Unified English Braille Code

[dogriver]

This poll is intended for blind or partially blind people, but I have made provisions for the sighted to have relevant options for them as well.

[Poll #1159724]

Comments

Why I Oppose the UEB

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

1. It does not serve to unify anyone. All the other codes are still in use, we've just added another one.
   
2. The new code makes a shambles out of mathematics. Complex math is ten times clumsier under the new system than under the existing one.
   
3. The prevailing opinion among those pushing for the new code is that apathy among blind people in terms of expressing an opinion equals support for the idea.
   
4. In a world where it is already difficult to sell people on the idea of braille, asking them to learn a new code will surely spell the end.
   
5. It has become less about improving braille, and more about the pride and egos of those who are pushing this new code, mostly sighted, and want to leave a legacy.
   

thoughts

[3kitties.livejournal.com]

I think that some of the apathy is due to the lack of understanding in technical issues... Regarding my own opinions, I think that people tend to think that using multiple braille codes is hard when often it is only hard if it is taught in a way that makes it hard. (I have learned braille Hebrew, Nemeth, and music as well as English, French, and Spanish. I think that unifying the English braille code would create confusion for readers who need to do technical work, especially when working with older braille materials. No one is going to re-produce those materials in UEBC.

code thoughts

[michael-m.livejournal.com]

Once again, a question used radio buttons that should have had check boxes.
I very strongly feel both that braille is the difference between literacy and illiteracy, yet I also feel the code is cluncky, and need to be updated to the times.
I think the main reason I don't care about the code is that the basic units of writing will be uneffected. If it turned out the symbol for the letter t was going to be replaced by the letter Q, the letter w would become a two-character symbol, and the "the" contraction was going to disappear, I'd probably care a lot more, but from my understanding, most of grade one and two will be uneffected.
If you ever dedicate one of your radio shows to this topic, let me know.
It couldn't hurt if someone wrote a brief article for the ACB newsletter setting out the changes that would effect the average reader most greatly.

Re: code thoughts

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

You will be losing many of your contractions if the UEB takes effect. In addition, gone will be the days when you could join any words together, such as and, for, the, with, and of, or to, into and by. Dots 46 as a decimal point are gone, the 256 period sign will be used exclusively. All use of lower-cell numbers, be it math or computer code, will be dropped and the upper-cell numbers used exclusively. A sample volume was done using both Nemeth and UEB, and the UEB volume was one-third larger. That's quite substantial. The way you would indicate capitalization in blocks of capitalized words would change. These are some of the basics.