[Electronics-Talk] BRF vs. Digital e-Book

[Jim McCarthy]

Ellana,
I thought your question was an interesting one and completely agree with
David's answer to it. This list may not be the best list for this discussion
though so I was not sure the most thorough responses would take place from
this list. Therefore, I sent your question to Chancey Fleet, a lifetime
advocate for braille with as good an understanding of braille display
technology and formats as anyone I know. I am pasting her answer below as I
think it does add some more perspective to your questions.
"A BRF file comes in useful when: 
-A Braille student, proofreader, transcriber etc is making changes to a
document and wants to preserve Braille formatting,  use nonstandard Braille
elements (like his or her own shorthand) or work in a way that would be hard
for a computer to auto-translate (Braille Music, Nemeth math notation,
multi-language content). 
OR 
-The file contains charts, graphs, puzzles, equations or other content whose
alignment in Braille is important and must be preserved.
OR 
A reader is using a Braille note-taker that does not support, or slows down
/ balks when supporting, more complex file types. For example, I write this
on my VarioUltra, a braille display connected to my iPhone. I can flip a
switch to enter a VERY basic operating system where I can read and write BRF
files in a minimalist, distraction-free environment.  The Orbit Braille
display, Perkins Mini, Smart Beetle and Braille Edge all support BRF files
but don't support documents  with more complexity (ePub, iBooks, etc)."

-----Original Message-----
From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Ellana Crew via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 1:25 AM
To: Electronics-Talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Ellana Crew
Subject: [Electronics-Talk] BRF vs. Digital e-Book

Hello there,

I was recently approached by a follower of mine on a blindness blog I run
about braille e-book or BRF files and their compatibility with braille
displays, and while I was able to clear up that particular question, I have
known very little about BRF files before doing my research to answer their
question, but now that I have done some reading and looking into them, I am
not exactly sure what the particular benefit of a BRF file actually is as
compared to a Daisy or regular digital e-book file format.

>From what I was reading on a couple of different websites, it seems as
though BRF files are just digital braille files to be read just like an
ordinary digital text file on a braille display. But, if this is the case,
what is the point of creating the BRF file type? Why not just stick to
regular digital text files if your braille display already does the work of
converting it to braille for you? With a regular digital text file, you can
read it on your braille display or with voiceover, and probably take that
same text and import it to Duxberry to be embossed, but it seems like BRF
files just do the exact same things. The sources I found had said that BRF
files can be read on a braille display, or imported into Kurzweil to be read
auditorily, or also be read with the screen reader, all things that digital
text files can already do.

Are there perhaps any important distinctions that make BRF files more
useful, compatible, or if active than digital text files? Is there a crucial
feature or value I am missing?

Any info I could get on this would be greatly appreciated!

Ellana Crew, Vice President
Maryland Association of Blind Students

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.
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