"Translating" Braille?

[iamback]

Hi all,

Maybe this is a bit off-topic, but I can't think of many on-topic places to ask...

To make a long story short, I have made scans of a few objects that have ordinary type on them (in English) as well as Braille printed with "raised" ink (I don't know the proper term for that?). I want to put the scans on the web as illustrations for a story (still to be written) and I'd like to provide a "translation" of the Braille in these images, as a caption or longdesc for the images.

Now I know very little about Braille - what I do know is that there are different writing systems depending on language used; for instance systems equivalent to "latin" characters and different systems for languages that use a syllabic script, such as Tibetan or Japanese. But even for English I don't know the letter equivalent of each of the braille letters, even though I can deduce a few from the few words I have here.

I also think that in some cases words may be abbreviated. For instance, my images are of things from an organisation whose name starts with "Braille" (but the subtext here actualy shows a web address); the first equivalent (I think) word in Braille though seems to be "brl" which I suspect may be shorthand for "Braille".

So, for starters: does anyone know where to find (say) a "latin" Braille font - or a web page showing the characters and their equivalents? One of the Braille texts (just a few words) may not even be English, but given letter equivalents I may be able to deduce what it is if not English.

Anyone?

I can post the images, if that helps.

[ktinkel]

Originally Posted by iamback

… does anyone know where to find (say) a "latin" Braille font - or a web page showing the characters and their equivalents?

I know little about Braille but something about fonts.

There are both free and commercial fonts designed to represent Braille in print. Here are some good collections of resources (information and fonts):

Brailler.com — Many sources of fonts and instructions, with descriptions; and a tutorial on learning Braille as well.

Luc Devroye’s remarkable collection of font lore includes a section on Braille fonts, with links to many downloadable fonts as well as other information.

Perhaps these will get you started.

[iamback]

Kathleen,

Wonderful!

Originally Posted by ktinkel

I know little about Braille but something about fonts.
(...)
Brailler.com — Many sources of fonts and instructions, with descriptions; (...)

Did you note the name of that document? mobrl.htm - that immediately confirms my suspicion that 'brl' is shorthand for 'Braille' (and 'mo' must be short for 'more'). That article starts with:

Braille Alphabet

Braille does a lot with just six dots...numbers, punctuation, math, music, and a set of standard contractions (known as grade 2 Braille) to save space. There's an even more contracted form (grade 3), too.

And at the top of that page there's some Braille, too - which I think is just the page title - and it must be "grade 2" (or even 3). So there

Off to read... will report back.

[iamback]

Originally Posted by ktinkel

Here are some good collections of resources (information and fonts) (...) Perhaps these will get you started.

Oh, my! What a rollercoaster you sent me on!

I knew a few basic things:
- different "codes" for different languages (totally different for different writing systems)
- abbreviations or "shorthand" (which makes sense given that Braille is bulky and takes generally longer to read than fully sighted people need to read printed or displayed text) - such as the 'brl' I encountered which I assumed was short for "Braille"

Correct on both counts, but...
- just American English and British English already have different Braille "codes" (never mind French, German or even syllabic scripts)
- "literary" Braille has several "levels" or shorthand; thus you have "basic": just replace each -English- letter by the equivalent braille symbol), grade 2 and grade 3 (and even 1 1/2)
- different codes for different purposes since with just 64 code points (six "dots" which can be "on" or "off" -> 2 to the power of six = 64) it's pretty hard even to display normal written text, let alone mathematics, or chemistry, or music. So there are separate "codes" for "lliterary" Braille, for science (with mathematics), for chemistry, for computer codes, music... some of which have sets of extensions (e.g., flow charts for computing).

"Fonts" are just an extra "relatively minor" complication in all of this since I found different fonts put different Braille symbols at different code points - apart from (lower-case) letters which are at their standard code points.

So... I basically have two texts, each consisting of three words. What are the symbols so I can "translate"?
- text one has two words in English - but three words in Braille
- text two has a (latin) web address for the organization; the organization's name has three words - but the braille words are shorter (the first is 'brl') than each of those; but are they level 1 1/2, 2 or 3?

Looking at sites with basic information, and some fonts I downloaded, at first only made it clear to me that it was all a lot more complicated than I thought. Looking at my abbreviated words I saw Braille characters that didn't even occur in many of the fonts I downloaded! Quite apart from the same symbols appearing at different code points in different fonts. What a mess! (And there are different problems with those fonts as well... never mind.)

Then I found two basic pieces of information: that there is a difference between US and UK Braille; and I found a site with some texts in "abbreviated Braille". One text was quite helpful, because it had content I was familiar with - after which it was like solving a crossword puzzle or a logical language puzzle: a lot of fun actually!

If, like me, you like puzzling and riddles, try decoding this; the heading is

Basic Rules of Online Safety for Preteens

        ,BASIC ,RULES ( ,ONL9E
          ,SAFETY = ,PRETE5S

  -- ,I W N GIVE \ P]SONAL 9=M,N S* Z
MY A4RESS1 TELEPH"O NUMB]1 P>5TS' "W
A4RESS/TELEPH"O NUMB]1 OR ! "N & LOC,N
( MY S*OOL )\T MY P>5TS' P]MIS.N4
  -- ,I W TELL MY P>5TS "R AWAY IF ,I
-E ACR ANY 9=M,N T MAKES ME FEEL
UNCOM=TA#4
  -- ,I W N"E AGREE 6GET TGR ) "S"O ,I
8MEET0 ONL9E )\T F/ *ECK+ ) MY P>5TS4
,IF MY P>5TS AGREE 6! MEET+1 ,I W 2
SURE T X IS 9 A PUBLIC PLACE & BR+ MY
"M OR "F AL;G4
  -- ,I W N"E S5D A P]SON MY PICTURE
OR ANY?+ ELSE )\T F/ *ECK+ ) MY P>5TS4
  -- ,I W N RESPOND 6ANY MESSAGES T >E
M1N OR 9 ANY WAY MAKE ME FEEL
UNCOM=TA#4 ,X IS N MY FAULT IF ,I GET
A MESSAGE L T4 ,IF ,I D ,I W TELL MY
P>5TS "R AWAY S T !Y C 3TACT ! ONL9E
S]VICE4
  -- ,I W TALK ) MY P>5TS S T WE C SET
UP RULES = GO+ ONL9E4 ,WE W DECIDE ^U
! "T ( "D T ,I C 2 ONL9E1 ! L5G? ( "T
,I C 2 ONL9E1 & APPROPRIATE >1S = ME
6VISIT4 ,I W N A3ESS O!R >1S OR BR1K
^! RULES )\T _! P]MIS.N4
  ,^! TIPS >E ADAPT$ F ..,* ,SAFETY ON
! ,9=M,N .,HI<WAY4 ,COPY"R #AIID &
#AIIH ,N,NAL ,C5T] = ,MISS+ &       #E
,EXPLOIT$ ,*N4 ,ALL "RS RES]V$4

A few hints to get you started:
4 - is a full stop at the end of a sentence
1 - is a comma
# - signifies a number follows
" - indicates the next letter is a single-letter abbreviation for a whole word (e.g., "S"O = someone, "M = mother, COPY"R = copyright)

A few deductions (just examples, many more are needed):
- a normal letter is rendered as a capital
- the text is "grade 3"
- in "grade 2" a single letter can stand for a whole word (e.g., d = do, w= will, p = people)
- in "grade 2" a short combination of letters can stand for a longer word (e.g, brl = braille, ch = child, fst = first)
- in "grade 3" a symbol can stand for a number of letters (e.g., / = st) and this can be combined with "grade 2" so we can have f/ = fst = first; *n = chn = children)
These may not be quite accurate, but for "decoding" text they work.

Writing down bits and pieces from this sample text (an excerpt from a much longer text Keeping Your Child Safer in what they call "contracted braille" (note the .brf extension) I learned a lot, and fast. If you give up, there is an ASCII version as well - but I didn't cheat. ;-) But there are still a few letters and symbols I haven't deduced yet...

Back to my scanned samples. Assuming my "abbreviated" text is indeed "grade 3" my next problem is still unsolved: finding a font that actually has the Braille symbols I see at the code points corresponding to the "contracted braille" as found on http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/publications/downloads.html. I haven't found such a font yet - but it's entirely possible they used a commercial font that I cannot inspect... only freeware fonts are an option for me in this little exercise.

Finally a little warning:
If you ever find a need to typeset Braille - which often needs printout in a "visual" font for proofreading - you cannot just go and translate each letter into its braille equivalent. For starters: which font? And then: which language, which flavo[u]r of English? Which "grade" will be needed (and does your font actually have all the symbols needed)? At the very least ensure you get a proofreader who is familiar with Braille in the encoding needed.
I'm already stumped trying to render in a "Braille font" a single phrase of three words...

...

To make the story complete, here are my two scans:
1. Is a label on packaging, obviously designed so that both blindless and visually impaired people can read it. The English text says "cap - black" on two lines; the Braille text (below each of the lines) has one three-letter word on the first line and two words on the second line. It didn't take me long to find that the first line is simply "cap" in Braille and the second line is "color black". Even someone just starting to learn Braille could deduce that the package contained a black cap - the word "color" a useful qualifier if you have never seen colors, I suppose. That was before I even started this thread here.
2. My second example (printed on the actual black cap inside that packaging!) had three words in Braille and a web address - and it had me stumped, apart from deducing that the first word in Braille was 'brl' which triggered a vague memory about Braille using abbreviations. But even given that the web address (www.braillewithoutborders.org) as printed is for an organization called "Braille without borders" I was lost: each of the three words in Braille was shorter than each of the words in the organization's name. Now I know this is probably "grade 3" braille and simply spells out the organization's name. Using the notation of the "contracted Braille" sample above it reads:

BRL )\T BORD]S

I'll try some more fonts later...

BTW, what is the official term for what I called "raised ink"? Or is that the correct term? Printed in black ink so the dots are visible but also tactile for someone reading Braille; I understand this is often used for proofing texts in Braille.

[ktinkel]

Originally Posted by iamback

Oh, my! What a rollercoaster you sent me on!

Oh, good. Appears you are having fun. (And I will leave you to it!)

Originally Posted by iamback

BTW, what is the official term for what I called "raised ink"? Or is that the correct term? Printed in black ink so the dots are visible but also tactile for someone reading Braille; I understand this is often used for proofing texts in Braille.

It could be what we usually call “raised lettering” — literally raised ink. It uses an ink containing plastic particles that is applied on a press, then passes through a heating unit to fuse it so it sits palpably above the paper. It is often used to imitate engraving or embossing (for wedding announcements or business cards, say).

This may be heavier, though, as ordinary commercial raised lettering wouldn’t seem to me to be reliable enough for Braille. Maybe it is only a matter of size.

Some Braille may also be done by embossing — raised characters achieved by pressing metal type into the back of the sheet. I suspect that must be how it was done in the beginning, anyway.

[ElyseC]

Originally Posted by ktinkel

It could be what we usually call “raised lettering” — literally raised ink. It uses an ink containing plastic particles that is applied on a press, then passes through a heating unit to fuse it so it sits palpably above the paper. It is often used to imitate engraving or embossing (for wedding announcements or business cards, say).

Thermography, yes, or is there another, newer similar process?

[iamback]

Ah, thanks Elyse - I didn't know the term "Thermography"!

If you look at the picture of the label I posted, the English text is "flat" while the Braille has actual raised dots (not visible in the scan though). I wonder whether that means it needs two printing passes (with two different inks)?

[ElyseC]

Originally Posted by iamback

I wonder whether that means it needs two printing passes (with two different inks)?

You know, it's been so long since I had a thermography project, that I don't recall whether it took two passes or not. I think so, because as I recall, as soon as the ink lands (wet) on the paper, the thermography powder is dusted on (to stick to the wet ink), then passed through the heating unit. I think anything to be flat must be laid down first pass, then the next pass through the press is for the raised elements.

[iamback]

Originally Posted by ElyseC

(...) as soon as the ink lands (wet) on the paper, the thermography powder is dusted on (to stick to the wet ink), then passed through the heating unit. I think anything to be flat must be laid down first pass, then the next pass through the press is for the raised elements.

Ah - powder? I thought it was a special ink, with some type of particles mixed in. Certainly the way you describe it, two passes do make sense. I'd like to see how it's done some time.

Always curious...

[ElyseC]

Then here are some links for you. :-) Looks like the term is also used for a type of infrared photography.