BRLKiama - BCC braille truetype font ==================================== What's this? ============ BrailleKiama is a truetype font containing the 64 six-dot braille characters. The character asignments are those used in the US braille computer code. What's it for? ============== You can't make braille using this font! To make braille you need a special type of printer called an embosser, which imprints the braille cells on special paper, making raised dots which people can read using the sense of touch. You also probably need a transcription program, like Duxbury, NFBTrans, HotDots, Dotmaster, PCBraille or TurboBraille, to convert your text into braille code. I am not going to explain braille contractions here - but I will say that no computer program can give 100% accurate braille transcription, essentially because many of the contraction rules are context dependent. Therefore people will often need to make corrections to the braille obtained from these programs. Embosser paper is expensive and voluminous, though, and it's a bit of a drag to print out a large document for proofreading. ...so what you can do is read the braille code into a word processor, convert it to the BrailleKiama font, and proof read it, and correct it on the screen before printing out. Alternatively you can print out on plain paper to proof read away from the pc. For best results use point sizes somewhere between 22 and 32. For easy reading on screen, depending on how your monitor is set up, you may also need to change the line spacing to say 1.2 lines. To make corrections, you need to know the braille computer code (see the table at the end of this file). Or, if you mail Paul Blenkhorn PLB@fs1.co.umist.ac.uk, he might send you a copy of his six-key input program, which simulates the action of a Perkins Brailler. Who dunnit? =========== The font was produced for me, Ian Kemp, by John Barrett-Lennard and Gunnlauger Briem. What's it cost? =============== It's free, public domain, do what you want with it. However, please don't try to sell it to anyone, as it is free, public domain. Anyone who tries to sell what we have produced for free will be publicly vilified on the net! If you feel embarrassed about having such a handy thing for free, please salve your conscience by sending a $20 donation to the NSW Royal Blind Society. Send your money to Jim Bates, NSW Royal blind Society, PO Box 176, Burwood, NSW 2134, Australia. What else? ========== If you have any questions about braille, please contact your local society for the blind. If you have any specific comments on this font, or about computer braille transcription, you can contact me as a last resort, Ian Kemp, kemp@resptk.bhp.com.au, or ian_kemp@eol.ieaust.org.au. Character map ============= The following table lists what characters are where. I have tested the font with MS Word for Windows V6.0, and MS-Write. Judith Dixon has tested the font with Word Perfect for Dos V6.0b. To get the extended characters in WFW, hold down the alt- key & type the digit number indicated, on the numeric keypad. Alternately use 'Insert|Symbol' to insert the character. In Word Perfect, insert extended characters using the appropriate compose sequence. Code dots char meaning 032 ...... space 033 .234.6 ! the 034 ....5. " dot-5 035 ..3456 # ble 036 12.4.6 $ ed 037 1..4.6 % sh 038 1234.6 & and 039 ..3... ' apostrophe 040 123.56 ( of 041 .23456 ) with 042 1....6 * ch 043 ..34.6 + ing 044 .....6 , dot-6 045 ..3..6 - com 046 ...4.6 . dot-46 047 ..34.. / st 048 ..3.56 0 unquote 049 .2.... 1 ea 050 .23... 2 be 051 .2..5. 3 con 052 .2..56 4 . 053 .2...6 5 en 054 .23.5. 6 to 055 .23.56 7 gg 056 .23..6 8 quote 057 ..3.5. 9 in 058 1...56 : wh 059 ....56 ; dot-56 060 12...6 < gh 061 123456 = for 062 ..345. > ar 063 1..456 ? th 064 ...4.. @ dot-4 065 1..... A a 066 12.... B b 067 1..4.. C c 068 1..45. D d 069 1...5. E e 070 12.4.. F f 071 12.45. G g 072 12..5. H h 073 .2.4.. I i 074 .2.45. J j 075 1.3... K k 076 123... L l 077 1.34.. M m 078 1.345. N n 079 1.3.5. O o 080 1234.. P p 081 12345. Q q 082 123.5. R r 083 .234.. S s 084 .2345. T t 085 1.3..6 U u 086 123..6 V v 087 .2.456 W w 088 1.34.6 X x 089 1.3456 Y y 090 1.3.56 Z z 091 .2.4.6 [ ow 092 12..56 \ ou 093 12.456 ] er 094 ...45. ^ dot-45 095 ...456 _ dot-456 096 ...4.. ` dot-4 097 1..... a a 098 12.... b b 099 1..4.. c c 100 1..45. d d 101 1...5. e e 102 12.4.. f f 103 12.45. g g 104 12..5. h h 105 .2.4.. i i 106 .2.45. j j 107 1.3... k k 108 123... l l 109 1.34.. m m 110 1.345. n n 111 1.3.5. o o 112 1234.. p p 113 12345. q q 114 123.5. r r 115 .234.. s s 116 .2345. t t 117 1.3..6 u u 118 123..6 v v 119 .2.456 w w 120 1.34.6 x x 121 1.3456 y y 122 1.3.45 z z 123 .2.4.6 { ow 124 12..56 | ou 125 12.456 } er 126 ...45. ~ dot-45 127 128 1234.6 C-ced fr 129 12..56 u-uml fr, ger, sp 130 123456 e-acu fr 131 1....6 a-cir fr, it 132 ..345. a-uml ger 133 123.56 a-gra fr, it 134 ..34.6 a-o swe 135 1234.6 c-ced fr 136 12...6 e-cir fr, it 137 12.4.6 e-uml fr 138 .234.6 e-gra fr, it 139 12.456 i-uml fr 140 1..4.6 i-cir fr, it 141 ..34.. i-gra it 142 ..345. A-uml ger 143 ..34.6 A-o swe 144 123456 E-acu fr 145 ..345. ae fr 146 ..345. AE fr 147 1..456 o-cir fr, it 148 .2.4.6 o-uml ger 149 ..34.6 o-gra it 150 1...56 u-cir fr, it 151 .23456 u-gra fr, it 152 1.3456 y-uml 153 .2.4.6 O-uml ger 154 12..56 U-uml fr, it, ger 155 1..4.. cent c 156 123... Pound l 157 1.3456 Yen y 158 1234.. Pre p 159 12.4.. fl f 160 123.56 a-acu sp 161 ..34.. i-acu sp 162 ..34.6 o-acu sp 163 .23456 u-acu sp 164 12.456 n-til sp 165 12.456 N-til sp ..34.6 O-gra it 1..456 O-cir fr, it Good Luck! _-_|\ Ian Kemp. / \ \_.-. X <-- Kiama, nr. Wollongong, Australia. ~ Kemp@resptk.bhp.com.au ian_kemp@eol.ieaust.org.au ian.i.p.kemp@msmail.bhp.com.au Thanks to: John Barrett-Lennard jbl@uniwa.uwa.edu.au Gunnlauger Briem briem@ced.berkeley.edu Judith Dixon jdix@loc.gov Braille font version 3, 15th April 1995.