[Dtb-talk] BANA UEB code vote

Mon Nov 5 04:07:03 UTC 2012

Here is the text of today's BANA press release on this:

Press Release
November 2012

For Immediate Release
________________________________
CONTACT: Frances Mary D'Andrea, Chair

Braille Authority of North America
Phone: 412-521-5797
Email: literacy2 at mindspring.com<mailto:literacy2 at mindspring.com>

BANA Adopts Unified English Braille (UEB) for United States

On November 2, 2012, the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) set a new course for the future of braille in the United States (U.S.) when it adopted 
Unified English Braille (UEB). The motion, which passed decisively, specifies that UEB will eventually replace the current English Braille American Edition 
and that the U.S. will retain the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation.

The transition to UEB will not be immediate and will follow a carefully crafted timeline. Implementation plans will be formulated with the input and 
participation of stakeholders from the consumer, education, rehabilitation, transcription, and production communities. Plans will take into consideration the 
various aspects of creating, teaching, learning, and using braille in a wide variety of settings. The plans will be designed to provide workable transitions for 
all involved in braille use and production and to minimize disruption for current braille readers.

UEB is based on the current literary braille code and was developed with input from many people, primarily braille readers, who worked to achieve an 
optimal balance among many key factors. Those factors include keeping the general-purpose literary code as its base, allowing the addition of new 
symbols, providing flexibility for change as print changes, reducing the complexity of rules, and allowing greater accuracy in back translation.

Letters and numbers will stay the same as they are in the current literary code. There will be some changes to punctuation, but most will remain the same. 
Some rules for the use of contractions will change. Nine contractions will be eliminated, and some contractions will be used more often. A FAQ providing 
more detail about changes is available on the BANA website.

After implementation, the official braille codes for the United States will be Unified English Braille; Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, 
1972 Revision and published updates; Music Braille Code, 1997; and The IPA Braille Code, 2008.

More detailed information about UEB and the motion that BANA passed can be found on the BANA website at www.brailleauthority.org
<http://www.brailleauthority.org/>.

The Board of BANA consists of appointed representatives from fifteen member organizations of braille producers, transcribers, teachers, and consumers.

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.

		On Mon, 5 Nov 2012 11:24:04 +0800, Greg Kearney wrote:

>Here is a link to a UEB chart: http://www.duxburysystems.com/images/ueb_black.pdf

>Contractions removed are: BLE, COM, dd, ALLY, o'c, to, by, INOT, ATION
>Sequencing discontinued: AND, FOR, OF, THE, WITH, a, to, INto, by

>The Commonwealth Braille & Talking Book Cooperative www.cbtbc.org will have some resources as does the Braille Authority of Western Australia 
www.braillewa.org

>Gregory Kearney | Manager Accessible Media
>Association for the Blind of WA - Guide Dogs WA
>PO Box 101, Victoria Park WA 6979 | 61 Kitchener Ave, Victoria Park WA 6100
>Tel: 08 9311 8246 | Fax: 08 9361 8696 | www.guidedogswa.com.au
>Tel: 307-224-4022 (North America)
>Email: greg.kearney at guidedogswa.com.au
>Email: gkearney at gmail.com

>Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and 
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
>Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights

>On 05/11/2012, at 10:58 AM, "Moran, Jane" <MoranJ at wawm.k12.wi.us> wrote:

>> I'm trying to find somewhere that lists the changes (additions and drops) as it stands right now. 
>> 
>> Jane Moran
>> Teacher of the Blind and Visually Impaired, 
>> West Allis- West Milwaukee School District
>> 414 604 4000 x1119
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Dtb-talk on behalf of David Andrews
>> Sent: Sun 11/4/2012 12:09 PM
>> To: Discussion of Digital Talking Books
>> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] BANA UEB code vote
>> 
>> It may partially, but not completely.  There are those who feel that 
>> UEB doesn't do as well for Math and Science -- so Nemeth should still be used.
>> 
>> Further -- this list probably isn't the best place for this discussion!
>> 
>> David Andrews, Moderator
>> 
>> At 11:33 AM 11/4/2012, you wrote:
>>> Why use UEB for just literary stuff? That defeats the whole, entire 
>>> purpose of UEB, to be a Unified English Braille code.
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
>>> To: "Discussion of Digital Talking Books" <dtb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2012 11:25 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] BANA UEB code vote
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Well, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions.  One proposal was to use 
>>>> UEB for literary stuff, and still allow Nemeth for Math and 
>>>> Science.  Don't know either way if this is what they did?
>>>> 
>>>> Dave
>>>> 
>>>> At 11:10 AM 11/4/2012, you wrote:
>>>>> Oh, this is wonderful! Now I won't have to worry about Nimath 
>>>>> codes and all that anymore? That's what I've always hated about 
>>>>> braille notes and iPods and things like that, that in US braille I 
>>>>> could not do math easily as I could with UEB. But my goodness I'm 
>>>>> going to miss the "to" sign and the "ation" sign.
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
>>>>> To: "Discussion of Digital Talking Books" <dtb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2012 11:00 AM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] BANA UEB code vote
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> I just read on Twitter that BANA voted to adopt UEB, have no details.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Dave
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> At 03:29 AM 11/4/2012, you wrote:
>>>>>>> Does anyone know how BANAs vote on the use of UEB in the U.S. 
>>>>>>> went on Saturday.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Thank you.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Greg Kearney
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Greg Kearney
>>>>>>> Association for the Blind of Western Australia
>> 
>> 
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