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Conversion of American Japanese-language Textbooks to Braille

Conversion of American Japanese-language Textbooks to Braille. Teresa Haven, Ph.D. Disability Resource Center Arizona State University. Background. Student wanted Japanese, not another language. “ Proficiency ” at UARK requires reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

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Conversion of American Japanese-language Textbooks to Braille

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  1. Conversion of American Japanese-language Textbooks to Braille Teresa Haven, Ph.D. Disability Resource Center Arizona State University

  2. Background • Student wanted Japanese, not another language. • “Proficiency” at UARK requires reading, writing, speaking, and listening. • Course as normally taught is extremely visual.

  3. Three Writing Systems(plus one) • Kanji: simple to highly complex; have meaning. 一鬱日本語 • Hiragana: simple, cursive, generally represent sound. ひらがな • Katakana: also simple, angular, parallel hiragana. カタカナ • Romaji: “roman” alphabet. “nihongo”

  4. Japanese Braille • One writing system: Tenji (Braille) • Everything reduces to sound, or the equivalent of Hiragana. • No Kanji to learn because no effective means of producing in tactile format. • Same 6 dots, so patterns are used differently from English or other languages.

  5. The Problem • Elementary-level foreign language texts in US typically translated to American Braille. • Professor considered this “cheating” and would not allow, given that sighted students were not allowed to “romanize” the language.

  6. Further Complications • Duxbury doesn’t support Japanese. • Only software found to produce Tenji required Japanese operating system on computer as well as shipment of software from Japan.

  7. Initial Solutions • Mapped correspondences between American and Japanese Braille Codes. • Trained conversion workers in reading Hiragana. • Considered 6-key entry.

  8. More Complications • Proofreading: text looked like gibberish. • What Romanization scheme to use? • Kunrei • Hepburn • Nihon-shiki

  9. Better Solutions • Brainstorming with Dr. Susan Jolly, dotlessbraille.org. • Choice of Nihon-shiki romanization system. • Discussion of parser program to pair with Duxbury.

  10. Final Solution • Scan to capture English. • Describe graphics as usual. • Romanize Japanese text. • Tag start and stop of Japanese text segments. • Run edited files through parser and Duxbury.

  11. Questions?

  12. Thanks • Dr. Susan Jolly, dotlessbraille.org. • Annie Jannarone, Director, Center for Educational Access, University of Arkansas. • Heidi Scher, Associate Director, Center for Educational Access, UARK • Gaier Dietrich, High Tech Center Training Unit, Cupertino, CA.

  13. About the Presenter • Dr. Teresa Wells Haven • Disability Resource Center, Arizona State University • Ph.D. in Linguistics; 20+ years experience in access technology and disability services.

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