Foreign Language Braille for English speakers

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(Applies to: EasyConverter)

Chapter 1: Braille numbers with EasyConverter

Braille readers studying or reading languages in the UK are generally taught to read French, German, Spanish or Welsh Braille using the foreign language codes published by BAUK. This Braille is different to the French Braille used in France, or Spanish Braille read in Spain. As an example, in France, numbers are Brailled completely differently, one of the few countries taking a different approach to Braille numbers.

EasyConverter is able to create Braille for both requirements:

Producing French Braille for France

1. Select the Settings option from the File menu in EasyConverter or click on the Settings button.
2. Select the Braille General option from the tree view on the left.
3. Choose French Uncontracted (Grade 1) or French Contracted (Grade 2) from the Language Profile pull down list.
4. Select OK to confirm your choice.

Producing French Braille for the UK

1. In the Microsoft Word document, mark all French text as language French:

Using Word 2003 (or below):

• Select the French text.
• Open the 'Tools' menu.
• Select 'Language'.
• Choose French from the list.

Using Word 2007 (or above):

• Select the French text.
• Click the language button on the status bar.
• Alternatively you may prefer to access the same dialog using Alt+T, L, L.

1. In EasyConverter, select the Settings option from the File menu in EasyConverter or click on the Settings button.
2. Select the Braille General option from the tree view on the left.
3. Choose UK Multilingual Uncontracted (Grade 1) or UK Multilingual Contracted (Grade 2) from the Language Profile pull down list.
4. Select OK to confirm your choice.

When text is marked as French (or another foreign language), it enables EasyConverter to use the correct Braille table. This means that accent marks and punctuation will be Brailled properly.

For example, in English Braille, if the language is left at English, the word "café" will use the dot 4 before the letter e to show an accent. If the same word is marked as French in the Word document, then EasyConverter will translate it as all six dots (the e acute sign in French Braille).

The UK Multilingual language profile options in EasyConverter are able to produce English, French, German, Spanish and Welsh Braille in a true multilingual fashion using the Braille code recommended by BAUK.

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