Application of Braille in Quranic and Sunnah Studies (QAA4013) 3 rd Lecture (13 th Jan 2009)

1. Application of Braille in Quranic and Sunnah Studies (QAA4013)3rd Lecture (13th Jan 2009) Dr. Muhammad Mustaqim Mohd Zarif Director, Centre for General Studies Islamic Science University of Malaysia

2. Structure of Presentation • Braille System: - Its Structure (cont.) & type - Its Transcription • Anatomy of a Brailler

3. Braille Structure (cont.) • 4 types of Braille codes in use: • Literary Braille Code • Nemeth Braille Code • Computer Braille Code • Music Braille Code

4. i. Literary Braille Code • Used for most literary works of fiction and nonfiction, including textbooks, reports, books, articles, Quran, hadith, etc • Consist of a set of symbols signifying specific alphabets, numbers, and punctuation marks. • Three grades of Braille Literary Code:

5. Grade 1 Braille • It is a direct “character by character” transcription of Braille. • Each Braille cell corresponds with the written character in totality. • Basic method used by beginners in Braille • Straightforward & not complicated although not used in publishing except in the case of Quranic Braille

6. Example: The word “ayam” is spelt as follows:

7. Grade 2 Braille • It is a system that has a set of contractions in addition to the basic characters used in Grade 1 Braille • What is a contraction? “the act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope” Or in our case: “a word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds”

8. Contraction rules differ from one Braille language to another. i.e. Malay language contraction rule is different from English contraction • Contraction rules must be fully understood and comprehended before use so as to avoid confusion and misunderstanding in the meaning of the word • Example: American Braille has more than 250 symbols used for contractions

9. Example: “about” Grade 1: Grade 2:

10. Another example: “b” • Grade 1: an alphabet • Grade 2: “but”

11. Why use contraction? • Reduce the numbers of Braille cells used to: i. Make reading Braille easier & faster ii. Reduce number of paper used

12. Imagine… Transcription of one page of ordinary written/printed text (font 12) in size A4 will require: Grade 1: 5 pages in Braille Grade 2: 3 pages in Braille

13. 2 main criteria to evaluate a contraction system used: • The effectiveness of the contraction in saving space and paper as well as increasing reading speed. (contraction requires the reader to think more of the meaning implied) • The rule of the contraction system used & the ability of the reader to understand & master it (should not be complicated & difficult)

14. Some example of contractions used in Malay Braille Grade 2 • Prefix “me” uses only Dot 3 and 4. • Consonant “ny” uses only 2 and 4 6.

15. Comparison between Grade 1 & 2 (Malay Braille)

16. Due to its space and character saving properties, Grade 2 Braille is widely used in transcribing official documents, books, and information for public use such as in lifts, remote controls, etc

17. Grade 3 Braille • It is a system based only on the use of contractions. • Very short & space saving but difficult & complicated to learn • Comparable to “shorthand writing” used by secretaries in offices • Only used at the personal level & has never been adopted in any official Braille code.

18. ii. Nemeth Braille Code • It is a special set of codes to represent symbols and terminologies used in the fields of Science & Mathematics. • It is different from Literary Braille Code & shouldn’t be used together so as to avoid complication and confusion • Main references: The Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation (1972) & Learning the Nemeth Code by Ruth H. Craig

19. iii. Computer Braille Code (CBC) • This code is devised to transcribe terminologies & symbols concerning computer & programming. • It is a unique code that is combined with Literary Braille Code as well as Nemeth Code • CBC is based on ASCII (American Standard Code for Information); a widely used format in computer

20. iv. Braille Music Code • It is a specialized code used to transcribe musical symbols and notes into Braille • Due to its complicated nature, an extensive knowledge of music is necessary to transcribe music accurately into Braille

21. 8-Dot Braille • It is used for some special purposes & computer online Braille displays. • A new unified Braille code based on 8 dots is being developed to accommodate various needs. Currently used in certain countries in Europe in matters relating to computer. • 6 dots braille is limited, while 8 dots Braille has 256 possibilities (including blank cell) • This can reduce the use of cell thus saving space & paper

22. Structure of 8-Dot Braille

23. No consistency in the use of dots 7 and 8. • Many computers use dot 7 to indicate Capital letter • Very little has been published using 8-Dot Braille • Other countries that use 8-Dot Braille: Korea, Japan, and China

24. Braille Transcription • How to produce Braille? - Traditional method: Slate & Stylus (pocket frame)

25. Most common method: Using a Brailler or Braille Writer. • A Brailler is similar to a typewriter, except that it has only six keys, a spacebar, a back-spacer, and a line spacer. Paper is inserted into the brailler, and multiple keys are pressed at once, creating an entire braille cell with each chordic key press. • Brands of brailler include Stainsby (UK), Marburg (Germany), Perkins (USA), Atkinson (USA), and IBM Braille Electric Typewriter (USA).

26. Improved Stainsby Brailler

27. Marburg BM Brailler

28. IBM Braille Electric Typewriter

29. Atkinson Portable Braille Writer

30. Certain types of machines can only produce Braille on one side of the paper only (such as Marburg & Perkins) • Other machines such as Stainsby can write on both side of paper. • Perkins Brailler: most famous & widely used brand used in the world until today. • It was built by David Abraham and was first produced in 1951 by Howe Press; an company under Perkins School for the Blind • Perkins Brailler is easy to be used & quite durable

32. “Manual” transcription of Braille can only be done by a Braille expert. It is time consuming & requires lots of energy • Materials produced are also difficult to be duplicated in a short time & produced in a large quantity • This problems led to the introduction on the use of computer in Braille transcription since the 1970s • Special computer software to translate computer files (written texts) into Braille were produced.

33. However, the use of computer and embosser was very costly at that time • Now, due to advancement in computer technology, it is getting cheaper & more affordable (computer software is quite cheap but its embosser is quite expensive; a medium size embosser costs around RM 20,000 per unit) • Examples of softwares produced: Duxbury Braille Translator, Pokadot, MegaDots, WinBraille, etc

34. How to transcribe Braille using Computer? There are 2 ways: • Manual translation of written text (by human) using computer software. (f: dot 1, d: dot 2, s: dot 3, j: dot 4, k: dot 5, l: dot 6). - The Person must know Braille codes. - After editing for mistakes, it is ready to be published using an embossing machine (comparable to a printer)

35. 2. Written texts are scanned into computer and translated using a pre-configured computer software. This is followed by an editing process and then it is ready to be embossed. Important: No translation programme (computer software) is 100% accurate, due to complications in the use of contractions, etc. Thus, document must be edited and proofread to ensure text is error-free.

36. MAB: Manual transcription of a book into Braille usually take 2-3 months, but can be reduced up to 2-3 days only if using computer….

37. Anatomy of a Brailler

40. Inserting Paper Turn paper feed knobs all the way from you until they will not turn any more. Pull paper release lever toward you.

41. Slide paper horizontally over the top of the paper support bar and stripper plate, and under embossing head and grooved roller. Be sure left edge of paper goes under paper guide roller.

42. Push paper release lever away from you to clamp paper into place. Roll paper feed knobs toward you until all paper is inside Perkins Brailler and knobs will no longer turn. Press line spacer key once to set paper in place.

43. The Perkins Brailler is now ready Braille letters are made by pressing the appropriate keys for each letter. Example: The letter ‘d’ is made of the dots 1, 4 & 5 so all three of those keys need to be pressed simultaneously.

44. Thank You