Unified English Braille Code
Encyclopedia
Unified English Braille
Code (UEBC, now usually just UEB) is an English language
Braille code
developed to permit representing the wide variety of literary and technical material in use in the English-speaking world
today. It was originally known as Unified Braille Code (UBC) with the English-specific nature being implied, but later the word "English" was formally incorporated into its name and still more recently it has come to be called simply Unified English Braille. Standard 6-dot braille only providing 63 distinct characters (not including the space character), a number of distinct rule sets have been developed over the years to represent literary text, mathematics and science, computer software, and other varieties of written material. As a result, braille users who desire to read or write a large range of material have needed to learn different sets of rules depending on what kind of material they were reading at a given time. Rules were often not compatible from one system to the next so that the reader would need to be notified as the text in a book moved from computer braille code to Nemeth Code
, to standard literary braille. Moreover, braille for math and computer science, and even to an extent braille for literary purposes, differed among various English-speaking countries. Unified English Braille is intended to develop one set of rules that can be applied across various types of material and that would also be the same everywhere in the world. The notable exception to this unification is Music Braille which UEB specifically does not encompass because it is already well standardized internationally. Unified English Braille is designed to be readily understood by people familiar with the literary braille used in standard prose writing while including support for specialized math and science symbols, foreign alphabets, and visual effects such as bullets, bold type, accent marks, and so on.
On April 3, 2004 the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) gave the go-ahead for the unification of various English braille codes. This decision was reached following 13 years of analysis, research and debate. ICEB said that Unified English Braille was sufficiently complete for recognition as an international standard for English-language braille that ICEB member countries could consider for adoption as their national code.
, four of the seven ICEB countries have adopted and are in the process of implementing the new code—Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Nigeria. The major criticism against the code is that it fails to handle mathematics
or computer science as compactly as codes designed to be optimal for those disciplines.
On April 24, 2010, the Canadian Braille Authority (CBA) voted to adopt UEB, making Canada the fifth nation to adopt UEB officially.
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
Code (UEBC, now usually just UEB) is an English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Braille code
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
developed to permit representing the wide variety of literary and technical material in use in the English-speaking world
English-speaking world
The English-speaking world consists of those countries or regions that use the English language to one degree or another. For more information, please see:Lists:* List of countries by English-speaking population...
today. It was originally known as Unified Braille Code (UBC) with the English-specific nature being implied, but later the word "English" was formally incorporated into its name and still more recently it has come to be called simply Unified English Braille. Standard 6-dot braille only providing 63 distinct characters (not including the space character), a number of distinct rule sets have been developed over the years to represent literary text, mathematics and science, computer software, and other varieties of written material. As a result, braille users who desire to read or write a large range of material have needed to learn different sets of rules depending on what kind of material they were reading at a given time. Rules were often not compatible from one system to the next so that the reader would need to be notified as the text in a book moved from computer braille code to Nemeth Code
Nemeth Braille
The Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics is a Braille code for encoding mathematical and scientific notation linearly using standard six-dot Braille cells for tactile reading by the visually impaired. The code was developed by Abraham Nemeth....
, to standard literary braille. Moreover, braille for math and computer science, and even to an extent braille for literary purposes, differed among various English-speaking countries. Unified English Braille is intended to develop one set of rules that can be applied across various types of material and that would also be the same everywhere in the world. The notable exception to this unification is Music Braille which UEB specifically does not encompass because it is already well standardized internationally. Unified English Braille is designed to be readily understood by people familiar with the literary braille used in standard prose writing while including support for specialized math and science symbols, foreign alphabets, and visual effects such as bullets, bold type, accent marks, and so on.
On April 3, 2004 the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) gave the go-ahead for the unification of various English braille codes. This decision was reached following 13 years of analysis, research and debate. ICEB said that Unified English Braille was sufficiently complete for recognition as an international standard for English-language braille that ICEB member countries could consider for adoption as their national code.
, four of the seven ICEB countries have adopted and are in the process of implementing the new code—Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Nigeria. The major criticism against the code is that it fails to handle mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
or computer science as compactly as codes designed to be optimal for those disciplines.
On April 24, 2010, the Canadian Braille Authority (CBA) voted to adopt UEB, making Canada the fifth nation to adopt UEB officially.