BRL: Braille through Remote Learning

Braille Transcribers Course
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Session 3 page

Session Topics
  • General formatting guidelines
  • Title Pages
  • All about volumes
  • Dedications, Acknowledgments, Prefaces, Forwards, and Introductions
  • The Contents Pages
  • The Special Symbols Page

  • Writing Exercise
  • Special Codes course
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    Session 3: General Formatting Guidelines

    General Considerations

    Before getting into some of the specifics, some general rules and guidelines for preparing braille documents are offered. Typically, braille materials are prepared using standard braille paper, of size 11 x 11-1/2 inches. A variety of line lengths are used, depending on the material and the audience. A standard braille line is 40 cells in length, with 25 lines of braille per page. All lines are counted from the top of the page, regardless of whether or not they contain braille.

    If you are using a Perkins brailler, you should set your left margin to begin in cell 2, and the right margin to end in cell 41. One way to do this is as follows:

    1. Set the left and right margin guides to the far left and far right, respectively
    2. Type some cell, such as dots 1-2-3-4-5-6, across the entire width of the page.
    3. Set your margin guides so that the typing head stops at the Cell 2 on the left and Cell 41 on the right

    If you are using a slate and stylus, you will use all of the cells of the metal guide.

    Page Numbering

    Page numbering is important for all brailled materials, whether or not they are bound as a textbook. Except for a title page, every braille page must have a page number. Pages that preceed the main body of the document, such as title pages, prefaces, dedications, table of contents, etc., should be numbered using a Roman numeral. Roman numerals are formed with the appropriate letter preceded by a letter sign, as in the Roman numeral "x":

    Page numbers should be placed at the far right margin, with no less than three cells between the page number and the page header. Erasures, never good, are particularly bad on page numbers. Caution should be taken to ensure that you have numbered pages correctly to help your reader avoid confusion.

    One additional note about page numbering: be careful to differentiate the rules for page numbering between literary format braille and textbook format braille. In literary braille, there is no need to "track" the appropriate page number in print. In textbook braille, you want to ensure that if the teacher says "ok, class, turn to page 108 in your text", that your student has that page number available. As such, in literary braille you simply put the page number of the braille page at the top right of the page. In textbook braille, the print page number goes at the top right, and the braille page number goes at the bottom right.

    Running Heads

    The purpose of the running head is to help the reader to identify the title or name of the document. The running head for the work you have been asked to do to date might be "Braille Work for Session 3"; if you are doing a section of a textbook, your running head might be "Codebook of Formatting Techniques". The rules for use of running heads are as follows:

    • The running head should appear on the first line of each braille page
    • The running head should not occupy more than one braille line
    • The running head should be written in double capitals and centered on the line
    • The running head should be shortened so that there are at least three (3) blank cells before the running head and at least three (3) blank cells before the page number
    • One blank line should be left between the running head and a heading which follows, such as a chapter heading.
    • No blank lines should be left between a running head and the continuation of text.

    There are times when you might need to reduce the amount of brailled text on the running head to ensure that it all fits on one line. The transcriber has the responsibility to "edit" the title so as to ensure that it fits. The strategies for doing so are two-fold, in order of priority:

    1. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word and the first letter of principle words (excluding, for example, "the", "a", "and", etc.)
    2. Abbreviate long words and/or remove non-essential words

    Perhaps an example is useful. Although the discussion in this Session deals only with literary braille (textbooks have their own rules), the guidelines for altering a title to make it fit as a running head are the same for literary braille and textbook braille. I am brailling a textbook entitled "Perspectives on Structure and Mechanism in Organic Chemistry". What are the (logical) possibilities for a running head?

    1. PERSPECTIVES ON STRUCTURE AND MECHANISM IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: requires 68 cells
    2. Perspectives on Structure and Mechanism in Organic Chemistry: requires 57 cells
    3. Perspectives on Structure and Mechanism: requires 37 cells
    4. Structure and Mechanism in Organic Chemistry: requires 41 cells
    5. Struc. and Mech. in Organic Chem.: requires 31 cells
    6. STRUCTURE AND MECHANISM: requires 25 cells

    The only two viable options above are "e" and "f". Both a 25-cell and a 31-cell line easily allow the requisite three blank cells at the beginning of the line and the three blanks before the page number. I would probably opt for Option E, since it contains the significant parts of the title, even though abbreviated. Option F is also reasonable. Discussion and argument on this list are welcomed!

    For your trial manuscript for certification by the Library of Congress, running heads are required. Use of running heads, however, is typically an agency decision. This means that the agency for whom you are doing braille work -- a school district, a brailling guild, etc. -- will decide what their policy is concerning running heads. The decision to include running heads is often made by agencies that are doing high-volume braille work. Running heads are helpful if the braille manuscript is dropped and pages get scrambled! If you are not working for an agency, you should consult with your client about running heads, or make your own decision.

    Headings

    Headings, such as chapter headings, typically follow the print format, with some exceptions. Often times print materials make use of boldface and/or italics to set off the headings -- these should be brailled using normal capitalization. Italics can be used, but only if is needed to explicitly make a word or phrase stand out.

    Rules for headings are:

    1. headings are preceded and followed by one blank line
    2. headings are centered with three blank cells before and after. Long headings are placed on consecutive lines
    3. there should be at least two lines of regular text following a heading and the end of the page. If this is not possible, then the heading should be placed on the next page.
    4. headings that occupy an entire page should be brailled as if they were on the page with the regular text.

    Sub-Headings

    Sub-headings are typically referred to in braille as "Cell-5" headings, meaning that they start in Cell-5. Cell-5 headings are only used under a centered heading, such as a chapter heading. Cell-5 headings are blocked, meaning runovers also begin in Cell 5. A blank line precedes Cell-5 headings but no blank line follows one.

    You will also, on occasion, find texts that use blank lines to isolate a passage of text, such as a quote. You should, in the effort to conserve space, use only one blank line of braille, regardless of the formatting used in the text.

    Graphics, Maps, Diagrams, Illustrations

    One of the key problem areas in formatting a braille book is what to do about pictures. The 1985 Library of Congress has this to say about that issue:

    It is usually necessary to omit maps and diagrams, and sometimes references to these in the text are omitted also. The omission of pictures that cannot be reproduced in braille need not be noted. Captions that simply identify the pictures themselves should be omitted; however, when captions provide information not given elsewhere in the text, it is recommended that these captions be incorporated in the braille text.

    Some transcribers will opt to try to describe verbally the contents of non-textual materials. If you choose to do this (and I would love to spark some discussion of how some of you handle this -- yes, I know what the "rules" say, but what do you really do?). One possible option is to use a transcribers note, which is used when the transcriber needs to include some instructions or explanation to the reader. Transcribers notes follow this format:

    • the note begins and ends with the transcribers note symbol, dots 6 then 3. This symbol is brailled unspaced with the first word of the note. The symbol also is brailled at the end of the note, again unspaced.
    • the note is brailled in paragraph form, beginning in cell 7 with runovers in cell 5.

    Editorial note: my experience with this may be a little different than most -- the majority of my brailling career was spent with a small group of blind individuals with whom I interacted regularly. I brailled materials to their specifications, and most wanted some description of illustrations, even for non-textbook materials. While these materials would not necessarily "pass muster" with the Library of Congress, my clients were being served appropriately. Again, comments and discussions to trans@shodor.org are welcome!

    Order of Preliminary Pages

    The majority of this sessions concerns preliminary pages, those pages (such as the title page) that precede the actual text. The order of preliminary pages is as follows:

    1. Title Page
    2. Special Symbols page (if any)
    3. Transcriber's Notes page (if any)
    4. Cover Material (if any, first volume only)
    5. About the Author (if any, first volume only)
    6. Dedication (if any, first volume only)
    7. Acknowledgements (if any, first volume only)
    8. Table of Contents (for each volume, with the contents for that volume only)
    9. Author's Notes (if any, first volume only)
    10. Preface (if any, first volume only)
    11. Foreward (if any, first volume only)
    12. Introduction or Prologue (if any, first volume only)