Braille Notation Research Articles

Towards a Universal Mathematical Braille Notation

Introduction: Across the world, mathematical expressions are represented very differently in braille. The aim of this study was (1) to gain an overall insight in mathematical braille notations and (2) to investigate how mathematical braille notations support braille readers in reading and comprehending mathematical expressions. Method: Twenty teachers from sixteen countries (thirteen European Union, EU, and three non-EU) were asked to transform 21 mathematical expressions and equations into the mathematical braille notation currently used by their braille readers. Three mathematical expressions were selected, and the transformed expressions in the different braille notations were qualitatively compared at braille and mathematical structure level. Results: The results illustrated that most mathematical braille notations use mathematical structures that either support braille readers in getting an overview of an expression—for example, by announcing the start and end of a fraction—or facilitate communication between braille readers and people who can see. Discussion: The method of comparing transformed expressions at structure level can be extended to other types of mathematical expressions and other mathematical braille notations. Agreement on the structure of different mathematical expressions can be a first step towards a universal mathematical braille notation. Implications for Practitioners: Mathematics teachers should be aware of and use the strengths of the mathematical braille notation and try to compensate for weaknesses of the notation in the support of braille readers.

Teachers’ Skills and Knowledge in Mathematics Education for Braille Readers

Braille readers use a braille display and text-to-speech synthesizer while reading and comprehending mathematical expressions and equations. Teachers need to have technological, pedagogical and content (TPACK) knowledge and skills for exploiting the potential of these devices in mathematics education. They have to understand how the use of assistive technology influences the teaching and learning of mathematics. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to support teachers to better understand the dynamic relation between the different TPACK domains. That is why a professional development course was developed in which five mathematics teachers of braille readers in special secondary education participated. The development of the teachers’ TPACK knowledge was analyzed, and course characteristics that helped to develop this knowledge were identified. The results show an increased awareness of the importance of assistive devices, but only a small positive effect in TPACK knowledge and skills. Course activities related to the braille display, the mathematical braille notation and mathematical vocabulary helped to develop TPACK knowledge. However, course activities related to the text-to-speech synthesizer and working in heterogeneous groups did not work out so well. A better understanding of what teaching mathematics to braille readers means is expected to improve their learning.

Tactica: An Android-Based Low-Cost Assistive Tactile Device on Basic Braille Notation Reading for Visually Impaired Students in SPED Centers with IoT Technology

Tactica: An Android-Based Low-Cost Assistive Tactile Device on Basic Braille Notation Reading for Visually Impaired Students in SPED Centers with IoT Technology

Reflections on and Some Recommendations for Visually Impaired Students

[1] Whatever one's training in music theory, little in our course work or early teaching prepares us to work with students who are visually impaired. Sadly, our journals, until now at least, have been remarkably silent on even the most basic questions regarding how Braille notation works and the resources that are available for both student and professor. Failure in these areas points to an even deeper chasm in our pedagogical knowledge-namely that we have no precise understanding of what visually impaired students really need to know and the best way(s) to teach it. The purpose of this paper, however, is not to fill these voids with certainty, but merely to begin the discussion from the very limited perspective of my own experience. Here, then, I will address four main issues: (1) mainstreaming versus individualized instruction, (2) preliminary planning, (3) classroom planning and pedagogy, and (4) working with Braille notation. A short conclusion follows.Basic Questions: Mainstreaming vs. Individual Instruction[2] It is useful to begin discussion with the legal end of matters. According to federal law, the instructor or program must provide "reasonable accommodations" for any documented disabilities. The legislation itself, however, left the meaning of "reasonable accommodations" purposefully vague, thus allowing for varying interpretations. In the case of teaching visually impaired students, it might arguably entail as little as locating a copy of the textbook in an alternative format (Braille or audio recording), and perhaps enlisting an aid to help the student transcribe his or her homework. With just these seemingly slight accommodations, a visually impaired student may excel in the classroom, provided that the professor consistently provides clear instruction. Additional alterations to course content or teaching style may not be necessary, allowing the visually impaired student to learn right along with everyone else in the class. Based upon my own experience, this approach-in effect mainstreaming-is likely to work best with students already familiar with theory and aural skills, and who have considerable experience with Braille notation.[3] At the opposite end of the accommodation spectrum, one can eschew classroom mainstreaming entirely and provide individual instruction, thus tailoring the content to the student's needs and learning style. According to those that have taught visually impaired students in this way, they typically deliver course content orally in 1-on-1 sessions, and have the student reproduce by singing or playing what is notated in the traditional theory course.(1) Focusing on practical application, this approach can avoid the complications that arise from having to locate an appropriate text, change class format, and transcribe music, charts, handouts, and examples into Braille.[4] Pure mainstreaming and individualized instruction represent two extremes, and it is likely that most instructors will mix aspects of the two. For instance, mainstreaming often requires some sort of individual instruction, especially during the critical starting phase of the semester. Conversely, most visually impaired students will benefit from classroom experience, even if that experience is more social than instructional. While not all student information is correct, students often learn through conversation and discussion with each other, and removing a visually impaired student from this information stream may diminish the effectiveness of the instruction, resulting in a less well-prepared student.Preliminary Planning[5] Ultimately, the exact approach one takes to educating a visually impaired music student will be influenced by many broad factors including curriculum and program, student level, available support services, and individual faculty interest. For instance, the requirements and needs of a music major in a liberal arts program will most likely differ from those of a performance major at a conservatory. …

Notational Systems and Conceptualizing Music

[1] To be honest, I never gave much thought to Braille music notation until a few years ago when I was told to expect a blind student in my theory class. But before we could make arrangements, we got word that his funding fell through and he wouldn't be attending after all. You might imagine my surprise when Matt appeared on our doorstep in September, having solved his funding problems. What ensued was a mad scramble for materials and strategies to best meet his needs. I tried to read up on what I could find about college theory classroom techniques for blind students, including an article by Anne-Marie de Zeeuw from the 70s in College Music Symposium (de Zeeuw 1977), which, while not reflecting the latest technology, was quite helpful nonetheless. Our disability support office assured me that Matt would have everything he needed in the form of his transcribed textbook, a portable note-taker, and funds for a tutor for 10 hours per week. What I was least prepared for, though, was the differences I began to notice between Braille notation and print. I had naively assumed that Matt's version of our textbook and other scores, which had been quickly committed to Braille, would be somehow a direct translation of my print ones. But as the result of long office-hours in which he and I worked through his lessons, we realized that our two versions of notation were markedly different, and I determined that I would need to learn more about how Braille music works in order to better meet his needs.[2] My concern here is to acknowledge some of the differences between print and Braille music, and to take a deeper look at how the two notational systems represent music, especially with regard to the lessons undertaken in a music theory classroom. Before I do so, I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to privilege either system. I have corresponded with a number of tactile readers and transcribers as well as sighted musicians working with blind students while doing this research over the last few years, and I've found that perceptions of the two systems vary widely. Consider the following quotes, the first three of which are from personal email correspondence:"From the standpoint of someone who does not read Braille but has had to work with someone who does, Braille notation seems an impoverished method for transmitting visual musical scores.""Braille is digital, and as such, is far more logical to a blind reader .. print is graphic, and not consistently coded.""[Braille] is a code that has been designed to represent the same information as print."And from a leaflet published jointly by The National Library for the Blind (UK) and The Canadian National Institute for the Blind:"The music code uses Braille symbols to represent the music, and everything contained within the print version is shown in the Braille." (Baker and Murray)[3] The first two quotes express a range of opinions about the two systems, one with a print bias and the other, a Braille bias. The last two quotes reflect a perception of equivalence shared by many of the people with whom I corresponded, and who were understandably hesitant to acknowledge any differences between print and Braille at all, perhaps so as not to risk further marginalization of Braille notation. Due in part to mainstreaming, Braille music literacy has plummeted in recent decades. My student, for example, had no more than a cursory experience with Braille music when he arrived on campus. Efforts to make Braille scores and training available to students have been renewed in recent years, although much of this activity is directed toward younger children.[4] So, why is this an issue in a music theory class? Unlike courses with language-based content in which blind students are rarely asked to contemplate how the printed word looks on the page, music theory is at many levels a study that centers on notation. Much of the first semester of theory familiarizes students with the fundamentals of music literacy: key and meter signatures, unfamiliar clefs and the like. …

“Teaching Blind”

[1] Imagine this-it's a week before the beginning of the school year and you've just been told that a blind student will be in your sophomore theory class. What do you do? In late August 2007, I found myself in this situation. This essay is intended to enable someone in a similar situation to save some time in investigating available technology and in devising methodology. It will focus on teaching blind students, but resources for the visually impaired in general are also included.[2] According to my university's Academic Resource Center, we are required by the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.A reasonable accommodation is a modification to a non-essential aspect of a course, program, service or facility which does not pose and [sic] undue burden and which enables a qualified student with a disability to have adequate opportunity to participate and to demonstrate his or her ability.(1)[3] Some schools will provide extensive aid for the purpose of accommodating visually impaired students in the music classroom, including spending a significant amount of money converting textbooks to Braille. My university did not do this, but it did provide excellent peer tutors and guides.[4] The more time one has to prepare for a visually impaired student, the better. Hardware, software, Brailled textbooks and scores need to be ordered ahead of time, tutors need to be found, and teaching aids may need to be constructed. I have found that the more one can think through what the student needs and the best method for providing it, the more successful the teaching experience will be. Whether or not the student comes armed with the latest technology, the teacher should be ready to spend extra time, either preparing class materials or working together one-on-one.[5] Because my student had transferred from another local school, she did not come through our first-year theory class, which would have given me a lot more notice, and I could have drawn upon the experience of my colleagues. Our Academic Resource Center also did not have the experience to help me with any specific music-related accommodations.(2) It turned out that the most information came from colleagues who had encountered the same circumstances. I had sent a message to the SMT-talk discussion group that expressed my predicament:I'd ... welcome any suggestions you might have for helping a blind student in the second year of a two-year theory sequence. She's a transfer student, so I have little information about how things were done at her previous school (more discussion with her is in order). Somehow I need to find ways to do written and aural skills with her. We do have a resource center to help out, but they apparently haven't had to deal with a blind musician before. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!Many responses advised me about types of available resources, and about issues that might arise.(3) This information enabled me to seek out further resources, some of which are contained in Figures 1-4 below.[6] The following discussion will focus on the individual skills usually incorporated into a core music theory curriculum, how I dealt with them with my particular student, and other methods to deal with them.Dictation[7] At first, I gave dictation quizzes to my blind student privately or had her tutor administer them, since she did not have a laptop or other electronic note taker (see Figure 2) to use in class. Had I known about it at the time, a slate and stylus (Figure 1, item 1) could have worked as well. I would play the examples, she would tell me the answers, and I would notate them. After she acquired her laptop, we worked out a method by which she took the quizzes with the rest of the class. She does not read Braille music notation,(4) so we used a system by which she notated the pitches and rhythms separately in two different lines. …

An overview of IPA Braille: An updated tactile representation of the International Phonetic Alphabet

This article provides an overview of IPA Braille, revised and updated by Englebretson (2008) under the auspices of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB). After a brief introduction to braille as a writing system and a review of the disparate braille notations formerly used for phonetics, the author discusses the need for a single, up-to-date, linguistically-informed braille notation for the IPA. The author then outlines the rationale and procedures used in developing IPA Braille, and presents an appendix of the complete charts showing the braille equivalents for all symbols of the current IPA (revised to 2005). This article is relevant to phoneticians interested in applications of the IPA, linguists interested in writing systems, instructors who may have blind students enrolled in phonetics and linguistics courses, and especially to blind students and professionals needing access to a complete, updated braille IPA notation. The publication of the full braille charts inJIPAensures that IPA Braille is available to the wider community of phoneticians and linguists, who typically do not have access to the literature from specialized braille publishing houses.

Expressive Notation Package

At present, there are a large number of commercial and free programs dealing with music notation. Two of the most notable free software projects are LilyPond (Nienhuys and Nieuwenhuizen 2003) and Guido (Hoos et al. 1998; Renz 2002). Both of these programs are LaTeX-like languages that are used to describe the contents of a musical score in a textual form and not through a point-and-click user interface. Furthermore, a Web site dedicated to music notation software, ace.acadiau.ca/score/others.htm, lists a large number of other commercial and free music notation programs including simple notation editors (e.g., abc) for typesetting relatively simple notation; special-purpose editors like Gr6goire for typesetting Gregorian chant, Django for typesetting tabulature, and GOODFEEL for Braille notation; and full-featured programs like Berlioz, Igor (programmed in Lisp), Nightingale, and SCORE. Finally, the two de facto commercial notation programs are Finale and Sibelius. Recently, Web-viewable applications have also started to emerge. There are a few commercial approaches such as Scorch by Sibelius Software. ScoreSVG (Bays 2005), in turn, is a-free alternative based on the Scalable Vector Graphics, a language for describing two-dimensional vector graphics in XML. A handful of Lisp-based applications also exist that are aimed at representing musical data, such as Common Music Notation (CMN; Schottstaedt 1997), the Rhythm-Editor of PatchWork (RTM; Laurson 1996), and the musical editors in OpenMusic (Assayag et al. 1999). One of the earliest experiments, MUZACS (Kornfeld 1980), was even written for a Lisp machine. Of these editors, RTM is primarily intended to represent musical raw material, and thus the editing capabilities are limited. This is also the case with Open Music's notation editors. CMN is powerful typesetting package but lacks a graphical user interface (GUI). Expressive Notation Package (ENP; Kuuskankare and Laurson 2002) is a music notation program that has been developed to meet the requirements of computer-aided composition, music analysis, and synthesis control. ENP is programmed with LispWorks Common Lisp (www.lispworks.com). LispWorks, in turn, is a Lisp implementation that is source-code compatible across Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and some UNIX platforms. ENP is primarily intended to represent Western musical notation roughly from the 17th century onward with a strong emphasis on modern notation. ENP is not a full-featured music typesetting program. However, it is designed to produce automatic, reasonable musical typesetting according to the common practices described, for example, in Stone (1980) and Read (1982). ENP is used as a notational front end in a visual programming language called PWGL (Laurson and Kuuskankare 2002). PWGL is a combination of several software packages build on top of Common Lisp. In addition to ENP, the components include, for example, a rule-based programming language called PWGLConstraints (Laurson 1996), and a sound-synthesis program called PWGLSynth (Laurson et al. 2005). The development of PWGL is focused toward the Mac OS X operating system, but it currently runs also under Windows XP. A Linux version is under consideration. PWGL is freeware, and it can be downloaded from our Web site at www.siba.fi/PWGL/. ENP has a sophisticated GUI based on direct editing, a rich set of musical primitives, an extended concept of expressions, and algorithmic control over scores. It contains a unique set of features that cannot be found elsewhere, at least to this extent of integration in one program. ENP allows one to analyze, modify, view, and annotate scores in many different ways; a text-based format can be used to generate scores algorithmically; it is possible to modify data contained by the objects in a score by using a scripting language; our rule-based programming language can be used Computer Music Journal, 30:4, pp. 67-79, Winter 2006 ? 2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Instant Print-Braille Compatibility with COBRA

This article describes an eight-dot computer braille notation, COBRA, with integrated mathematical and scientific notation that achieves immediate print-braille compatibility through one-to-one representation of letters and other characters. Text can be entered and manipulated from the braille or the Qwerty keyboard and can be viewed simultaneously in the same format on the braille display and monitor screen. Thus, translation to and from braille is unnecessary.

Beyond MIDI: The Handbook of Musical Codes

Introduction: describing musical information. Sound related codes (1) - MIDI: MIDI extensions for musical notation (1) - noTAMIDI meta-events MIDI extensions for musical notation (2) - expressive MIDI MIDI extensions for musical notation (3) - MIDIPlus MIDI extensions for sound control - augmented MIDI. Sound-related codes (2) - other codes for representation and control: Sound music macro language the neXT scorefile the radio baton conductor score file. Musical notation codes (1) - DARMS: its dialects, and its uses the note-processor dialect the A-R dialect extensions for lute tablatures extensions for mensural notation. Musical notation codes (2) - other ASCH representations: common music notation MuTEX, musicTEXT, and musiXTEX Philip's music scribe score. Musical notation codes (3) - graphical-object descriptions: the LIME Tilia representation the nightingale notelist . Musical notation codes (4) - braille: Braille musical notation (1) - an overview Braille musical notation (2) - common signs. Codes for data management and analysis (1) - monophonic representations: the Essen associative code - a code for folksong analysis plain and easy code - a code for music bibliography. Codes for data management and analysis (2) - polyphonic representations: Humdrum and Kern - selective encoding MuseData - multipurpose representation. Representation of musical patterns and processes: encoding of compositional units a score--segmentation approach to representation. Interchange codes: HyTime and standard music description language - a document-description approach the notation interchange file format - a Windows-compliant approach standard music eXpression - interchange of common and Braille notation. Reflections: beyond codes - issues in musical representation afterword - guidelines for new codes.

The moon system adapted for musical notation

This paper outlines a means by which Dr William Moon's embossed symbols, originally devised to transcribe inkprint, may be used to represent musical notation. Adequate skill with braille is often difficult to attain, particularly for the newly blind adult. This adaptation of moon for reading and writing music is offered as an alternative to the already existing braille notation. All the required symbols can be written with the recently developed Moonwriter. Possible research avenues are briefly explored, and the need for back-up services stressed, should the system be considered viable.

An “open” braille communication system for the blind

We propose a very simple change in the Braille notation which has nevertheless important consequences and should greatly facilitate communication between blind and seeing persons.

Music Reading for the Sightless: Braille Notation

Music Reading for the Sightless: Braille Notation