[duxuser] Re: Dilema, How to Train Sighted Staff to Do Braille using DBT

  • From: David Holladay <david@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 16:17:40 -0500

Interesting. As MegaDots product manager, I will make the following comments:

1) If ou have a number with a number sign, MegaDots does not place a second
braille number sign

2) If there is a line of underbars, MegaDots places a more comprehensible
line of hyphens (at least
suggesting the issue)

3) MegaDots improts curling quotes and apotrophes and handles them
correctly in braille.

4) If a phone number is divided, the second group at the begining of the
runover lines has a number sign

5) In MegaDots headers do mot run into or destroy page numbers.

From this I conclude:

1) No matter what software you have, make sure you have a current version.
While the costs of
updating may be annoying, the costs of older software can be higher in
terms of training issues
and frustrated communications.

2) To minimize training costs, use MegaDots. I have not even mentioned how
the MegaDots
documentation is geared to guiding the user towards excellent braille
format even when
the user is not well educated in braille issues.

-- David Holladay



At 12:25 PM 4/23/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>I think that properly formatted Microsoft Word documents are important, but
>there are still  some other problems that develop when people who don't
>really know or use braille make automatic translations with Duxbury or
>Megadots. I won't go into formatting problems, although I think there are
>definitely a few. But, here are some examples of problems related to
>translating from conventionally used print symbols to braille: if the
>document contains the symbol for number (that is #) directly before an
>actual number, it will come out in braille having two number signs, which is
>very annoying for a braille reader (at least this one). If the document
>contains the symbol for underline (that is ___) to denote lines where people
>were supposed to write by hand, to give answers to questions, etc. it will
>come out with a series of dot 4 and dot 6, not a line at all, and very messy
>looking to me, as well as being often confusing to students. If the document
>contains curly apostrophes, they will come out in braille as open quotes
>followed by a letter sign and then the letter s or the letter t, or whatever
>the letter following the apostrophe happens to be. If phone numbers aren't
>properly grouped and end up at the end of the braille text line, the second
>part of the phone number after the hyphen will often appear on the next line
>without a number sign before it. I have also seen headers that run into the
>page numbers and knock out the page number, so that only the "a through j"
>appear at the end of the last word of the header, rather than having a space
>and a number sign before the letters that stand for the numbers. As I
>proofread things produced by people who don't use braille, I am constantly
>finding new things of this sort to deal with. And, I even find them when
>proofreading Documents that I produce myself. But, at least, I can correct
>my own work rather than just asking students to wing it.
>Sylvie Kashdan
>Instructor/Curriculum Coordinator
>KAIZEN PROGRAM for New English Learners with Visual Limitations
>810-A Hiawatha Place South
>Seattle, WA  98144
>phone:  (206) 784-5619
>email:  kaizen_esl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "George Bell" <george@xxxxxxxxxx>
>To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 1:55 PM
>Subject: [duxuser] Re: Dilema, How to Train Sighted Staff to Do Braille
>using DBT
>
>
>Hi Ray,
>
>A lot of people are going to hate me for saying this,
>probably including you, but if you present DBT with a well
>prepared Word document, you are probably 95% of the way
>there - and without knowing more than the basics of braille
>and DBT.
>
>But of course, as is usual, money can be found for training
>one person in how to use DBT, and correct all the mess ups
>untrained Word users make, but nobody can find 10 minutes to
>show a group of Word users a few tricks which will make
>everyone's life easier.
>
>I could write a book on how not to use word, to cause the
>maximum chaos in a braille document.
>
>Indeed I wish I had the time to be able to go into an
>organisation, spend 2 hours, at no cost to the organisation,
>just looking at how word processing is done.  My bet is that
>I could offer training, which would save at least 5 times
>what I charged.
>
>But alas, all I can say is that with your stated
>credentials, I'm sure you know this already.
>
>George Bell.
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>[mailto:duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ray E.
>Campbell, DCIL
>Sent: 22 April 2003 17:44
>To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>Hi All:
>
>I am currently working for a Center for Independent Living
>here in DuPage County, Illinois.  We have a Juliet Pro
>Braille Embosser and run DBT.  As an expert Braille reader
>and technology guru, I've learned how to use DBT to produce
>some Braille materials for our center such as newsletters
>and flyers.  Here is where I need help.
>
>I would like to know of successful strategies any of you
>have used to teach other staff who are not familiar with
>Braille how to format Braille.  I don't want the staff here
>to always depend on me to do their Braille for them.  In
>particular, our Deaf Services Coordinator has a consumer who
>is deafblind and she needs to be able to generate
>information in Braille for her.  Currently, if I am not
>available to do it, she has to wait for me to run the
>Braille for her.
>
>What works as strategies for training sighted staff to run
>materials in Braille?  Are there people in the Chicago area
>that any of you know of who could come in and give our staff
>an in-service on how to produce Braille?
>Are there good handbooks and materials we could obtain for
>our staff to help them understand how to format things in
>Braille using DBT?
>
>Any help or ideas any of you have will be appreciated.
>
>Ray Campbell, Independent Living Skills Coordinator, Visual
>Services DuPage Center for Independent Living 630-469-2300
>(V), 630-469-2606 (F) raydcil@xxxxxxx
>
>* * *
>* This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org.
>* To unsubscribe, send a blank message with
>*   unsubscribe
>* as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may
>also
>* subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other
>subscription
>* options by visiting //www.freelists.org.  The list
>archive
>* is also located there.
>* Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com
>* * *
>
>* * *
>* This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org.
>* To unsubscribe, send a blank message with
>*   unsubscribe
>* as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also
>* subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription
>* options by visiting //www.freelists.org.  The list archive
>* is also located there.
>* Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com
>* * *
>
>
>* * *
>* This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org.
>* To unsubscribe, send a blank message with
>*   unsubscribe
>* as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also
>* subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription
>* options by visiting //www.freelists.org.  The list archive
>* is also located there.
>* Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com
>* * *
>
* * *
* This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org.
* To unsubscribe, send a blank message with
*   unsubscribe
* as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also
* subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription
* options by visiting //www.freelists.org.  The list archive
* is also located there.
* Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com
* * *

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. duxuser
  3. Archive
  4. 04-2003