Bidirectional Braille Transcription for Kannada and Telugu text using Natural Language Processing

In today's modern society, where information is readily accessible through various sources such as the internet and newspapers, individuals with visual impairments encounter significant challenges in accessing this wealth of knowledge. Unlike their sighted counterparts who effortlessly stay informed about current events and knowledge, visually impaired individuals face obstacles in harnessing this information. To address this disparity, there is an urgent need to develop a system that enables the bidirectional conversion of natural language text into Braille, thereby offering enhanced learning opportunities for the visually impaired. This paper presents a pioneering approach to bidirectional Braille transcription for Kannada and Telugu texts, employing advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques exclusively on text-based data. Given the essential role of Braille transcription in enabling visually impaired individuals to access text, the complexity of Indian scripts like Kannada and Telugu poses unique challenges. Our proposed system utilizes state-of-the-art NLP algorithms to facilitate accurate and efficient translation between printed text and Braille. The methodology encompasses tailored preprocessing steps addressing the intricate orthographic structures of Kannada and Telugu, alongside a robust transliteration engine for converting text to Braille, and an inverse transcription mechanism to revert Braille back to standard text. Through comprehensive testing on diverse text samples, the system demonstrates high accuracy and reliability. This research significantly enhances accessibility for visually impaired Kannada and Telugu speakers and sets a precedent for the application of advanced NLP techniques in regional language Braille transcription

Liblouis – A universal solution for Braille transcription services

Software support for the generation of good Braille has historically been hampered by fragmented and small markets. Some languages have good commercial support, others are lacking. Fortunately Liblouis, an open source tool for complete Braille transcription services, is emerging as a universal solution. Liblouis provides Braille translation for literary and computer Braille, offers support for contracted and uncontracted translation for many languages and includes support for Braille mathematics codes such as Nemeth. Liblouis also provides Braille formatting, which can handle many document formats including DTBook XML. Both the translation and the formatting can easily be adapted to new languages and document formats. This paper shows how Liblouis will be used at the Swiss Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired to integrate Braille generation into a production workflow based around DTBook XML

E-mail Client having Articulation and Braille Transcription of E-mails for the Blinds

In this paper, We describe an email client application that sends and receives emails, and converts them to speech and also transcripts them into Braille script with special emphasis on special symbols so that visually impaired people will also be able to read emails. This application filters unwanted message like advertisement, spam and more text from mail and converts this message text into speech or Braille script. Then this Braille script is sent to the parallel port so that it can be embossed on paper by Braille Embosser or can be read by electronic Braille reader attached to the parallel port. This application increases the availability of information and use of technology for handicapped that is for visually impaired individual

Providing Support Services for a Deaf-Blind Student in a Mainstream University Environment

Today, deaf-blind individuals can and do pursue higher education. A deaf-blind student presents unique challenges for the traditional support facility, even when they may have a history of service to deaf and/or blind students. Additional considerations are presented for an academic institution when coordinating services, using technologies, and addressing special needs for a deaf-blind student. By examining the experience of New York University with a deaf-blind student, related issues can be explored; coordination of dual services, early planning, and cross-departmental cooperation are necessary to succeed in providing the required support and allowing the student to fulfil educational requirements and goals. By adopting a proactive stance toward designing and providing services, and following a philosophy of equal accesses within and beyond statutory requirements, qualified staff can accomplish the task to fruition

Teaching Sighted Students to Read Braille Visually

For many visually impaired children in public schools, braille instruction is not an educational priority included in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). This issue is likely the result of a lack of accessible and effective braille training for regular and special education teachers. Prior studies have assessed the efficacy of computer software to teach sighted individuals braille-to-print relations. Although the results from these studies are promising, there are several limitations that should be addressed. The purpose of this study was to extend previous research by developing and testing a computer-based program to teach visual contracted braille to sighted individuals. We assessed the effects of this training program on promoting generalization to braille-to-print and print-to-braille construction responses, braille reading, and braille-to-print transcription

Hong Kong: Employment of People with Disabilities: From Traditional Concept of Sheltered Employment to Creating New Employment Initiatives for People with Disabilities

No104.pdf: 1950 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Transcribing Braille Code: Learning Equations Across Platforms

Deegan Atha, a graduating senior in electrical engineering and a future engineer, is interested in human-centered design and developing technology that helps students engage and be successful in STEM. Courtney Balogh, a junior in mechanical engineering, is interested in human-centered design and the importance it plays in product development. Deegan and Courtney are members of the Purdue EPICS project, Learning Equations Across Platforms (LEAP). They partnered with the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) to develop a braille transcription device and web application that converts braille to print in real time

IPI Newsletter, January 2010

A quarterly newsletter produced by Iowa Prison Industrie

Examining a Novel Response Modality: Teaching Sighted Individuals to Read Braille Visually

In order to prepare teachers to instruct children with visual impairments in braille, previous research has taught sighted adults to match braille sample stimuli to print comparisons in a matching-to-sample (MTS) format and has assessed the emergence of other braille repertoires such as transcribing and reading following this training. Although participants have learned to match-to-sample with braille, they displayed limited emergence of other braille repertoires. This lack of generative responding may have resulted from participants’ over-selective attending to components of compound braille characters during instruction. The current study taught three undergraduate learners to construct braille characters given a print sample—which required attending to each individual braille symbol—and again assessed generative braille responding. All participants met mastery of 378 braille construction responses and demonstrated superior generative responding across tests of transcribing braille than shown in previous research