If you wish to go direct to the Table of Languages in alphabetical order below, please click here.
[Note: DBT Codes are shown in these topics in red purely for clarity]
The "Document ... Translation Table" menu of the Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT) provides the basic way to choose the base language and "jurisdiction" that is to be applied to the translation process. For example, one may select English as a base language, with "American" as the jurisdiction. That would mean not only that English is presumed to be the basic language of the document, but also that the braille codes established by the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), along with any specifically American usage conventions, are to be applied throughout -- even as to the treatment of other "secondary" languages that may occur as included passages within the document.
All of these tables are works in progress, in part because the various national authorities often refine or extend the corresponding braille code rules, and in part because improvements are often undertaken in order to conform to the rules more closely. Consequently, in any given version of DBT, the various tables typically vary in certain respects, such as whether secondary (embedded) languages are allowed and if so which ones, which characters may appear in the file, and whether math or other technical notation may be entered.
In general, the emphasis in this document is upon print to braille translation, because that is the most commonly used direction and usually the first one implemented. The notes under "Special Requirements and Limitations" generally note when true braille-to-print translation is not available or more limited in scope than the print-to-braille translation.
The list of allowed secondary languages documents those languages that are explicitly supported in the sense that a [lng~...] code can be given to switch into that language. (The initial language of a file is assumed to be the base language of the selected table, so no [lng~...] codes are needed at all for files that are entirely in the base language.) The general rule is that a plain [lng] code, i.e. one without a parameter designating a specific language, or a [lng~...] code for an unsupported language, implies reversion to the base language. In many cases, it is possible to enter passages in secondary languages without switching (although it is usually a good idea to switch to grade 1 if not already in grade 1), at least as long as the character set is supported. The necessity to switch, or not, is partly governed by the rules defined by the applicable braille authorities. For example, in an English document being transcribed according to American usage, it is normally not necessary and in fact inappropriate to switch to another language just for the duration of a word or short phrase presented as an "Anglicized" expression, e.g. "I had a tête-a-tête with my brother ...".
The supported translation codes are listed; those that have no further explanation can be presumed to function as documented in the "Codes Quick Reference" document under the Help menu.
Just as the assumed initial language is the base language for that table, the assumed initial "grade" (level of contraction) is the highest grade supported in that table, e.g. grade 2 in the English/American table. That grade applies not only to the base language but also to any secondary languages, to the extent that contractions in such languages are allowed by the braille authorities for the base language and jurisdiction represented by the table. As an example, at this writing (October 2000), the English/American custom is to transcribe French in grade 1. So, when using the English/American tables, text marked as French is always done in grade 1 even though grade 2 mode remains in effect. By contrast, the English/British custom is to use a kind of grade 2 (a subset of "full" French abrégé) in French passages. So, when using the English/British tables, text marked as French is done in that special grade 2 unless grade 1 mode is in effect.
The "characters supported" sections list the characters only in broad groups, as detailed lists would be impracticably long and subject to frequent change. If detailed information is needed for a particular character or group, a good way to obtain the information would be to copy-and-paste any relevant portions of the "Character List" document (under Help) into a short trial document, and then, having selected the table of interest, translate the document to braille. (In some instances, it might be necessary to select a math or computer-notation context, or a particular secondary language, to set up the translation situation of interest.) Essentially the same advice applies when importing from word-processor files and the like: If you are concerned about unusual characters that may appear in a document, try a short document containing those characters. The braille output for a character that is not supported is typically the same as an asterisk (*), e.g. dots 35, 35 in English, sometimes followed by another arbitrary braille character or short sequence.
The term "ASCII printable" means all the non-control characters in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, or in other words all those in the range D+20 through D+7e in the Character List. These include all Roman-alphabet letters in both cases, ordinary punctuation marks typically used in English, the dollar sign, and a few other symbols with primarily technical uses. Most of the translation tables support the basic ASCII characters. However, as with the other named character groups, some ASCII symbols may not be supported in a given table or a particular context thereof -- in fact, there may not be any defined braille equivalent given in the associated braille code.
A "Select Contractions" section is given only for those tables that provide that option.
The "References, History and Credits" sections give basic information as to the origins of the tables and major relevant documents. However, in general, there are many other influences, too numerous to list, that have played some role in ongoing development. Duxbury Systems is indebted to all of these in its efforts to keep the tables up to current braille standards.