Here are the advantages I have found for using UEB over grade 2 or computer braille. Note that I think Nemeth would still be the best solution, but no notetaker supports it, so UEB is my next best choice.
1. I can mix math and other special symbols into grade 2 documents. I can therefore write my physics notes using contractions and in a braille document (avoiding all the language and translation problems present since ks8) but I can throw in an equation or code snippet when I need to without switching into and out of computer braille. 2. There is less guessing: the "ble" sign is gone, so I could write something like "x1" without wondering if my professor will see it as "xblea". I can also not worry about periods in words, since lower d does not stand for dd. It still stands for dis when at the start of a word, but I can put a period anywhere else I want, quite useful for acronyms that I do not capitalize or when writing an email or web address. 3. More symbols are available, such as degrees, percent (only two cells, not 3 like it is in grade 2), brackets, braces, bold and italic indicators, and even a way to capitalize everything with one symbol and end capitalization with another symbol or hard return. 4. More math is translated more clearly when emailing or translating into pc-friendly formats, such as math symbols. For example, I can do all my math homework in UEB, and something like x^2+y^3=z-w^2 will come out normally on the professor's screen. I can even represent super- and subscripts, though they do not make the scripted character appear in a different location; rather, the word "superscript" (or "subscript") appears in place of the symbol. 5. There are many grouping and transcription indicators which seem quite useful, though I do not use them. 6. Accents, from acute to umlaut to grave and more, are easily represented using a somewhat long, though simple, system. Greek and Latin letters can also be represented, so I can use UEB for French or Spanish as easily as write an equation using the Greek gamma or lambda. 7. No computer braille is required, so you do not have to use space-u, dot 4 to enter an "at" sign, and there is no need to learn both grade 2 and computer braille. Disadvantages: 1. Many symbols take up more room. For example, parentheses, brackets, and braces all use the gh to open and the ar to close, but preceed these symbols with dot 5 for parentheses, dots 4 6 for brackets, and dots 4 5 6 for braces. In grade 2, parentheses take up only one space, but in UEB they take up two. 2. The contractions for to (lower f), dd (lower d), and by (lower j) have been removed, though this is a mixed blessing since you can now attach quotes and exclamation marks to the start of words. That is all I can think of for the moment. Feel free to ask me for clarification. On 11/5/10, Crystal French <[email protected]> wrote: > Alex, > May I ask why you find UEB preferable? > > Thanks. > Crystal > > ___ > Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. > If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a > copy to the list as well. > > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > [email protected] > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote > > -- Have a great day, Alex (msg sent from GMail website) [email protected]; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [email protected] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
