Braille Font from Duxbury Systems
INSTRUCTIONS:
After downloading, you must install the Braille Font into your Fonts' folder in the Windows (WINNT) directory:
Click here to download the Braille Font
DUXBURY BRAILLE TRUETYPE FONT SET FOR WINDOWS
BACKGROUND, INSTALLATION, USAGE AND LIMITED FREEWARE
LICENSE INFORMATION
Document No. ds-dt1j1-t5k
Copyright 1999 Duxbury Systems, Inc.
January 19, 1999, rev. May 20, 1999
Duxbury Systems, Inc.
270 Littleton Road, Unit 6
Westford, Massachusetts 01886 U.S.A.
Tel: (1-978) 692-3000
Fax: (1-978) 692-7912
E-mail: info@duxsys.com
World Wide Web site: http://www.duxburysystems.com
Duxbury Systems, Inc. designs and manufactures software for
braille; it is the oldest company in the world to specialize in
such products (since 1975). Our principal products provide for
translation from various print forms to braille, for English and
many other languages and types of notation, and also for
word-processing of both the print and the braille.
* * *
BACKGROUND
Duxbury's braille fonts have been developed over a period of
years, at least as far back as Duxbury's first Macintosh-based
product release in 1989, as component parts of many of its
products for braille translation and word-processing. Currently,
all of Duxbury's principal products--the Duxbury Braille
Translator (DBT) for all platforms (Windows, Macintosh and
MS-DOS) and also the Braille Board for Windows--include the fonts
in some form. So, if you have any of those products installed,
you may already have these fonts, in which case this freeware
distribution will not be of use to you.
A braille font is a way to "convert" ordinary text characters into
dot patterns, which is how the Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT)
can display braille dots and print them out. Even if you do not
need braille translation or editing software, it is possible that
braille fonts would be useful for some purposes, such as:
1) Many tactile production techniques require a black and white
printout prior to making the final output. By using your favorite
design package (perhaps CorelDRAW) with a braille font, you can
mix print, braille and graphics all on the same page, print out
the page, then raise it. Sign makers all over the world use the
font this way. Many of the ADA compliant signs found in hotels
and other buildings are produced photographically using the
Duxbury Braille Font. Maps and other tactile images can be output
on paper with special devices.
2) A braille font is often used to produce books about braille.
Many books for sighted braille transcribers contain hand drawn
braille dots, or dot numbers instead of graphical examples. With
the braille font, an author can easily create print documents
with attractive simulated (printed) braille samples.
3) A third use for a braille font is more technical. When DBT
imports a word processor file, it uses font information to add
translation codes to a document. Text in a font with the name
"Braille" in it is marked for "grade 0" translation; in other
words, it won't be simply copied as-is into the translated output
(braille) document.
Further details on some of these possibilities are given under
"Usage", below. In order to allow such uses, in the service of
braille generally, Duxbury Systems is making these fonts
available under a limited freeware license, the terms of which
are detailed in a later section.
One very important caution, though, applies to any case where you
use any braille font directly, that is by simply applying the
font to text: A BRAILLE FONT IS NOT IN ITSELF A VALID METHOD FOR
TRANSLATION OF PRINT TO BRAILLE. In other words, if you just
apply a font to ordinary print text, the result will most likely
NOT be valid customary braille. The basic advice here is this:
If you yourself do not know braille, make sure that you work with
a qualified braille transcriber or braille proofreader, or at
least use the output of a high-quality translation program such
as Duxbury's, when using a braille font! Moreover, if you really
need to be sure that it's correct, use the same precaution that
you would with important print text--have it checked by a
qualified braille proofreader.
INSTALLATION
1. In the Windows Control Panel, Fonts, select Install New Font
and point to the directory where the BRAILLE.TTF and SIMBRL.TTF
files are stored. Select one or both to be added and allow
Windows to complete the installation.
USAGE
A braille "cell" or character comprises six potential dot
positions, arranged in two columns, each three dots high. At
each of these positions, a raised dot may or may not be present,
making 64 (2 to the 6th power) distinct combinations. The
meanings and uses of these 64 combinations is discussed on a
page describing the braille system at the web site of
Duxbury Systems, Inc. at URL:
http://www.duxburysystems.com
These fonts map ASCII characters to braille dot configurations
according to the table of "North American ASCII-Braille
Equivalents" as defined on the abovementioned web page. So, even
if you know braille, you will need to learn or reference that
table to use the font properly. For example, to set the word
"information" in English grade 2 braille, you would need to know
enough to type in the five characters:
9=m,n
and then apply the font to them. If there is anything about this
brief example that you do not understand, then you really need to
obtain qualified assistance, as explained in the cautionary
paragraph under "Background", above. To reiterate: It is VERY
important to understand that valid braille CANNOT, in general, be
obtained by simply applying a braille font to ordinary print
text. Unless you understand the braille rules as they apply to
the language and type of material that you need to put into
braille, you will need to work with a person who does have that
knowledge (a braille transcriber) and/or a transcribing program
such as the Duxbury Braille Translator in order to obtain valid
braille.
Two distinct fonts are provided, "Braille" and "SimBraille".
Subject to the above, these fonts are used just as any other
TrueType fonts, which are supported by a wide variety of Windows
applications, and even a few DOS applications. To word processing
programs and the like, Braille and SimBraille are just like any
other font, such as Courier, Helvetica or Times Roman.
The "Braille" font can be used for simulated braille where just
the dots that would be physically raised in real (embossed)
braille are displayed as filled black circles. No mark is
present in the other, unraised positions. This font can also be
used in support of physical processes that result in real raised
braille. For example, there are papers made with special
materials so that, when they are heated, any black mark upon the
paper causes a local swelling and hence a dot wherever a black
circle has been printed. When used for real braille, or for
simulated braille in any case where it is desirable for the
printed characters to be the same size as real braille, the font
should size should be set at 24 points. Of course, there are
many instances where other point sizes are useful for printed
simulated braille.
At the 24-point size, the diameter of the black dots is at the
nominal size specified by the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA), i.e. .059 inches. Sometimes, when the font is used along
with certain physical processes to create real braille, it is
desirable to use a smaller or larger dot diameter to compensate
for gain or loss inherent to the physical process. For example,
80% of nominal size may be best when using the special paper
described above. In Duxbury's products that use this font, there
is a special utility program called "Braille Build" that allows
the font to be generated at any useful size, from a minimal point
to dots so large that they touch. While that utility is not
provided in this freeware distribution, one or more useful
alternate sizes, in addition to the normal 100% size, may be
provided for freeware distribution.
With the "SimBraille" font, the raised dots are shown as black
filled circles, just as with the Braille font, and in addition
the other positions are marked with a tiny dot, sometimes called
a "shadow" or "placement" dot, for reference. This is useful so
that, for instance, it is easy to distinguish the dots 1-2-3
character (all three left-hand dots) from the dots 4-5-6
character (all three right-hand dots) -- which otherwise would be
hard to tell apart if there were a lot of space on both sides of
the character. However, since this approach can only apply to
printed simulated braille, and not to real braille, this font is
only used for the simulated form and is not subject to resizing of
the dot diameters.
COPYRIGHT
This software and associated documentation is:
Copyright 1991-1999 Duxbury Systems, Inc.
TERMS OF LIMITED FREEWARE LICENSE AND WARRANTY
1. Copyright to the Duxbury Braille TrueType Font Set for
Windows ("the software"), including all its associated
components, documents, programs and files, and any works derived
therefrom, remains the property of Duxbury Systems, Inc.; all
rights not explicitly granted herein are reserved.
2. A limited LICENSE TO USE the Duxbury Braille TrueType Font
Set for Windows is hereby granted to any person, ONLY for the
purpose of producing, displaying, reviewing or editing braille or
simulated braille, directly in documents for one's own use or the
use of others, and in accordance with further restrictions as
given below. No other use is permitted (other than substantially
free distribution, as described in the following paragraph).
3. A limited LICENSE TO DISTRIBUTE ON A SUBSTANTIALLY FREE BASIS,
EXCEPT BY WEB SITE, is hereby granted to any person, ONLY for the
Duxbury Braille Fonts for Windows as later defined herein as to
its components. All those components, all together and unchanged,
must accompany any such distribution. Any additional files must
be clearly identified as such. No distribution is permitted to
accompany any commercial product except by prior written
permission (normally, a royalty would apply), nor may any
accompanying material contradict or obscure any aspect of
Duxbury's authorship of the Duxbury Braille TrueType Font Set
for Windows and its copyright thereto. No fee for such
distribution may be charged, except for reasonable recovery of
direct media, shipping and handling costs. Further restrictions
and exceptions are listed below.
4. The software may be used or distributed only in connection with
activities that are legal.
5. Except by prior written permission, the software may not be
placed on a site of the World Wide Web or similar source where it
would be available for downloading by the general public.
6. By way of exception to the foregoing limitations on general
public distribution, fonts may be "embedded" in documents,
provided they cannot readily be separated from those documents or
otherwise put to separate uses, and those documents may be
distributed even on Web sites or for paid commercial purposes.
7. The copyright statements may not be removed from the software,
nor may it be altered in any other way.
8. The software may not be disassembled nor otherwise
reverse-engineered.
9. Duxbury Systems, Inc. ("Duxbury") warrants that it has
exercised ordinary due care in the preparation of this software.
Except as may be required by statute, Duxbury makes no other
warranties, disclaims warranties of merchantability or fitness
for a particular purpose, and assumes no liability for
incidental, consequential or any other kind of damages arising out
of the use or inability to use this software, even if Duxbury has
been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some
states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation
of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above
limitations may not apply to you. However, in no event shall
Duxbury's liability for the Duxbury Braille TrueType Font Set for
Windows exceed refund of any amounts paid by the user to Duxbury
(or to its authorized dealers) for the Font Set.
10. The terms of prior licenses for the Duxbury Braille TrueType
Font Set for Windows, that is the licenses issued for the
Set as a regular product, or as a part of a regular product,
are not affected by this limited freeware license. In
particular, support services and any announced trade-in
allowances are generally for only those licenses, and not for
freeware licenses.
DISTRIBUTION OF FREEWARE LICENSE