RE: properties for exposing custom Braille descriptions

The Unicode braille is also correctly displayed via JAWS and NVDA even with Grade II translation enabled. I haven't yet tested Chrome OS/ChromeVox or iOS/Voiceover, and I don't currently have access to an Android device with BrailleBack or BRLTTY installed. Although I can access a device with Amazon's VoiceView, I don't possess a supported braille display (it works with HumanWare and Baum protocols only - and my Baum display from circa 2005 appears to have hardware problems).

-----Original Message-----
From: White, Jason J <jjwhite@ets.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2019 2:06 PM
To: Joanmarie Diggs <jdiggs@igalia.com>; Peter Krautzberger <peter@krautzource.com>
Cc: public-aria@w3.org
Subject: Re: properties for exposing custom Braille descriptions

I wrote the Python code below to create Unicode braille files from arrays of integers representing cell contents. I then created a file and accessed it in gedit with Orca.

The Unicode characters (encoded as utf-8) were correctly displayed, even though UEB translation was enabled. The speech output also announced the dot patterns for each character.

On the Mac, I had to turn off contracted braille (i.e., Grade II translation) to display the Unicode characters.


# Convert braille cell dot specifications to Unicode braille.
def cellToUnicode(cell):
    """Convert an array of integers (1-8) denoting dots to the corresponding
    Unicode braille code point."""
    dots=0x2800
    if len(cell) > 8:
        raise ValueError("Cell too large:", len(cell))
    for dot in cell:
        if dot < 1 or dot > 8:
            raise ValueError("Dot out of range", dot)
        dots |= 1 << (dot-1)
    return chr(dots)

def cellsToBraille(cells):
    """Convert an array of cells to a UTF-8 braille Unicode string."""
    output=""
    for cell in cells:
        output += cellToUnicode(cell)
    return output.encode('utf-8')

def writeUnicodeBraille(filename, cells):
    """Write the specified cells as Unicode braille to the file given."""
    output=cellsToBraille(cells)
    with open(filename, 'wb') as outputFile:
        outputFile.write(output)


On 2/7/19, 12:13, "Joanmarie Diggs" <jdiggs@igalia.com> wrote:

    Thanks Jason!

    We don't need a page per se. It should be sufficient to put some braille
    unicode characters in a text editor like gedit or notepad.

    --joanie

    On 2/7/19 12:07 PM, White, Jason J wrote:
    > I can perform the test on multiple platforms, including Linux/GNOME/Orca. Is there a test page already, or should I create one?
    >
    > On 2/7/19, 12:00, "Joanmarie Diggs" <jdiggs@igalia.com> wrote:
    >
    >     Indeed, for translation. But Unicode braille characters shouldn't be
    >     translated. So one question is: Is liblouis smart enough to not
    >     translate those? The second question is: Is the library used to
    >     communicate with the display (in my case that would be BrlTTY) smart
    >     enough to handle those characters?
    >
    >     I would hope that the answer to both questions is "yes." And I went to
    >     verify that this morning for my platform, but when I powered on my
    >     ancient braille display, it made all sorts of noises and gave up the
    >     ghost. :(
    >
    >     A quick test I did suggests liblouis *might* be translating those
    >     characters, but I'm not positive. Since you (Jason) happen to use Orca,
    >     and presumably have a not-dead refreshable braille display, could you
    >     please do the test for me to answer both the first question and the
    >     second question?
    >
    >     You should be able to answer the second question by disabling
    >     translated/contracted braille. That will cause Orca to send the
    >     characters directly to BrlTTY unmodified. If what's on the display
    >     matches the unicode braille dot patterns in the test text, then we know
    >     BrlTTY is good.
    >
    >     To answer the first question, re-enable translated/contracted braille.
    >     If those unicode braille dot patterns are still preserved, then liblouis
    >     is also good. If liblouis isn't good, we should fix that in liblouis,
    >     but that's something I can work around in Orca by looking for characters
    >     in the braille dot pattern range and not sending them to liblouis. As
    >     far as I am aware, I don't have control over what BrlTTY does with the
    >     characters I give it.
    >
    >     Thanks in advance for doing these tests. And sorry for having to ask
    >     you. My braille display picked a fine morning to kick the bucket.
    >
    >     --joanie
    >
    >
    >     On 2/7/19 9:06 AM, White, Jason J wrote:
    >     > Besides Apple, I think everyone is using liblouis at this point for translation. I don't know what Apple's Mac OS and iOS implementations use. I think it would be reasonable to expect everyone to support the Unicode code points for braille rendering.
    >     >
    >     > On 2/7/19, 09:04, "Joanmarie Diggs" <jdiggs@igalia.com> wrote:
    >     >
    >     >     Do we know if all the braille libraries used by the platforms support
    >     >     Unicode block?
    >     >
    >     >     On 2/7/19 8:57 AM, White, Jason J wrote:
    >     >     > Braille ASCII varies between countries, hence between the braille tables
    >     >     > loaded by screen readers – so it can’t be used to specify a desired
    >     >     > braille representation reliably.
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     > For example, if the author assumes North American ASCII braille, but the
    >     >     > user’s system is configured for one of the European codes, the result
    >     >     > won’t be what the author would expect.
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     > Only the Unicode block is unambiguous.
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     > *From: *Peter Krautzberger <peter@krautzource.com>
    >     >     > *Date: *Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 08:43
    >     >     > *To: *"White, Jason J" <jjwhite@ets.org>
    >     >     > *Cc: *"public-aria@w3.org" <public-aria@w3.org>
    >     >     > *Subject: *Re: properties for exposing custom Braille descriptions
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     > Hi Jason,
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     > This question is mentiond in the list of questions at the end of the
    >     >     > page. My apologies if the page was not accessible enough to make it there.
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     > Speaking for myself, I'd very much hope that Unicode Braille would work.
    >     >     > But Braille ascii might be a useful consideration. As I understand it,
    >     >     > NVDA's prototype back in May pushed the raw value out (and Sina's test
    >     >     > files used grade 1).
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
    >     >     > Best regards,
    >     >     >
    >     >     > Peter.
    >     >     >
    >     >     >
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Received on Friday, 8 February 2019 15:18:20 UTC