[BlindMath] Questions about Nemeth and UEB

[Bill Dengler]

What is your intent in learning Braille mathematics - primarily as a system
for working in yourself, or as a means of communicating with others? Do you
want to read Braille mathematics on a display? Write notes for yourself that
you'll be converting to something like LaTeX for (sighted) collaborators
anyway?
Nemeth is a more compact code than UEB, requiring in some cases fewer cells
to convey the same information than UEB. However, with this compaction can
come less clarity: numbers are represented by "lowering" (translating down a
position) the letters a through j, similar to US computer Braille.
Personally, I find this confusing.
UEB is the standard code for technical material across the English-speaking
world, though there are some groups (especially in the US) that oppose this
with varying levels of success. A strong advantage of UEB is its
consistency, reduction in ambiguity, and closer correspondence (often a
one-to-one mapping) with (especially computer generated) print. If you're
familiar with the older Taylor code[1] used in the UK and Australia, the UEB
mathematical code was based on (and corresponds more closely to) that code.
If you are the primary consumer and producer of your Braille mathematics,
it's certainly alright to invent your own notation/shorthand, or even use
something like Gardner-Salinas Braille[2], an infrequently used eight-dot
code, if you really want to be efficient.

Bill
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Martyn_Taylor
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardner%E2%80%93Salinas_braille_codes
-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of dana mohsen via
BlindMath
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2023 5:17 PM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Cc: dana mohsen <dana.mohsen.azim at gmail.com>
Subject: [BlindMath] Questions about Nemeth and UEB

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is doing well.
I had a question about Braille math.
I work with math audibly, using a screen reader, but I have been interested
in learning braille math recently. I can read both contracted, and I'm
contracted braille.. my question is: should I learn Nemeth or UEB math? I
definitely love to learn both, but I'd like to learn one of them fully
before doing the other. Which one is the better one? Which one is more
efficient, and which one is more common in the United States.?
Thank you.
Best regards,
Dana Ibrahim
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