Submitted 2001-10-16
Reinette Popplestone,
Chair of Committee 5
At its meeting in Markham, Canada, (4-8 September 2001) Committee 5 agreed to recommend the following format guidelines:
1.1 Print page indication should be considered standard practice, and in this as in other instances distinctions should not be made between material intended for work and/or study on the one hand and recreational material on the other.
1.2 The print page indicator (PPI) shall consist of a full line of dots 3-6 unspaced from the new print page number in the right hand margin.
1.3 When a print page change coincides with the beginning of a new braille page, the print page indicator should appear on the first line of the braille page.
2.1 The current print page number should be written in the right hand margin of the last line of a braille page. The print page number reflects the page in effect at the bottom of the braille page. When a print page is continued on subsequent braille pages, each repeated print page number is prefixed by the unspaced letters a, b, c, etc.
2.2 The braille page number should be written in the left margin of the last line of the page.
Justification: It is desirable to have all navigational material in one place. The positioning of the current print page number in the right margin is consistent with the position in the right hand margin in the case of the print page change indicator.
3.1 The title of a book should appear on the title page only. There should be no running heads. Only significant navigational information such as section and chapter numbers or titles, author's name in a text with more than one contributor, guide words, letters or numbers, will appear in the page information line at the bottom of the braille page. The last line of each braille page is reserved for navigational material and is not used for regular text.
4.1 It was agreed that the following levels of headings be used:
4.2 When a level 2, 3, or 4 heading precedes material that normally has a blank line before it, the blank line should be omitted.
4.3 When heading levels 2-4 follow one another without intervening text, omit the blank lines before the second and third headings.
4.4 When headings appear after a braille or print page turn the blank line preceding the heading should be shown.
NB: This principle extends to instances such as blank lines which separate stanzas from each other in poetry, or outlines from surrounding text when they coincide with a braille and/or print page turn.
5.1 The beginning of a paragraph in braille is indicated by indenting the first line two spaces.
5.2 The practice of using three spaces to indicate the start of a new paragraph (as has been done in for example magazines) should be discontinued.
6.1 The practice of indicating different levels in an outline by indenting only the first line of each item should be discontinued.
6.2 Outlines should be presented as follows:
6.2.1 in the case of a simple list or single level, outline each item begins in cell 1 with runovers in cell 3.
6.2.2 in multi-level outlines and nested lists each subsequent level should be indented 2 cells beyond the starting point of the previous level with runovers indented 4 additional cells.
6.2.3 a blank line should separate the outline from surrounding text
NB: In this instance we are referring to outlines which occur inside a document. When an entire document is at issue, this layout would not be practical. Note also that just because an author chooses to use a numbering system usually associated with outlines, this does not automatically identify the document to have been written in outline form.
7.1 Indication of altered typeface in extended passage. When it is necessary to indicate altered typeform in a passage extending over more than one text element, the passage terminator SHOULD be used at the end of each text element, and the passage typeform indicator SHOULD be repeated at the beginning of subsequent text elements.
Note that for the purpose of this recommendation text elements refer at least to headings, paragraphs, a single item in a list or outline, and stanzas in a poem.
7.2 Altered typeface should be indicated when inserted material is identified in print by indented margins and altered typeface.
7.3 An embedded list of italiciszed items such as titles of films, books, etc. should be treated as a passage, and not be treated as separate text elements as has traditionally been the case.
7.4 The committee recommends the omission of type face indication in the following instances:
7.4.1 in uniform typeface in headings of levels 1-4;
7.4.2 in text which is already set off by enclosure symbols such as parentheses, quotation marks
7.4.3 in entry words in glossaries, dictionaries, indexes, etc.
NB: When there is an indication other than typeface of the division between the entry word and its definition, a colon should be added, with a transcriber's note to that effect.
7.5 Type face change should be indicated in all other instances.
8.1 Lists
8.1.1 Lists should be treated as outlines (see 6 above)
8.1.2 Attention marks such as bullets, diamonds, hollow dots, etc. should be reproduced. If one occurs for which there is no UEBC equivalent, a transcriber defined symbol should be used.
8.2 Blank lines only should be used in braille to separate displayed material from the surrounding text when indentation is used in print.
8.3 BOXES
8.3.1 Box lines should be indicated in braille if shown in print.
8.3.2 They should extend across the whole width of the page.
8.3.3 An opening or closing line should not appear alone at the top or bottom of the page without being connected to a line of text.
8.3.4 Side-by-side boxes should be presented one below the other; in the case of boxes small enough to fit onto a braille page side by side, their position need however not be altered.
8.3.5 The committee agreed to refer to Committee 2 the question of assigning appropriate opening and closing “box indicators” as well as a way of indicating adjoining boxes.
NB: It was felt that the current British method of indicating boxes resembles too closely the proposed print page indicator.
9.1 Verse lines should begin at the margin with runovers in cell 3.
9.2 If a poem contains levels of indentation, each line begins indented 2 cells to the right of the beginning of the previous indentation, with runovers 2 cells to the right of the deepest indentation.
9.3 Each stanza is to be preceded by a blank line.
9.4 Where possible, the “shape” of a poem should be reproduced or suggested.
9.5 In cases where a fragment of poetry is quoted within prose text, follow print.
9.6 Symbols used in print to separate verse lines such as a slash or colon should not be replaced by a line sign.
10.1 In texts with line numbering all numbered lines SHOULD start in cell one, all unnumbered lines in cell 3 and all runovers in cell 5.
11.1 Print Reference marks should be represented by their equivalent UEBC symbols.
11.2 PLACEMENT OF REFERENCE MARKS AND REFERENCES. The line of text should be terminated at the point where the reference indicator occurs, and the footnote inserted on the following braille line.
11.3 The footnote should start in cell 7 with runovers in cell 5.
11.4 The relevant reference mark should be repeated at the beginning of the footnote.
11.5 No blank lines should separate the footnote from surrounding text.
12.1 Definition: A table is an arrangement of data into vertical columns and horizontal rows in which there is a line-by-line and column-to-column relationship among the data items. Although the formats given here are appropriate for some columned materials, all columned materials are not tables.
12.2 Placement
12.2.1 Tables should be placed on the print page on which they appear. The following should be used as guidelines when determining the exact placement of tables in the braille edition:
12.2.2 If possible, the table should be kept together on one braille page.
12.3 Tabular Format
12.3.1 Preferred Format: the preferred method for displaying tables is the tabular format used in print.
12.3.2 Table Heading: the table heading (number and title) should be centered.
12.3.3 Table Captions: Table captions (information about the table) should appear before the body of the table beginning in cell 7 with runovers in cell 5.
12.3.4 Column Headings
12.3.4.1 Column headings should be left-adjusted over the columns to which they refer.
12.3.4.2 If the table contains subcolumns, the column headings must be left-adjusted over all subcolumns to which they refer.
12.3.4.3 If any of the column headings must use more than one line, the column should end on the same line, i.e. be bottom-justified.
12.3.5 Separation line: A separation line must appear below each column or subcolumn heading. This line should consist of dot 5 followed by cells of dots 2-5 covering the width of the column. A separation line between a column heading and its subcolumn headings should extend over the full width of the subcolumn headings.
12.3.6 Row headings
12.3.6.1 Row headings should begin at the margin with runovers in cell 3.
12.3.6.2 If a table contains sub-rows, the sub-rows should begin in cell 3 with all runovers in cell 5.
12.3.6.3 If runovers are necessary to preserve the tabular format, it is usually preferable to arrange the table so that the runovers are in the row heading so that the tabular appearance of the follwing columns is obvious.
12.3.7 Column entries (table data)
12.3.7.1 Column entries should begin on the line on which the row heading ends.
12.3.7.2 Column entries in any given row should begin on the same line.
12.7.3.3 Two blank cells should ordinarily be left between the columns of a table. If space saving is a factor, one blank cell may be left between columns of numbers or other information of predictable length (such as y or n for “yes” or “no.”)
12.3.7.4 When there are more than three blank cells between columns, guide dots (dot 5 or dot 3) should be used to point the reader to the following column. These guide dots should be preceded by one space and should be followed by the space between the columns.
12.3.7.5 Columns should be left adjusted, except that columns of numbers which are aligned by place value may appear as printed if they will be used for computation.
12.3.7.6 Runovers in columns should appear two spaces to the right of the beginning of their columns. Generally, more than one runover line makes the tabular format unclear and impedes reading. If a table seems to require many runovers, use one of the alternatives listed below.
12.3.7.7 Ellipses, dashes, or space indicators should be used to indicate blanks or omissions in a column
12.3.8 Horizontal and Vertical Lines and Blank Lines Within a Table
12.3.8.1 Horizontal and vertical lines should be shown only if they indicate major divisions in a table, such as totals of numbers.
12.3.8.2 Blank lines should be used only to separate major divisions of a table.
12.3.9 Tables Continued over Several Braille Pages
12.3.9.1 The page information line should carry the table title followed by the abbreviation “cont.” on pages on which the table is continued.
12.3.9.2 Column and row headings should be repeated on continuing pages.
12.3.10 Sources and notes
12.3.10.1 Sources and notes that appear at the end of a table
12.3.10.1.1 A separation line extending over the full width of the table columns should appear before the source and notes.
12.3.10.1.2 Sources should be blocked in cell 5.
12.3.10.1.3 Notes should begin in cell 3 with runovers in cell 1.
12.3.10.2 Notes and sources at the beginning or middle of a table
12.3.10.2.1 A source located at the beginning of the table should begin in cell 7 with runovers in cell 5.
12.3.10.2.2 Notes may be moved to the beginning of a table if their placement there would ease reading of the table. A transcriber's ntoe must indicate this change. It is generally undesirable to move material from the print page on which it appears. If moving the notes is necessary, inclusive page numbers of the table may be given as the running print page number, i.e. 222-225, a222-225, etc.
12.3.10.2.3 If a note appears on a print page in the middle of a table, the note may be placed at the end of the material on that page following a separation line (dot followed by cells of dots 2-5 extending over the width of the table.)
12.4 Adjustments To Make Tables Fit On A Page
12.4.1 If a column contains only numbers, the number sign may be omitted from the column in order to save space. A transcriber's note should precede the table indicating this format.
12.4.2 Columns and rows may be transposed. A transcriber's note should indicate this change.
12.4.3 Wide tables may be divided into vertical sections. Row headings must be repeated before each section.
12.4.4 Column or row headings may be shortened by using abbreviations or omitting repeated words or symbols. A transcriber's note should indicate this change.
12.4.5 Keys may be used to save space, but they should be used judiciously.
12.4.5.1 Mnemonic keys consisting of portions of words are generally easier to use than numbered or lettered keys.
12.4.5.2 A key of more than one page may require considerable memorizing or page-flipping. If a key is very long, another method should be used.
12.4.5.3 A key should be formatted as a list surrounded by transcriber's note symbols. The word “Key” should appear as a level-3 or level-4 heading, preceded by a transcriber's ntoe symbol. Items in the key, followed by their meanings, shoud be presented in list format.
12.4.6 In some instances, tables may be placed on facing pages so that the whole width of the table may be read at onfæpage opening. This format can however be difficult to use if the last entry on the lefthand page is short, or if the table contains many runovers.
12.5 Other Formats for Tables
12.5.1 The following formats are generally easier to transcribe than tabular format; as a result, they can easily be overused. Nevertheless, if timeliness is a factor, or if another format makes a table more usable, the following alternative formats may be used.
12.5.2 Stairstep format: This format involves blocking the row heading in cell 1, the column after the row heading in cell 3, etc. Column headings are laid out in a transcriber's note at the beginning of the table showing the position in which they will appear. This format takes a good deal of space and is generally preferred for tables containing large amounts of text.
12.5.3 Paragraph or Linear Format
12.5.3.1 The most common variation of this format involves paragraphing (3-1) or outdenting (1-3) each row and writing the information in the row across the line with semicolons between each column. Column headings are listed in a transcriber's note preceding the table. This format should not be used for tables which contain internal punctuation. It is the most space-saving format for tables and is often used in magazines.
12.5.3.2 For very complicated tables, the following format may be used:
12.5.3.2.1 Place each row heading as a level-3 or level-4 heading, preceded on the same line by the column heading.
12.5.3.2.2 Paragraph or outdent each column in the row, preceded by its column heading.
13.1 A complete table of contents showing volume divisions, if possible, and print page numbers should appear in volume 1.
13.2 The volume number should be a level 2 heading above the volume contents.
13.3 Subsequent information will be in the form of a nested list.
13.4 Each braille volume should also contain a table of contents of material found in that volume listing both print and braille page numbers.
13.5 Braille page numbers should succeed chapter information in the left column and the print page numbers in the right column (at the right margin).
13.6 One space should be left between the column of print page numbers and the column of braille page numbers, with the numbers left aligned in the columns.
13.7 At least one space should be left between the CHAPTER ENTRY and the braille page number column.
14.1 Utilise all the lines on the page starting in line 1
14.2 The following informatin must appear prominently on the first title page:
14.3 Name of publisher, place and date of publication of braille version should appear on the second title page.
15.1 In instances where it is necessary to display a worked problem in which the length of lines exceed the length of the braille line, the following options are available:
In this regard the Committee recommends:
16.1 an upper limit of 29 lines per page and 42 cells per line.
16.2 a core set of possibly 3 standard sizes of paper to be specified in the near future.
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