[Blindmath] Fwd: [BANA-Announce] BANA Announcement on NUBS Evaluation

[David Andrews]

>
>Press Release
>
>February 2011
>
>For Immediate Release
>
>
>
>CONTACT: Judith Dixon, Chairperson
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>Braille Authority of North America
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>Phone: 202-707-0722
>
>Email: jdix at loc.gov
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>
>
>
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>BANA Announces Results of NUBS Evaluation
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>
>
>The Braille Authority of North America, (BANA) has concluded a 
>two-year evaluation study of the Nemeth Uniform Braille System 
>(NUBS). BANA will publish the complete results of the study on its 
>website in late February.
>
>
>
>NUBS is an outgrowth of the Nemeth Braille Code of Mathematics and 
>Science Notation, which was first published in 1965. Its developer, 
>Dr. Abraham Nemeth, reports that this new system has been in 
>development for ten years and is capable of rendering both literary 
>and technical texts.
>
>
>
>The evaluation of NUBS was handled by BANA's Braille Research 
>Committee, which employed several research strategies including 
>timed reading tests, focus groups, and a questionnaire based on a 
>sampler of various texts written in NUBS. Dr. Frances Mary D'Andrea 
>and Dr. Diane Wormsley, Co-Chairs of the research committee, shared 
>preliminary statements that reflect the results of the committee's 
>evaluation of NUBS:
>    * An examination of reading speed was conducted using the 
> measure of characters per second. The results of the examination 
> provided some limited evidence that NUBS was slower in general than 
> current braille codes.
>    * The results of the sampler questionnaire suggested that, while 
> people who reviewed the sampler found text written in NUBS 
> generally not difficult to read, opinions expressed in the 
> responses to the NUBS questionnaire as well as open-ended comments 
> that were included by participants were generally much more 
> negative than positive.
>    * Positive comments about NUBS included reference to the concept 
> of a single code rather than three separate ones; ease of learning 
> due to familiarity with Nemeth; preference for dropped numbers; and 
> potential for increasing the accuracy of transcription into 
> braille. Negative comments included the increased bulk of NUBS 
> compared to the current code; lack of necessity for changes since 
> the current code works well; dislike for certain symbols of NUBS 
> such as the modes; cumbersomeness of NUBS for writing; and concern 
> about needing to show all the print indicators. Other questions and 
> concerns raised included the potential impact on children learning 
> braille and on current braille readers, particularly adults; the 
> cost of implementation; the cost of producing books; the fact that 
> no other country is considering the use of NUBS; and the lack of 
> transcribers and teachers who know NUBS.
>
>
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>When the complete evaluation report is posted on its website, BANA 
>will send a notification to the subscribers of the BANA-Announce 
>e-mail list that disseminates official BANA information.  To join 
>this one-way e-mail list, send a blank email message to 
><mailto:bana-announce-subscribe at brailleauthority.org>bana-announce-subscribe at brailleauthority.org 
>and follow the directions in the confirmation email that will be 
>sent in response.
>
>
>
>For additional resource information, visit 
><http://www.brailleauthority.org/>www.brailleauthority.org
>
>
>
>The mission and purpose of the Braille Authority of North America 
>are to assure literacy for tactile readers through the 
>standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics. BANA promotes 
>and facilitates the use, teaching, and production of braille. It 
>publishes rules, interprets, and renders opinions pertaining to 
>braille in all existing codes. It deals with codes now in existence 
>or to be developed in the future, in collaboration with other 
>countries using English braille. In exercising its function and 
>authority, BANA considers the effects of its decisions on other 
>existing braille codes and formats; the ease of production by 
>various methods; and acceptability to readers.
>
>
>
>
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