Duxbury Braille Translator

What does software for braille look like?

Whether you are blind or sighted, our software comes up as a standard modern application, fully accessible AND fully in tune with the latest advances in operating systems and sister applications.

The menus and screens in DBT for Macintosh and DBT for MS-DOS are essentially the same as DBT Win (click for Windows screen shot), apart from differences inherent to the operating systems. The files are COMPLETELY compatible across platforms! You only need to know one DBT!

What does software for braille do?

Most people understand the basics about braille: that it provides a reading medium for blind people, using "cells" made up of raised dots in various patterns instead of the characters used in regular print. But many people do not realize that the cells-for-characters substitutions are not, typically, on a one-for-one basis. The process is especially complicated in languages such as English and French where "grade 2" braille is used, involving "contractions" that are based in part upon pronunciation. Formatting of braille pages also involves issues beyond those affecting print. DBT provides translation and formatting facilities to automate the process of conversion from regular print to braille (and vice versa), and also provides word-processing facilities for working directly in the braille as well as the print. "Fonts" are used for displaying the braille.

Who uses software for braille?

Our software is designed for two types--those who don't know braille and those who do. Even if all the braille you know was learned from the previous paragraph, the Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT) will allow you to create highly accurate braille for school books and teaching materials, office memos, bus schedules, personal letters, signs compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and more. Where you need to be sure of "perfection," we would certainly recommend that you also make use of proofreading (just as you would proofread print books) by a knowledgeable braillist--who may be using DBT as well. That is because DBT is just as important to professional transcribers--for swift conversion to braille from a wide variety of print sources.

Notable Features of DBT

DBT is simple to use--beginners learn in just minutes. Yet its depth, power and accuracy are such that it is used by most of the major braille production centers throughout the world. The current version (10;2 or later) provides the following at no extra charge:

• Built-in interline printing (see sample above) to have ink-braille and print together. This makes an easy proofing and teaching tool. Great for the braille-impaired too!
• American Math/Science Code (Nemeth) translation
• Intermediate levels (between grade 1 and 2) for American braille
• The ability to include tactile graphics files for mixed text-and-graphic documents
• Separate versions for Windows, DOS and Mac.
• Identical file formats for each version of DBT. That means a file prepared on any platform can be used on any other!
• Imports from popular word processors including Microsoft Word and WordPerfect, HTML, ICADD, formatted and plain ASCII, earlier braille editors such as EDGAR and Polkadot, and Duxbury's own historical file formats, and more.
• The current (February 2000) translation table menu includes eighteen major languages plus seven variations, including grade 2 support for most jurisdictions where grade 2 is customarily used. Moreover, DBT allows languages other than the principal language to be embedded in the same file and treated as appropriate for the context. (Contact us if you have questions about a specific language.) Now braille for foreign-language texts and language teaching texts is a snap.
• Bidirectional (print-to-braille and braille-to-print) translation
• American Computer Braille Code (CBC) translation
• American textbook layout according to Braille Authority of North America (BANA) standards, and likewise the Braille Authority of the United Kingdom (BAUK) customs for the same purpose
• Accurate presentation of both print or braille in either WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) or coded (how-you-get-what-you-want) views in the word-processing screen, with easy switching between views
• A "translated line" showing the "other" form in either print or braille files
• Six-key chording for braille and print entry, not timing-based, compatible with most keyboards
• Help screens throughout the program
• Documentation in print, braille & electronic formats
• Over 100 formatting & translation codes for a high level of flexibility
• A library of user-configurable styles
• A user-extendable template library for even more flexibility
• A spell-checker with 300,000-word dictionary
• A "Quick Find Misspelling" feature for increased speed and ease of use
• Embossing to all major braille printers; the first page may be a "banner" for job identification by personnel who don't read braille
• The Duxbury Braille Font for viewing braille dots within other programs
• Choice of single-user, site & other licenses
• The ability to process files as large as the operating system allows
• The ability to have multiple files open simultaneously
• Unlimited technical support by telephone, e-mail, fax, etc.
• An Internet user forum to communicate with other Duxbury users