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Web-Braille

Web-Braille is a data file format that can be read on a Braille display or transmitted to a Braille embosser. Web-Braille files have the extension .brf. The Braille codes in Braille-ready files allow blind people to read electronic documents from computer disks or from the Internet.

Web-Braille files contain 25 lines per page. Each line holds up to 39 characters. A single printed page translates into several Braille pages; the exact ratio depends on the nature of the document. Mathematical expressions and symbols, as well as graphics, can be converted into words before being translated into Braille-ready files. Complex mathematical documents have the highest Braille-to-text page conversion ratios.

Several thousand Web-Braille books are available for downloading from the National Library Service (NLS) in the U.S. About 40 new books are published online in this format every month. The NLS Web-Braille material is available only to citizens or residents of the United States, or to qualified institutions.

Related links:

http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci828599,00.html?track=NL-34

Related terms: Braille display
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci823441,00.html?track=NL-34

There are several Braille computer codes in the U.S. See About Braille by Liz Gray, Braille Transcriber, Certified by the Library of Congress in Literary Braille.

A universal Braille computer code for technical documents was introduced in 1991. See A Universal Computer Braille Code For Literary And Scientific Texts by Durre, Karl P.; Tuttle, Dean W. and Durre, Ingeborg.

U.S. National Library Service (NLS) Factsheets: Web-Braille.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 4:46 am and is filed under Vision.
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