Braille ASCII
Braille ASCII (or more formally The North American Braille ASCII Code, also known as SimBraille) is a subset of the
Overview
Braille ASCII uses the 64 ASCII characters between 32 and 95 inclusive. All
dot 6
).
The numbers 1 through 9 and 0 correspond to the letters a through j, except that they are lowered or shifted lower in the Braille cell. For example, ⠉ dots 1-4
represents c, and ⠒ dots 2-5
is 3. The other symbols may or may not correspond to their Braille values. For example, ⠌ dots 3-4
represents / in Braille ASCII, and this is the Braille slash, but ⠿ dots 1-2-3-4-5-6
represents =, and this is not the equals sign in Braille.
Braille ASCII more closely corresponds to the Nemeth Braille Code for mathematics than it does to the English Literary Braille Code, as the Nemeth Braille code is what it was originally based upon.
If Braille ASCII is viewed in a word processor, it will look like a jumbled mix of letters, numbers, and punctuation. However, there are several fonts available, many of them free, which allow the user to view and print Braille ASCII as simulated braille, i.e. a graphical representation of braille characters.
Uses
Braille ASCII was originally designed to be a means for storing and transmitting six-dot Braille in a digital format, and this continues to be its primary usage today. Because it uses standard characters available on computer keyboards, it can be easily typed and edited with a standard word processor. Many Braille embossers receive their input in Braille ASCII, and nearly all Braille translation software can import and export this format.
Most institutions which produce Braille materials distribute BRF files. BRF is a file that can represent contracted or uncontracted (i.e. grade 1 or grade 2)
Unicode includes a means for encoding eight-dot braille; however, Braille ASCII continues to be the preferred format for encoding six-dot braille.
Braille ASCII values
The following table shows the arrangement of characters, with the hexadecimal value, corresponding ASCII character, binary notation matching the standard dot order, Braille Unicode glyph, and general meaning (the actual meaning may change depending on context).[9][10]
|
|
The following
" A1B'K2L@CIF/MSP\"E3H9O6R^DJG>NTQ,*5<-U8V.%[$+X!&;:4\\0Z7(_?W]#Y)="
Under the mapping derived from the above table, the "Braille glyph" column orders according to the above key as the following Unicode codepoint string literal (note that the first character is not an ASCII space but U+2800):
"⠀⠁⠂⠃⠄⠅⠆⠇⠈⠉⠊⠋⠌⠍⠎⠏⠐⠑⠒⠓⠔⠕⠖⠗⠘⠙⠚⠛⠜⠝⠞⠟⠠⠡⠢⠣⠤⠥⠦⠧⠨⠩⠪⠫⠬⠭⠮⠯⠰⠱⠲⠳⠴⠵⠶⠷⠸⠹⠺⠻⠼⠽⠾⠿"
Unused ASCII values
Only 64 characters are needed to represent all possible combinations of 6-dot braille (including space), so not all ASCII values are needed for Braille ASCII.
The lower-case letters (a to z) are not normally used, but might be interpreted as having the same dot patterns as their upper-case equivalents. `, {, |, and } are not used and their Braille ASCII rendition is not defined.
Braille ASCII is merely a subset of the ASCII table that can be used to represent all possible combinations of 6-dot braille. It is not to be confused with the Computer Braille Code, which can represent all ASCII values in braille.
See also
- List of binary codes
- Braille Patterns (Unicode)
References
- ^ "World Braille Usage".
- ^ "New BARD Overview". nlsbard.loc.gov.
- ^ "NBP - What's a BRF". www.nbp.org.
- ^ "Liblouis* - An open-source braille translator and back-translator". liblouis.org.
- ^ "About Electronic Files - APH Louis - APH Louis". louis.aph.org.
- ^ "What are DAISY and BRF? - Bookshare". www.bookshare.org.
- ^ "IRS Tax Forms (in Braille and Text Formats) - Internal Revenue Service". www.irs.gov.
- ^ "BRL: Braille Through Remote Learning". www.brl.org.
- ^ "Representing and Displaying Braille". DotlessBraille.org. February 20, 2002. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
- ^ Halleck, John (August 24, 2000). "braille-ascii.ads". Braille.Ascii. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
External links
- "About Braille: Codes, Formats, Computers, and Braille ASCII". Archived from the original on January 16, 2006. Retrieved January 5, 2006.
- Early History of Braille Translators and Embossers
- Representing and Displaying Braille
- What's a BRF? (page on National Braille Bookstore)