]

Before we go too deep down the rabbit hole, let's tackle the terms that you highlighted:

• directly preceded or followed by a number
• followed directly by a lower case Latin letter
• preceded directly by a lower case or upper case Latin letter

May I propose that instead of meaning "unspaced in print", these terms mean "without an intervening symbol or indicator in braille" (e.g., capital indicator, grouping/enclosure sign, alphabet indicator, level indicator, fraction indicator, etc.)? If that is the meaning of these terms, does that affect your confusion?

---

You may send a message to BANA's General Committee on UEB through the link at the very bottom of BANA's homepage.

Thank you for sharing  your thoughts! I look forward to your response.
–Kyle

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