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Announcing Duxbury DBT Win 12.7 sr3 for Windows and Mac

DBT 12.7 sr3
2024-04-11 (2023-04-17)

Duxbury Systems continually revises DBT to add new features, support new and updated embossers, and fix problems, as well as to respond to the latest revisions in braille rules, operating system updates, and third party changes.

Below you will find our advances and improvements since the prior release.

For more sources of information, please take advantage of "Check for Updates" from your DBT Help menu. Or, visit the Duxbury Website for both new information and historical information about DBT features and updates.

Service Release SR3 is free to all licensed users of DBT 12.7. It includes these fixes as improvements.

• JAWS scripts have been updated to fix reading of hard space characters in Formatted View.
• JAWS scripts handling of Find and Replace dialogs for braille documents has been corrected.
• Chuvash, Ingush, and Udmurt are identified as European, not Asian languages.
• Some uncommon contraction errors in English/Unified (UEB) have been corrected.
• Support for Cherokee and Navajo has been added.
• Croatian support has been updated and improved to match the latest specifications we have. Uncontracted braille is now the default.
• Swahili translation has been adapted specifically for Kenya. DBT now offers a Swahili (Kenya) template that supports a contracted braille code that appears to be used only in Kenya, and a Swahili (General) template for use elsewhere.
• We have increased the range of characters that can be imported into DBT, with particular increases in the characters to be imported into the Arabic, Hindi, and Devanagari scripts.
• DBT now imports the long division symbol (U+27cc) properly from MathType. In addition, the Nemeth Code templates properly translate the long division sign and barred brackets from print to braille and back to print again.
• Styles in the English BANA pre-UEB templates have been adjusted so that documents containing math give better support for Nemeth Code.
• There is a new template specifically for uncontracted UEB with Nemeth, to avoid the problem of switching into contracted braille following math segments.
• There are five fonts packaged with DBT: Braille, SimBraille, Braille Français, SimBraille Français, and Swell Braille. Each of these has been updated to version 3.1, incorporating these improvements:
• Encoding of Unicode Braille Patterns characters U+2800 through U+283F as well as Unicode U+2011.
• Improved appearance when ClearType is enabled. This change also applies to display of braille documents in DBT. Please note that disabling ClearType remains preferred.
• Technical fixes that may sometimes have prevented proper rendering, particularly of Braille, Braille Français, and Swell Braille.
• Braille-Build has been fixed and updated to generate version 3.1 fonts.
• Use of <esc>Pnn for Braillo 650SW embossers is restricted to values of nn 01-99. This corrects a problem with embossing certain larger documents.
• We have fixed a problem with single-sided output on classic Enabling Technologies embossers when a page contains graphics.
• The columnar table formatter is better able to handle tables with a few columns, some of which have lots of text.
• A bug that caused unnecessary "failsafe" formatting of tables has been fixed.
• A bug has been fixed to correct formatting of tables on pages witih antipicatory page headings, as used in the UK.
• The Word importer now correctly imports certain Word text boxes that were previously missed.
• The translated line display has been improved, to allow display of all or most codes. Use the "Formatted View Translated Line Codes" control in the Gobal View Preferences dialog to set this up.
• The translated line display for BANA with Nemeth documents eliminates spurious display of shall and which.
• DBT command line processing has been fixed. DBT will now exit now after processing files with /brf option or similar options, unless one or more files is opened using the command line as well.
• On some computers, DBT was prone to crashing when selecting certainly Edit menu items after closing a document. This has been corrected.
• An [mfcs] code without a corresponding [mfce] code will no longer cause DBT to lock up.

DBT 12.7 sr2
2023-10-03 (2023-10-02)

Service Release SR2 is free to all licensed users of DBT 12.7. It includes these fixes as improvements.

• Additional UI Automation and JAWS script improvements have been made, particularly improving the stability of DBT when running with UI Automation enabled and the JAWS screen reader in use.
• Handling of Nemeth in two templates, English (BANA Pre-UEB Textbook DE) - BANA and English (BANA Pre-UEB Textbook DE) - BANA Nemeth, has been corrected.
• English/Unified (UEB) braille-to-print translation has been improved. The same improvements are included in all the learning tables.
• Croatian braille-to-print translation has been improved.
• Serbian braille-to-print translation has been improved.
• Placement of the second page of a two page table has been corrected.
• When importing math as UEB with Nemeth, a problem in DBT 12.7 caused the loss of the space after problem numbers in a list of problems within the Nemeth switches. This problem has been fixed.

DBT 12.7 sr1
2023-9-06 (2023-9-11)

DBT 12.7 SR1 has been released free to all users of DBT 12.7 to fix a few critical issues:

• A new problem causing crashes with tabular material has been fixed.
• We fixed a few crashing problems when DBT is run with JAWS and UI Automation enabled.
• For reading lines in a braille document with JAWS, the default setting is once again reading the translated line. This corrects the unwanted default setting in DBT 12.7 of reading braille lines by character.
• DBT does not crash when you set a window of fewer than 9 lines.
• Import of braille files using "Orbit Reader" no longer favors uppercase. This improves subsequent braille-to-print translation.
• There is a new template "Haitian Creole". The translation is identical to French uncontracted.
• DBT can now read characters beyond U+FFFF; it supports 54 new Unicode ranges beyond this limit. These are largely ancient languages and additional Asian scripts. The most requested scripts are Cuneiform and Ugaritic. Click here for an external web page for the details.

DBT 12.7
2023-7-19 (2023-7-24)

DBT 12.7 provides the following important improvements and fixes and more.

Accessibility

• We have changed the JAWS keystroke in DBT to read the last word on the current line from Alt+Slash to Alt+End. The keyboard entry for Alt+Slash was causing problems for some users of non-English JAWS.
• We have fixed a problem with voicing DBT codes in the fields for Find and Replace and the fields for adding and modifying styles.
• JAWS scripts ensure that the grade of braille on a braille device on the print side matches the user's translation settings in JAWS.
• JAWS voicing of keystrokes on the Cosmo Brailler is improved.

Document Importing

• Importing .docx files avoids an unusual pitfall that could cause a DBT crash.

Document Exporting

• HTML and Word exports can reconstruct hyperlinks from DBT markup when a URL is included. Importers for HTML and .docx files produce the appropriate markup, so hyperlinks can, in effect, be preserved round-trip through braille.
• HTML and Word exports can be customized.
• HTML and Word exports improve handling of many DBT styles, producing better indent and runover in the output.

Math

• Nemeth math-only print-to-braille translation has been updated to prevent insertion of unwanted script indicators in certain instances.
• Nemeth math-only braille-to-print translation has been updated for miscellaneous improvements including to the handling of typeform indicators and math styles.
• Improved recognition of the start and end of math when importing Word documents.

DBT Operations / General

• Find and Replace dialogs support limited wildcard use in codes.
• A new parameter in the [ind] code allows for right alignment of many lines of text.
• The menu and dialog in the Global menu formerly labeled Autosave Options is now labeled File Locations. You can use this dialog to set default locations for Open and Save dialogs. The dialog still allows for management of autosave options.
• DBT supports a new command line switch /resetfilesavefolder or /resetfileopenfolder for use when the Save As dialog or Open dialog will not appear, or appears only after a long delay. Please contact technical support for help using this.

Language Updates

Flag	Description
	Bashkir: print-to-braille translation support added.
	Biblical Original Languages table improved (better tables, better language switching).
	Bulgarian: improved print-to-braille and braille-to-print translation, including hypenation issues; eliminated use of English contractions for embedded English script.
	Canadian aboriginal: many languages are now supported via syllabic support when importing documents into any UEB template.
	Danish: Supporting the new 2022 rules with print-to-braille and braille-to-print translation. We also support the older 1993 rules.
	English/Unified (UEB): print-to-braille translation of several unusual words has been improved.
	English/Unified (UEB) - United Kingdom: The new template (with some improvements) is called English (UEB) - UK formatting. The prior template is English (UEB) - UK formatting (legacy). Detailed documentation is available here.
	Estonian: braille-to-print translation improved the handling of spaces following emphasis. Localized display of braille documents added.
	Fula: Revised Fula translators are now identical to the new West African languages translators.
	Japanese: handling of Kanji is greatly improved, especially for words comprising multiple Kanji characters.
	Japanese: improved braille-to-print and print-to-braille handling of embedded Latin script text and certain special characters.
	Khakas: language support added.
	Khmer: braille-to-print translation improved the handling of independent vowels.
	Korean: braille-to-print translation improved the handling of a certain character after dots 126.
	N'ko (language and script): support through West African Languages.
	Slovak: improved print-to-braille and braille-to-print translation, using the latest rule book.
	Tifinagh (language and script): support through West African Languages.
	Vai (language and script): support through West African Languages.
	West African Languages: New language added (print-to-braille and braille-to-print). This is not an official code, but intended to serve for myriad West African languages with no currently defined official code, unless and until an official code is defined. Support for many scripts (Arabic, Extended Arabic, Amhrmic, N'ko, Vai, and Tifinagh) is included. More information is available online.

DBT 12.7 adds support for about 20 additional Unicode ranges. For a complete list, see the List of Unicode Ranges (halfway down the page).

We are constantly working on improved language support. If you are interested in specific language improvements, please write to us at languages@duxsys.com.

Notice: Microsoft Windows 7

You may still find occasional references to the Windows 7 operating system in these Help pages, but be warned that Microsoft has ended support of Windows 7, and security updates ceased as of January 2020. For this reason, Duxbury cannot recommend using DBT on Windows 7 computers or on any earlier Microsoft operating system.

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Announcing NimPro 3.0 (Windows)

NimPro 3.0 (Widows Only)
2022-9-1

NimPro 3.0 improves on version 2.0 principally in three MAJOR respects:

• EPUB 3 files are supported,
• a new "remapper" function is available to handle documents where tagging is used systematically, but not in the manner that NimPro expects, and
• improvements have been made to MathML handling.

More information about NimPro, including downloads links for both Windows and macOS (version 2.0), is posted here.

Announcing SWIFT 5.7

SWIFT 5.7 is a Free Product which enhances
your copy of Word and DBT.

This version release updates the Dot NET platform requirement to work more seamlessly with newer versions of Windows.

• SWIFT 5.7 is free.
• SWIFT 5.7 works with DBT 12.2 sr1 and newer versions.
• You do need a copy of DBT 12.2 sr1 or newer and a copy of MS Word (2007 or above) to use SWIFT 5.7. All SWIFT users with DBT DBT 12.2 sr1 or newer are urged to upgrade. Be sure to remove the existing SWIFT installation before installing the update.
• Click here for more information and a download link. (Earlier versions of SWIFT are still available if you have an older version of DBT.)

Perky Duck and QuickTac Releases

We are very happy to announce new Perky Duck and QuickTac releases in July 2020. These are both free products.

Perky Duck is a simple braille editor, often used in braille classroom settings. Information about Perky Duck, with downloads links for Windows and macOS, is posted here.

QuickTac is a tactile graphics composition program. Information about QuickTac, with download links for Windows and macOS, is posted here.

The News Archive

NimPro 2.0: New Service Release for Windows & First Release on the Macintosh

NimPro 2.0, which features the new MathML capability and improved "wizards", was released in July, 2020. As of January 2021, NimPro 3.0 (Windows) brings NimPro up to date with the template enhancements in DBT 12.5.

Meanwhile, NimPro for Mac 2.0 marks the first appearance of Duxbury's NimPro (Nimas Processor program) on the Macintosh computer, with all the same capability as NimPro on the Windows platform, including MathML.

Duxbury DBT 12.6 for Windows and Mac

DBT 12.6 sr2
2023-3-06 (2023-3-22)

This is an update to fix a number of structural problems with DBT related to installation.

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DBT 12.6 sr1
2022-12-8 (2023-1-12)

Duxbury Systems continually revises DBT to add new features, support new and updated embossers, and fix problems, as well as to respond to the latest revisions in braille rules, operating system updates, and third party changes.

Below you will find our advances and improvements since the prior release.

For more sources of information, please take advantage of "Check for Updates" from your DBT Help menu. Or, visit the Duxbury Website for both new information and historical information about DBT features and updates.

DBT 12.6 SR1 provides the following important improvements and fixes and more.

Reference Page Numbering

Reference Page Numbering, also known as Print Page Numbering, is an important formatting feature of textbooks and other documents where collaboration with inkprint readers is important. DBT 12.6 SR1 has made several important improvements to the handling of Reference Page Numbering:

• DBT's formatter can automatically increment reference page numbers in both print and braille documents.
• The code used to trigger automatic incrementing can be assigned to the keyboard shortcut used for introducing new Reference Page Numbers, by using the Shortcut Preferences Dialog in the Global menu.
• Importing page break locations from Word (.docx) files now works with modern desktop versions of Word and on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
• For users of Duxbury's BANA Template for Microsoft Word, we've made one other improvement. Where a RefPageNumber paragraph style is used in the middle of a list, DBT will automatically convert this to a RefPageNumberEmbed style to avoid erroneous skipped lines in the list.

Accessibility

• With the current JAWS script files, JAWS 2022 is no longer having problems with using the appropriate grade of braille on refreshable braille devices.
• JAWS no longer chatters when the user translates to braille or toggles between Formatted and Coded view in a braille document
• We have restored the JAWS ability to properly handle highlighting with Control+H in DBT 12.4 or below. [We should probably omit this item.]
• We have fixed a problem that caused JAWS to speak character entry as braille characters when using Find or Replace in print documents.
• JAWS now does more appropriate voicing for navigating through tables and matrices in DBT, including two-page tables. For appropriate voicing in two-page tables, make sure the table starts on an even numbered page (a lefthand page in interpoint braille).
• Previously JAWS cursor tracking could have problems in Coded View unless you intervened in the DBT shortcut properties under Compatibility ‑> High DPI settings. That is no longer needed, as the desired solution is now built into DBT.
• The Canute Braille E-Reader is now supported by DBT.

Document Importing

• We corrected imports of files tagged for spelling/grammar when Word uses the bidi attribute instead of the val attribute to mark the language. This affects, in particular, .docx files containing blends of English and Hindi.
• There are several fixes for importing Word documents with MathType expressions. These changes fix problems with use of the prime symbol and accidental use of a forced hyphen. Importation of function names followed by a Greek letter is also fixed.
• Custom importers (command lines specified in dbt.uit) are no longer restricted to eight-bit command lines, and the command lines are essentially unlimited in length. This makes is more generally possible to use a custom importer on any given document file, regardless of the name and location of the file.
• Custom importers may produce UTF-8 output, provided that a Byte Order Mark is placed at the start of the file. The Byte Order Mark is three bytes: 0xEF, 0xBB, 0xBF. DBT will not compress spaces for UTF-8 custom importer output files, as it does for customer importer output files encoded as DUSCI.
• DBT can properly import indexed roots ([ixtrs]...[ixrte]) from OpenXML (.docx) mathematics markup.
• Importing .docx files containing numerous footnotes and/or endnotes is now more stable, uses less memory, and is faster.

Document Exporting

• Korean text is exported properly to .prf files (but only when UTF-8 encoding is selected)

Math

• We have changed the math style in the templates English (BANA Pre-UEB Textbook DE) - BANA Textbook Fmt and English (BANA Pre-UEB Textbook DE) - BANA Nemeth. Instead of using the codes [ts] and [te] to switch into and out of technical notation, the math style now switches into and out of the Nemeth translation table. This change makes the translated line meaningful for Nemeth technical notation in these pre-UEB templates.
• See other math changes in the language improvements.

Embosser Support

• DBT now supports Z-fold format on Index FanFold embossers
• QuickTac and similar (.sig format) graphics may be produced on ViewPlus embossers, when embedded in a DBT document.
• A problem that caused DBT to improperly scale TactileView images on ViewPlus embossers has been fixed.
• We have fixed a DBT bug that caused excessive popup errors when embossing to Nippon Telesoft Super Gemini embossers with interline print.

DBT Operations / General

• The G1Passage style has been added to all UEB templates. This should be used for spelling lists and similar items as directed by the UEB rule books.
• We have corrected the processing of modified End Codes in Custom formatted tables of contents.
• We have corrected two issues with Replace All in the Editor. The first problem is that the Replace All logic will miss a code (or, presumably, text) that is to be replaced the second (and fourth, etc.) time where it appears immediately after itself. The second problem is a popup message that reports DBT is unable to locate a cursor when Replace All is complete.
• DBT better supports two-page tables. These are tables whose rows spread between two braille pages.
• A potential for DBT to lock up during translation has been resolved.
• Minor updates have been made in the UKAAF template to improve formatting, including of poems.

Language Updates

Flag	Description
	All Languages of India: fix apostrophe
	Assamese: Repair some letter combinations
	Hindi: handle English in braille to print.
	Khakas: (adding a new language); This is a minority language spoken in Russia
	Lithuanian: Respecting emphasis in braille to print.
	Nemeth Code: fix spacing issues near boldface and a few other things.

We have made several "internal" improvements, with potential impact on other languages, including Cherokee, Canadian Aboriginal languages, Japanese, and several West African languages, though these improvements are not fully exposed in the update. If you are interested in this work, or any other language improvements, please write to us at languages@duxsys.com.

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DBT 12.6
2022-4-15 (2022-4-25)

DBT 12.6 provides the following important improvements and fixes and more.

User Interface/ Commands / Accessibility

• DBT Editor, Coded View: improved display of non-breaking spaces, non-breaking hyphens, and assisted hyphens.
• Cut and Paste in the SEARCH and REPLACE Dialog: When working on a braille document, the DBT editor now allows cutting and pasting codes containing the tilde (~) and other non-braille characters.
• Replace All: This editing function has been revised for stability and should always produce the expected result.
• JAWS: The JAWS scripts are updated for those using JAWS 2022 with DBT and a braille display, which eliminates problems that caused JAWS to use the wrong grade of braille on the braille display. Additional improvements to the JAWS scripts include improved eBrailler Cosmo support.
• For the Mac platform, greatly improved cursor routing support with refreshable braille displays.

Embosser Support

• Super Gemini Embosser:  Duxbury added support in DBT (Win) for variations in the font used for interline print.
• Index Embossers and Humanware (Enabling) Embossers: NEW! Selecting DP6 (double-sided landscape z-fold embossing) versus DP7 (single-sided landscape z-fold embossing).
• Braillo 300, 300 S2, 450 S2, 600, 600 S2: The page length specifications for A4 paper on all these models has been updated (to 83 x 117).
• Enabling Embossers (the classic models that support graphics): Both center and right alignment of tactile graphics output as specified.

DBT Operations / General

• Command line processing: has implemented the command line switch /RemovePrinterInfo, used when saving custom DBT templates.
• The command line now handles wide Unicode characters for file names that can appear in world alphabets.
• Editing: Duxbury fixed a number of customer issues including a reported crash under certain circumstances of saving a file, and a problem inserting a Word document into an open DBT editing session when using Coded View with JAWS and UI Automation.
• Templates: Updated the "English (UEB) - UK formatting (UKAAF)" template to cure problems in SWIFT.
• Activation: Minor improvements to the activation wizard.
• DBT Installer: A bug that could install the support file "en/actwiz.mo" multiple times has been fixed.

Document Importing

• Math Type imports: We resolved a problem in trigonometric functions such as sin, cos, tan, etc., when followed by a Greek letter; the needed space after the function name is now present.
• Orbit Reader imports / BRL Files: the Orbit Reader import filter has a change to ensure that the braille dot patterns dot 4, dots 45, 1256, 246, 12456, and 456 are mapped to the preferred ASCII character to allow recognition by the braille-to-print translators. This makes the Orbit Reader Import filter a good choice when importing .brl files from any refreshable braille device.

• LaTeX: improvements cover additional cases of emphasis/typeform indicators in the markup.

Language Updates

Flag	Description
	Languages of India: Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Panjabi, Sinhala, Telugu. The accuracy of the braille-to-print translations for these Indian languages has been improved.
	All eleven official languages ofSouth Africa: have fully functional braille-to-print translators suitable for demanding applications (Afrikaans, English, and the nine indigenous languages: Ndebele, Nguni, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu).
	Mathematics Braille: There is a correction for the "identical to" symbol (dots 456 123456) in the English (UEB) braille-to-print table and in 11 non-English braille-to-print tables: including Afrikaans, Welsh, Irish, Biblical Original Languages, Esperanto, and several of the indigenous South African languages.
	Amharic: The print-to-braille translation table, and braille-to-print table, are updated to correct the representation of the Amharic syllable "do", and to extend support for the "simplified mode."
	Biblical Original Languages tables improved.
	Danish, Greenlandic: The translation tables in both directions, print-to-braille and braille-to-print, have been updated to correct handling of certain indicators, including emphasis and termination of capitals, and to remove pre-UEB American-style English braille as a secondary language. The associated Danish (and Greenlandic) uncontracted tables were likewise updated.
	English / UEB: The English/Unified Braille translation tables, both print-to-braille and braille-to-print, have been updated to disallow interior type form changes within words standing alone, which affects short-form usage in rare cases. They also correct the contraction usage of several unusual words, and include the recent decisions of the UEB Code Maintenance Committee. The "learning series" (partial contraction) tables for BANA: TSBVI Clusters, Mangold Method, and NLS I.M.B.T.; those for UKAAF/BAUK: Braille in Easy Steps, Fingerprint (UEB), and Take off Series; and OTHERS: RNZFB STAR and S.A. Syllabus Level are included in these updates. If you wish us to include your language's curricula for learning tables, please contact us at: languages@duxsys.com.
	Finnish: The braille translation tables in both directions, print-to-braille and braille-to-print, have been updated to correct emphasis indicators and a punctuation mark.
	Quebec French, Pre-Unified: The print-to-braille table corrects the encoding for a square shape input character.
	Greek: The print-to-braille table is updated to correct the encoding of dasia in the entry for alpha upsilon with varia and dasia.
	Igbo: NEW! This language now has a braille-to-print (reverse) translation table. Also, the print-to-braille translation table is updated to correct the representation of several characters.
	Latvian: The braille translation tables in both directions, print-to-braille and braille-to-print, have been updated to conform to newer standards for certain indicators and punctuation marks.
	Mathematics – Nemeth Code: The Nemeth translator already adds spaces around many signs of comparison including all of the common ones. This handling has just been added for double length arrows. Also, when a comparison sign is at the end of a math style, the translator now correctly adds a space before the sign but not after it. In addition, we fixed a problem that could cause the omission of a baseline indicator needed after a term with subscripts and/or superscripts when followed by a trigonometric function.
	Romanian: The print-to-braille translation table has been updated to provide support for Cyrillic characters, still sometimes found in Romanian and Moldovan text.
	Serbian: Improved braille-to-print translation including the correction of two non-alphabetic symbols in Cyrillic text.
	Slovak: Updated print-to-braille & braille-to-print tables for a number of symbols specified by the Slovak braille authority. Also, fixed the local encoding to enable correct Slovak braille display.
	Slovenian: Because of recent contact with Slovenian braille experts, we have reworked the Slovenian print-to-braille table. The changes include the typeform indicators (bold, italic, etc.), and the decimal comma. A corresponding braille-to-print table has been developed, and a new template added for grade 1 (uncontracted) Slovenian braille.
	Swedish: has improved translation tables in both directions, print-to-braille and braille-to-print, respecting certain punctuation signs and emphasis indicators.
	Urdu: The print-to-braille translation table has been updated to correct the representation of the Arabic letter "heh goal" (Unicode: U+06C1).

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Duxbury DBT 12.5 for Windows and Mac

DBT 12.5 SR4
2021-10-22 (2021-11-09)

Service Release 4 of DBT 12.5 provides the following important improvements and fixes and more.

• Translation table improvements:
  • All eleven South African languages now have braille-to-print translators.
  • Several UEB and UEB-compatible (non-English) braille-to-print translation tables have been updated to correct the translation of dots 456, 123456 to U+2261, the "identical to" sign, instead of U+224D, the "equivalent to" sign (used in mathematics).
  • The Serbian braille-to-print translation table has been updated to correct two non-alphabetic symbols in Cyrillic text.
  • The pre-unified Quebec-French print-to-braille table has been updated to correct the encoding for a square shape input character.
  • The Greek print-to-braille translation table has been updated to correct the encoding of "dasia" (rough breathing) in the entry for alpha upsilon with varia and dasia.
• Embosser updates:
  • The page length for A4 paper on select Braillo models (300, 450, and 600, including the S2 models) has been updated.
  • DBT now handles interline print for Super Gemini embossers, which formerly dropped text that appeared before two or more spaces.
  • Improved connection to the Cosmo brailler.
• DBT editor improvements:
  • The coded view display of non-breaking spaces, non-breaking hyphens, and assisted hyphens has been corrected.
  • Edit, Go To, now works when used to find a reference (print) page.
• JAWS: The DBT JAWS scripts have been adapted to the changes in the current release of JAWS 2022. This fixes a problem that could make the braille on a braille display unreadable when working in a DBT braille document.

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DBT 12.5 SR3
2021-06-16 (2021-07-06)

Service Release 3 of DBT 12.5 provides the following important fixes and improvements.

• New Option: .brf files may be saved in a "12.4 compatible" format.
• The Norwegian (Uncontracted) template is fixed.
• LaTeX exports are improved (math-related styles).
• A defect in the recommended network installation process has been corrected.
• Handling of mathematics is improved in documents exported to Word.
• Fixed a layout issue in the "Device Settings" panel of the embosser definition dialog, affecting only Braillo embossers.
• Embosser Updates:
  • DBT can emboss to an embosser connected on a networked CUPS server.
  • Placement of centered or right-aligned graphics images on Index embossers is corrected; likewise on Enabling Technologies embossers from Humanware.
  • Output to A3 and A4 (landscape) papers on Index embossers is improved.
  • Braillo embosser output to folded sheet booklets now works with single-sided braille.
• Translation table improvements:
  • Braille-to-print translation of Sotho and Tswana is now supported.
  • Venda braille-to-print translation is improved.
  • Estonian translation is improved.
  • Print-to-braille translation is improved for several Indic languages.
  • Hebrew (American) print-to-braille translation is improved.
  • English (UEB) print-to-braille translation is improved.

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DBT 12.5 SR2
2021-04-02 (2021-04-27)

Service Release 2 of DBT 12.5 provides the following important fixes and improvements.

• New translation tables:
  • Welsh braille-to-print.
• Translation table improvements:
  • French print-to-braille,
  • UEB use of French (as an embedded foreign language) fixes braille to print handling of dots 2-4-6.
• Stability: this release fixes a crash in DBT's Coded View.
• User Interface Automation: strengthened "thread-safety" improves stability when UI Automation is on.
• JAWS scripts allow for 8-dot braille, i.e., braille displays using 8 dots now interact correctly with JAWS.

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DBT 12.5 SR1
2021-02-01 (2021-02-02)

Service Release 1 of DBT 12.5 principally improves program stability when running with a UI Automation client, e.g. a screen reader.

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DBT 12.5
2021-01-14 (2021-01-19)

Duxbury Systems continually revises DBT to add new features, fix problems, and to respond to changes in braille rules, embosser and operating system updates, and third party changes.

Below you will find our latest advances since the prior release.

For more sources of information, please take advantage of "Check for Updates" from your DBT Help menu. Or, visit the Duxbury Website for both new information and historical information about DBT features and updates.

Faster Software Response

DBT operations have been considerably accelerated: translated line display, editing, pasting large blocks of text, etc., are significantly faster than any prior version of DBT.

Document Importing

• DBT imports any Alt Text attached to images as paragraphs by themselves when imported from Word documents.
• The Word (.docx) importer has corrections and improvements to: paragraph number handling, the handling of language switches, and text set in Duxbury's French braille fonts. It also more fully automates markup of table header rows, and its UEB Typeform mappings feature is improved.
• DBT will center otherwise unstyled lines imported from Word documents.
• A low-level defect that may have caused document corruption in the past during imports and editing has been eliminated.
• The Word importer will correct problematic Listed Table markup introduced by SWIFT.
• Import of certain Cantonese text has been corrected.
• Import of Unicode markup with combining diacritics (including U+0300 and U+0301) has been improved.
• Automated markup of hyperlinks that include parameters is improved.

User Interface

• New controls in the Table of Contents dialog handle reference page numbering and improve TOC layout.
• New options are added to the Create Template dialog to include printer setups, embosser setups, and/or include text and codes in your custom templates. Adding these options will save the template in binary format. Without them the template is saved in text format.
• A new menu item allows you to undo "Don't show me this again" dialog preferences.
• The translated line display is cleaner in formatted view.
• On-screen display of the hard hyphen character (D+EC41) is fixed. This character frequently appears in UEB when translating an underline or macron.
• The Activation Wizard is newly localized to French and Korean. The Activation Wizard will run in your preferred interface language, when a translation is available.
• The Activation Wizard has been improved to more readily allow switching licenses and to give better details in case of a failure to connect to a network license server.

Major Improvements

• Improvements to forward and back translation for over 40 languages! ( See the Languages section for details.)
• Support for 7 new embossers and improved support for 7 current embossers. (See Embosser Improvements below.)
• The Listed Table and Stair step Table formatters are greatly improved.
• Non-breaking spaces can be copied from DBT documents to other applications intact.
• The Swell Braille font is included with DBT. This font is used when printing on swell paper: dots are 80% of normal to allow for swelling when passed through the fuser.

Braille Mathematics

Embosser Improvements

• ViewPlus Columbia support is improved. Note: Updated drivers are strongly recommended for macOS.
• ViewPlus Delta embossers support booklet printing on 11 x 17 paper.
• Braillo: DBT offers more direct support for variable line spacing on Braillo embossers. A separator sheet can now be placed between copies when writing to Braillo 600 SR embossers.
• DBT supports all Braillo's new "Series 2" (S2) embossers (the 300, 450, and 600).
• Interpoint 55 output can be sent in reverse order.
• Irie embosser support is improved. Front/back page alignment of interpoint output on the Irie BrailleTrac 120 is corrected.
• DBT supports the TactPlus™ EasyTactix embosser,
• the ViewPlus SpotDot,
• the APH PageBlaster, and APH PixBlaster.
• TranSend SE support now includes the EPSON FX-2190II ESC/P model now sold by Humanware.

Language Updates

Flag	Description (** = New Language)
	Afrikaans: Translation is improved in both directions, especially in the braille-to-print direction.
	** Basque: newly added language (uncontracted), spoken in Spain.
	Biblical original language study print-to-braille translation, supports Ethiopic script and fixes Greek language tagging and other minor problems.
	** Chewa (a.k.a., Nyanja): newly added language, spoken in Malawi.
	Danish translation uses German math, when using the math style of the Danish template.
	Dutch print-to-braille and braille-to-print translation has been updated to support more recent standard representations of braces. Dutch localization is now supported.
	English BANA Formatting: spurious skipped lines are eliminated when headings precede a set of directions and likewise between directions and a following list.
	English/UEB translation is updated to support section 7.6 of Rules of Unified English Braille (October 2019) regarding quotation marks. Several other language tables, which use UEB conventions for quotation marks, contain this same update. Print-to-braille translation of a number of uncommon words has been corrected. In UEB transcription, a word that breaks across more than two lines will include a continuation indicator at all appropriate places.
	The English (UEB) - UK formatting (UKAAF) template and corresponding style map are updated.
	Estonian print-to-braille and braille-to-print translation has been improved through feedback from an Estonian user. The Estonian template now reserves the bottom line of each page for braille page numbers with no preceding text.
	** Faroese: newly added language, spoken in Faroese Islands.
	Filipino, Tagalog, and the regional languages of the Philippines (Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Iloko): The basic templates for all of the Philippine languages are now set to use the Nemeth code for mathematics and technical notation as their standard choice.
	French (Unified) braille translation is updated to correct the treatment of Greek letters and currency symbols. The French tables improve print-to-braille handling of ligatures preceded by a hyphen, they perform better capitalization of combined letters, better handling of certain spaced numeral expressions, and improved braille-to-print translation of math and text. Along with these, the handling of French footnote and endnote reference numbers has been fixed.
	** Fulah (a.k.a, Fula): newly added language (print to braille), spoken in Guinea.
	** Galician: newly added language (uncontracted), spoken in Spain.
	** Greenlandic (Kalaallisut): newly added language (uncontracted), spoken in Greenland.
	** Guarani: newly added language (uncontracted), spoken in Paraguay and other nations.
	Hebrew (American) print-to-braille translation corrects certain combinations involving shuruq.
	** Hmong (RPA): newly added language, spoken in Southeast Asia and the United States.
	Icelandic: braille-to-print translation handles emphasis indicators.
	Ingush (a Russian minority language): print-to-braille translation of a characteristic letter has been corrected.
	Japanese: Japanese documents are imported using the On'yomi system of Han characters rather than the Kun'yomi. Handling of embedded Latin script text is improved.
	** Kalanga: newly added language, spoken in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
	** Kikongo (Kongo): newly added language, spoken in Angola.
	** Kinyarwanda: newly added language, spoken in Rwanda.
	** Kirundi (Rundi): newly added language, spoken in Burundi.
	** Kituba: newly added language, spoken in Congo.
	Korean: braille-to-print translation has minor corrections. Korean localization is markedly improved.
	** Leb-Lango: newly added language, spoken in Uganda.
	** Lisu: newly added language (print to braille), spoken in China, Myanmar and Thailand.
	** Luba-Kasai (Luba-Lulua): newly added language, spoken in Congo.
	** Madurese: newly added language, spoken in Indonesia.
	** Malagasy: newly added language, spoken in Madagascar.
	Norwegian translation uses German math, when using the math style of the Norwegian template.
	** Oromo: newly added language, spoken in Ethiopia.
	** Quechua: newly added language, spoken in Bolivia and other nations.
	** Sundanese: newly added language, spoken in Indonesia.
	Swedish translation (both directions) has been updated to correct several issues with punctuation signs and emphasis indication, and to align better with published standards.
	** Tonga (a.k.a., Chitonga, Zambezi): newly added language, spoken in Zimbabwe.
	Ukrainian braille-to-print translation has been corrected. The Ukrainian template now shows the capital letter sign in braille.
	** Umbundu: newly added language, spoken in Angola.

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George Bell Calendar Files

Braille 2019 Calendar files available for DBT users. (zip file for download)
Thanks to George Bell of Techno-Vision Systems Ltd. for creating these and making them available!

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The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) Launches a Guide for the Production of Braille Books in India

Duxbury Systems is proud that this guide centers around the use of DBT. We also note that the advice in this guide can be applied to almost every country in the world.

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) is pleased to launch a Guide for the production of Braille books in India using digital content. The Guide, produced by the DAISY Consortium with the generous funding of the United Nations and Skoll Foundations, explains how digital files can be used to create Braille books in India. India was the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty, and it has legislation allowing for the production of accessible format works – such as Braille, audio and large print – without the need to request prior authorization from the copyright owner.

Download here: A Guide for Braille Presses of India || Annex to the guide

The full press release is available at this location at the ABC website.

Announcing NEW DBT for Mac

DBT for Mac is no longer in beta!

This version is free for purchasers of DBT for Mac 12.1 beta!

To use DBT for Mac, we recommend running Mac OSX El Capitan (10.11), Sierra (10.12), High Sierra (10.13), or higher.

Pricing is the same as for DBT Win: $695 for a single-user license.

DBT MAC print and braille files are compatible with DBT WIN.

Contact your local dealer or Duxbury Systems directly!

Click here for the details

SWIFT Works From Inside Your Copy of Microsoft Word

• SWIFT is an application which works within your copy of Word. Using SWIFT, you can send the current document (or a highlighted portion of a document) to Duxbury DBT, without having to manually start DBT and use the DBT File Open dialogue to load the document.
• You can also make multiple, non-contiguous selections in Word and only open those in DBT. Great if you only wish certain parts of a document in braille!
• SWIFT can send the current Word Document, translated by DBT, directly to the Braille embosser with no user intervention required using DBT's default settings.
• SWIFT can send the current document, translated by DBT, to an ink printer using the Braille or SimBraille font.
• SWIFT contains a "Style Mapper" so that you can customize the way DBT translates user defined Word Styles.
• SWIFT can now save your selected DBT Template name within your Word file.
• In the Options Menu (see screen shot below), select BANA if you are using the BANA Word Template (developed by Susan Christensen). Select Standard if you are making use of the Style Mapper. Selecting All Controls is normally only advised for expert users, but doing so does allow access to all aspects of SWIFT.
• In SWIFT's own dialog boxes, such as Options and Style Map, you can press F1 when focus is on a field within the dialog and be taken directly to that point in the Help file.

Click here for more information.

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New Graph Paper Files Available for Embossing

Thank you, to one of our skilled users for providing us with these useful files which are used on a regular basis in schools. One of the largest supplier of tactile graph paper is discontinuing the product line. As a replacement, we have a series of "do-it-yourself" files to allow one to produce your own. Follow this link for the details.

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MegaDots Sales Discontinued

After much consideration, Duxbury Systems confirms that MegaDots will not be made UEB capable. MegaDots sales will be discontinued immediately.

It is with much sadness that we have come to the point where we must say goodbye to MegaDots. Thank you to all the loyal users, contributors, programmers and supporters over the years.

We will be contacting those who have purchased MegaDots since January 1, 2015 for a special offer. All registered MegaDots 2.4 customers will be able to upgrade to the current version 2.5 at no charge. We will continue MegaDots technical support until July 4th, 2016.

Thank you all for your past, present and future love of braille and literacy as keys to individual determination and freedom.

We, at Duxbury Systems, are very proud to have carried on the heritage of literacy for the blind that was shared by Raised Dot Computing & Braille Planet. We will honor and continue that tradition with the current and future editions of the Duxbury Braille Translator and future developments.

We look forward to an exciting future as Duxbury Systems moves into its 40th year of working with braille

Duxbury Welcomes BANA'S Decision to Adopt UEB

On November 2, 2012, the Braille Authority of North America voted to adopt Unified English Braille, while also retaining the Nemeth Code for Math and Science, following a carefully designed transitional process as announced in BANA's press release at: http://www.brailleauthority.org/pressreleases/pr-2012november.html

With this announcement, UEB has now been adopted by all the members of the International Council on English Braille. Because some other ICEB countries have been using UEB for several years, our Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT) already supports UEB and, by virtue of the table-switching facility, it is also already possible to use Nemeth Code in the context of UEB. We are working to make that kind of transcription even easier in future releases.

Our president, Joe Sullivan, has been deeply involved in the development of UEB, having chaired the basic code design subcommittee from the beginning of the UEB development project in 1991 until acceptance of the code by ICEB in 2004, and having served since 2004 on ICEB's committees for maintenance of the code. By virtue of that involvement, he is naturally pleased to see UEB's gradual acceptance as a robust universal code for English-based text including math and other kinds of technical notation, but he is also aware of many issues that will need to be worked out over time and determined to support BANA's decisions fully.

Duxbury Systems acknowledges that it needs to make changes in DBT so that US users can more easily select Nemeth Code for math in conjunction with UEB (or any other braille code) within DBT.

Introducing NimPro

Duxbury Systems is introducing a new product, NimPro, to read NIMAS files. This product automates many of the common transcriber steps which may be very time consuming. These files can then be exported to DBT (version 11.1 or higher) or to MegaDots (version 2.4 or 2.5).

NimPro is currently available for $295 for licensed DBT 11.1 and MegaDots 2.4/2.5 users only.

• NimPro directly reads NIMAS/Daisy files. Often NIMAS files are huge, and loaded with graphics. You can start the preparation of these files for braille using NimPro.

• NimPro exports to files for DBT and MegaDots, ready for braille production.

• Nimpro exports to Microsoft Word documents with BANA Styles (Braille-ready styles) included as an interim format to present to DBT or MegaDots.

• Nimpro contains automated "wizards" to convert inconvenient and inappropriate text styles into styles that facilitate correct Braille, applied at the user's direction to the pages or sections the user selects.

• Nimpro has several ways of handling images. One approach is to render images from the original text into tactile graphics using QuickTac, available free from Duxbury Systems. Another approach is to replace graphic images from the original text with either text or direct Braille. Both approaches are illustrated in the screen shots shown below.

• NimPro lets you divide the document into manageable segments for Braille production.

• NimPro converts all unrecognized text styles into styles understood by DBT and MegaDots.

• NimPro offers easy controls to adjust multiple heading levels to match the needs of Braille output.

• NimPro has controls to adjust automatic list numbering, bold face, and italics.

• NimPro has automatic addition of guide dots on tables of contents.

• NimPro has automatic conversion of the complex mark-up of tables into the correct format for DBT, MegaDots, or MS Word. This includes handling of lists and multiple paragraphs within tables and complexities such as tables nested inside other tables.

• NimPro offers control over the output of page number references.

For more information about NimPro, click here.

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Duxbury Systems offers Two Important Document Collections

Duxbury Systems created two important web pages

• Documents on Automated Braille Production
• History of Braille and the Early Education of the Blind

Those who study the history of the blind and the history of braille should find this material useful.

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Copyright Duxbury Systems, Inc. Monday, August 7, 2023

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