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8-dot Braille Code for Complex Nemeth Symbols

Conference Paper · February 2015

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1909.4563

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 G. Kouroupetroglou (Ed.), Proceedings of ICEAPVI, 12-14 February 2015, Athens, Greece
`

8-dot Braille Code for Complex Nemeth Symbols

Aineias Martos1,2, Georgios Kouroupetroglou1 and Vassiliοs Argyropoulos2
1
Speech and Accessibility Lab., Department of Informatics and Telecommunications
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
koupe@[Link]
2
University of Thessaly, Department of Special Education, Volos, Greece
vassargi@[Link]

ABSTRACT are related to the nature of the 8-dot braille itself, the
memory load is partially dependent on the degree of simi-
The aim of the present study was to specify transition larity retained with the existing 6-dot code.
rules from the 6-dot to the 8-dot braille code regarding We can classify the existing 8-dot braille literature (as
advanced mathematical and scientific notation as they are well as developed codes both for scientific and literary
determined in the Nemeth braille code. A generic design purposes), in two groups:
methodology was used to transform 6-dot braille scien-
tific characters into 8-dot braille code for a specific set of  The first group includes adopted standards related to
scientific symbols. In total, 24 rules were developed and 8-dot braille. Since September 1999, Version 3.0 of
used to transcribe the “modifiers” as they are described in Unicode [19] has included the 256 combinations of an
the Nemeth code (i. e. symbols that appear directly over 8-dot braille cell (where the blank cell is counted too)
or directly under another symbol, such as the small arrow with code points u+2800 to u+28ff. In addition, the
sometimes used above a letter that represents a vector). encoding of 8-dot braille patterns was also supported
The results indicated that the specific method has the by ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000 [8]. In 2001, ISO released
potential to claim generalization in terms of validity and ISO/TR 11548 [9-10] where it assigned semantics to
reliability by implementing stages of modification, de- the 8-dot braille patterns and produced a mapping for
bugging, coherence and consistency. the Latin alphabet based character sets. In 2006, the
Braille Authority of the United Kingdom added an 8-
dot representation of Computer Braille in the already
adopted 6-dot braille code [20].
1. INTRODUCTION
Braille code, employing six embossed dots evenly ar-  The second group involves other proposed 8-dot
ranged in quadrangular letter spaces or cells [2], consti- braille expansions. Some of these emphasized math-
tutes the main system of reading by touch for individuals ematical content, such as the Lambda Project [12-13],
who are blind or whose eyesight is not sufficient for read- the DotPlus [18], and the GS8 [7]. Others focused on
ing printed material. Limited to 63 possible dot combina- Computer Braille, e.g. [1] [3] [5] [6] [14].
tions per cell, BANA’s position is that “there are numer-
ous examples, both historic and modern, in which the six A generic design methodology for the systematic devel-
dots of the traditional braille cell have proven inadequate opment of an 8-dot braille code, to be adopted by 6-dot
for a particular task” [4]. 8-dot braille has been intro- braille readers, have been recently designed and devel-
duced [19] as an extension to the 6-dot braille for specific oped by Kacorri and Kouroupetroglou [11]. Nemeth code
tasks where the 63 braille 6-dot cells seem insufficient. [15] is a well-known braille system for mathematics and
The extended 8-dot braille character set, with 255 combi- science used not only in North America but also in other
nations, adds dots 7 and 8 in the last row. These charac- countries. In our previous study, we presented our effort
ters are typically presented through a refreshable braille towards the development of an 8-dot Nemeth braille code
display. An 8-dot braille code is not meant to substitute [21] by adopting the Kacorri and Kouroupetroglou meth-
the 6-dot braille. This potentially raises issues for braille odology [11]. In the present study we are attempting to
readers, particularly related to learning up to two codes, apply the above methodology to a more advanced math-
and switching between them. Some of these issues are: ematical and scientific notation as it is determined in the
working memory load [22], finger position adjustments, Nemeth braille code.
and reading style modification [17]. While the last two
2. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
Copyright: © 2015 A. Martos et al. This is an open-access article dis- Our methodological approach includes general and spe-
tributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 cific design phases. The first one is subdivided into two
Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction steps.
in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

115
 G. Kouroupetroglou (Ed.), Proceedings of ICEAPVI, 12-14 February 2015, Athens, Greece
`

In the first step of the general design phase we applied 4. Use dots 7 or 8 or both to create unique symbols or
the following principles: to eliminate double cell symbols.
5. Do not create a specific Braille symbol for each rep-
 Compression: map as many characters as possible to a resentation of the same symbol in ink or screen.
single braille cell. Our aim is not only to save space, 6. Define open and close symbols to show bold-italics
but also to facilitate reading by avoiding the need to etc. Similar symbols are used in original Nemeth
back-translate. code to denote superscript and subscript.
 Intra-Similarity: take into account the existence of a 7. Always use subscript indicators as in original
6-dot code, which will likely coexist. It is essential that Nemeth to separate the base of the logarithm.
the logic behind the new code maintain ties with the 6- 8. Avoid numeric sign usage. Only lower part numbers
dot. Radical changes should only be made when una- are allowed.
voidable. 9. Allow double cell Braille symbols as an exception
 Inter-Similarity: minimize the deviations between only when it is impossible to avoid ambiguity with
transition rules already adopted in other (at least wide- unique 8 dot symbols.
spread) 8-dot braille systems. 10. Avoid 3 cell Braille symbols that are allowed in
 Unambiguity: ensure that mapping of different char- some cases in original Nemeth by creating at least 2
acters to one representation only occurs when they cell symbols if it is not possible to generate unique 8
have the same meaning. Ensure validity of the code dot symbols.
when a combination of two or more 8-dot cells is as- 11. Retain language indicators as they are used in origi-
signed to a character. nal Nemeth code.
 Consistency: apply the same transition rule(s) to char- 12. Retain original Nemeth symbols that contain letters
acters of the same category. This way the mnemonic such symbols for section mark paragraph mark etc.
correlation between semantically related characters is 13. Where only dot 4 is used as a prefix in 6 dots
taken into account. Nemeth code replace it with dot 8 if it leads to a
 Foresight: consider possible expansions in other areas unique char and avoids any ambiguity. If dot 8 leads
(e.g. computer braille) by providing unbounded cells to an ambiguous char or a clash then try dot 7 or both
or sharing characters. dots 7 and 8 to avoid ambiguity.
14. If applying rule 13 leads to ambiguous char then re-
In the second step of the general design phase, we re- tain 6-dot representations or try to apply another rule
tained the following set of principles suggested by in order to remove ambiguity.
Nemeth [16]: 15. If a decimal dot (.) is used as a prefix in 6 dots
Nemeth try first to borrow from ASCII Braille to re-
 Non enclosure principle: don't put any phantom pa-
place the 2 cell symbol.
rentheses or other enclosures into the braille that are
16. If applying rule 15 leads to ambiguous results or to a
not in the print.
clash then try to replace symbol by using dot 7 or 8
 Just in time information principle: provide the read-
or both to get a unique symbol or to avoid ambiguity.
er the exact information the time s/he needs it. Don't
17. Apply rules 15 and 16 in case that dots (4, 5, 6) (_) in
make him/her go backwards and forwards.
ASCII Braille is used as a prefix.
 Be true to the print principle: don't make any braille
18. Use the underline symbol from keyboard (_) to open
notation that does not correspond to the print nota-
bold face. Close bold face with dot 5 like returning to
tion.
baseline for original Nemeth code.
 Good mnemonics principle: give the reader symbols 19. Open italic with decimal point. Close with dot 5 sim-
that are grouped together logically when the print ilar to returning to the baseline for original Nemeth.
symbols are grouped together logically. Preserve 20. Try the above rules as follows: First, try rules to bor-
symmetry of notation. row from ASCII Braille. Second, try rules related to
 Continuous notation principle: don't interrupt the the dots 7 and 8 or both. Third, retain the original
reader's reading with letter signs and number signs Nemeth representation.
unless some specific indication is needed. 21. Treat comma and decimal point as a numeral sym-
bols if a comma or decimal point is followed by one
The results from the first phase were taken into account or more digits.
to specify the required transition rules from the 6-dot to 22. Treat comma and decimal point as punctuation sym-
the 8-dot Nemeth braille code. This procedure under- bols if a comma or decimal point is followed by a
pinned the specific design phase of the present study letter or space.
which was shaped by the following 24 rules: 23. Symbol dash is retained from original 6-dots Nemeth
1. Retain compatibility with the original 6 dot Nemeth and is used as hyphen too. The distinction between
as much as possible. its usage as a minus or a hyphen is done by using the
2. Retain compatibility with ASCII Braille where it is appropriate spacing.
possible and it does not abuse rule 1. 24. Use the symbol (4, 5, 6, and 7) borrowed from the 8-
3. Use unique symbols borrowed from ASCII Braille dot ASCII Braille as a large dash when it is preceded
when it is possible, even changing the original and followed by a space.
Nemeth symbols where it is possible to replace dou-
ble cell symbols.

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 G. Kouroupetroglou (Ed.), Proceedings of ICEAPVI, 12-14 February 2015, Athens, Greece
`

In essence, the above 24 rules comprise a well-shaped such as scientific notation –when the above applications
research and development (R & D) process. In order to be operate as standalone software or as a plugin to the cur-
more tuned to educational situations, it is necessary to rently available screen readers.
proceed to phases of implementation. The following sub-
tasks may compose a method of such an implementation Acknowledgments
phase: (i) applying the transition rules to the existing 6-
dot Nemeth braille code; (ii) debugging each one rule, This research has been co-financed by the European Un-
e.g., eliminating any errors; (iii) checking for consistency ion (European Social Fund – ESF) and Greek national
between transition rules’ results, e.g., ensuring that the funds through the Operational Program "Education and
application of two or more rules produce no conflicts; Lifelong Learning" of the National Strategic Reference
and (iv) providing a list of unbounded 8-dot characters Framework (NSRF) under the Research Funding Project:
available. “THALIS-University of Macedonia- KAIKOS: Audio
and Tactile Access to Knowledge for Individuals with
Visual Impairments”, MIS 380442.
3. RESULTS
Table 1 presents the results of the above methodology for
a representative set of complex scientific symbols which
REFERENCES
is fully described in the Nemeth Braille Code. This set of [1] American Printing House for the Blind: 8-dot
symbols is implemented under the rule 14 called modifi- Computer Braille Table (2013) [Link]
ers in the original Nemeth Braille Code [15]. As men-
tioned above, the present study was based on the devel- [2] Braille Authority of North America (BANA):
opment of an 8-dot Nemeth braille code [21] shaped by Definition of Braille. English Braille American
the Kacorri and Kouroupetroglou method [11]. The scope Edition 1994. Revised 2002. (2002)
of the present study is wider since it is focused on a com-
[3] Cranmer, T. V.: Code for Computer Braille
plex set of scientific symbols of the Nemeth code. Thus,
Notation. In J. Dixon's (Ed.) Braille into the Next
it may be argued that the implementation of the 24 transi-
Millennium. Washington, D.C.: Library of
tional rules from the 6-dot braille code to the 8-dot braille
code may have global characteristics and not situational Congress. (2000)
(e. g. applied only for a very small set of scientific sym- [4] Dixon, J.: Eight-dot Braille, A Position Statement of
bols) even though some modifications took place. . the Braille Authority of North America. Adopted
More specifically, it was not possible to apply the method September 2007. BANA position. (2007)
to the whole array of symbols that started by the notation
[5] Durre, K. P., Tuttle, D. W., and Durre, I.: A
“$” (⠫ ) because, many symbols of this type in the
Universal Computer Braille Code For Literary And
Nemeth code are combined with letters in ASCII Braille Scientific Texts. International Technology
(⠫ ). For example, symbol “$a” on ASCII Braille (⠫ ⠁ ) Conference. (1991)
is the symbol of the notion “arc”, whereas, “$t” is the
[6] EuroBraille 8-dot Braille Table(s) for Refreshable
notation for a triangle as well. The normal application of
the method goes from the left to the right see [11, 21] Braille Displays (2013) [Link]
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[8] ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000. Information technology --
4. CONCLUSION Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set
(UCS) -- Part 1: Architecture and Basic Multilingual
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Switzerland (2001)

117
 `

Table 1. 8-dot braille code for complex Nemeth symbols.

Original Symbol verbal Braille

6 dot symbol Braile dots 8 Dot symbol Comment
symbol description Dots
Se discussion why No
Concave Upward 1,2,4,6 1,2,4,6
⠫⠁ ⠫⠁ rule applied in order to
Concave-arc 1 1
retain compatibility
Concave Down-
Exception see discus-
ward ⠫⠄ 1,2,4,6 3 ⡫ 1,2,4,6,7
sion
Convex-arc
1,2,4,6 1,2,4,6
Barbed at both 2,4,6 2,4,6 Multicharacter sym-
ends ⠫⠪⠒⠒⠕ 2,5 ⠫⠪⠒⠒⠕ 2,5 bols no rules can be
Two way arrow 2,5 2,5 aplied
1,3,5 1,3,5
1,2,4,6 1,2,4,6
Multicharacter sym-

118
Barbed at left 2,4,6 2,4,6
⠫⠪⠒⠒ ⠫⠪⠒⠒ bols no rules can be
Left-arrow 2,5 2,5
aplied
2,5 2,5
1,2,4,6 1,2,4,6
Barbed at left and
2,4,6 2,4,6 Multicharacter sym-
dotted at right
⠫⠪⠒⠒⠡ 2,5 ⠫⠪⠒⠒⠡ 2,5 bols no rules can be
Left-arrow-dotted
2,5 2,5 aplied
at right
1,6 1,6
Barbed at right No rule applied in or-
1,2,4,6 1,2,4,6
Right arrow con- ⠫⠕ ⠫⠕ der to retain compati-
1,3,5 1,3,5
tracted form bility
1,2,4,6 1,2,4,6
Dotted at both 1,6 1,6 No rule applied in or-
ends ⠫⠡⠒⠒⠡ 2,5 ⠫⠡⠒⠒⠡ 2,5 der to retain compati-
G. Kouroupetroglou (Ed.), Proceedings of ICEAPVI, 12-14 February 2015, Athens, Greece

arrow 2,5 2,5 bility

1,6 1,6
 G. Kouroupetroglou (Ed.), Proceedings of ICEAPVI, 12-14 February 2015, Athens, Greece
`

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