DBT Tutorial Formatting Documents

	Important Differences Between Print and Braille Documents
	DBT Styles
	Exercise: Typing A Document With Proper Paragraph Formatting
	DBT Fonts
	How will this apply to my everyday work?

Important Differences Between Print and Braille Documents

DBT Documents: Each time you translate a document, you are creating a new document. This is very important to remember: Don't translate from print, to braille, to print again, etc., because you will then have multiple print and braille documents. This can be very confusing! If you find that you want to make changes to a braille document, it is best if you first close the braille document, make changes to the print document, and then translate back to braille. You should only ever have one or two documents open: one Braille and one print. Check the "View" menu for extra open documents.

DBT Styles

DBT is designed so that, when you use styles, both the print and the braille will be formatted appropriately. If you use styles properly, you will find that your braille is formatted correctly.

The best illustration of this is to take a look at the braille version of the letter to mother we just wrote. Open the braille document and look at how it is formatted: there is a skipped line between paragraphs, and the paragraphs are not indented. This is the correct formatting for most print documents. However, this is not the correct format for braille documents.

1. Close the braille document and be sure that "letter.dxp" is open.
2. Open the "view" menu, and if the "Codes" option isn't checked, select it. Typing ALT-F3 allows you to toggle between coded and formatted view.
   

Observe:
At the end of each paragraph, there is a less-than sign in red, surrounded by brackets. This symbol means "hard return." It tells DBT to create a new line. This is the symbol that is entered when you type the return key. It does not create a new paragraph, but a hard return.

A style is a collection of codes. The "Hard Return" is an example of a code. There are codes which say "Skip a Line," "Center the Text," "Translate in Computer Braille Code," etc. Styles make it easier to format your text because instead of entering each of these commands by hand at the beginning and the end of the text, the style groups the commands and enters them for you.

There are two types of styles: Character Styles and Paragraph Styles (also called linear and embedded styles). Paragraph styles are applied to a whole paragraph - indentation, skipping a line before the paragraph, etc. Character styles are applied only to the characters you select. An example outside of DBT would be the italic, bold, and underline character styles which are available in MS Word and WordPerfect. In DBT, character styles are used mostly to modify how the print is translated, not how it looks visually (italic, bold, and underline styles are not available in DBT). The following are some common styles, and how they are intended to be used. They are not the only styles, but they are the most commonly used.

• compinline
  Use this character style to translate email and web addresses correctly.
• h1
  Use this style for major headings, such as chapter titles. "h1." corresponds with the "Heading 1" style in MS Word. It centers the line.
• h2
  Use this style for minor headings, such as chapter subtitles. "h2." corresponds with the "Heading 2" style in MS Word. It places the line at cell 5, with overflow lines at cell 5.
• list
  Use this style for single-level lists.
• note
  This paragraph style is used for transcriber's notes. It indents the paragraph to the seventh cell, with overflow lines at cell In order to add the transcriber's note symbol, select "Layout: Character Codes: Termination Sign" from the menu.
• outline
  Use this style for multi-level lists (outlines), such as tables of contents with subheadings. In order to move in or out a level, use the ALT key with left and right arrows.
• para
  Use this style for normal paragraphs.
• ref.no
  This character style allows you to define a number as the "reference document page number." This is useful when creating a braille textbook which will be used in conjunction with the print version of the textbook. After applying the style, type the print page number and move outside the style by using the right arrow key.
• spanish
  This character style is one among many language styles which will switch the translation appropriately for another language. This style does not translate English into Spanish, but allows a person who knows American braille to translate Spanish print words into braille appropriately according to BANA (braille Authority of North America) rules. Use the Character List (accessible through the "Help" menu) or the Codes List (accessible by pressing the F5 key) to enter special characters, such as é.
  

Exercise: Typing A Document With Proper Paragraph Formatting

Even when creating a simple document, like a letter, it's important to use styles, because even if the text looks right, the braille might not be formatted appropriately. The following is a sample document: the first few lines of the Gettysburg address. This time, use the following suggestions in order to create your letter:

1. Close "letter.dxp"
2. Create a new document.
3. Be sure you are in formatted view (as opposed to coded view). You can verify this by selecting the "View" menu. If "Codes" is checked, you are in coded view. If "Codes" isn't checked, you are in formatted view. In order to switch back and forth, type ALT- F
4. Apply the "para." style to your document: type f8 or select "Apply Style" from the "Layout" menu; select "para." and click "OK" or type the enter key.
5. Type CTRL-M in order to create new paragraphs rather than using the enter key to create a hard return.
6. Translate the document.

The above document is formatted in print the same way our original letter was, with the print flush left, and a line skipped between paragraphs. At the end of each paragraph, the CTRL-M shortcut key was used instead of typing the enter key. Use the ALT-F3 command to view the paragraph codes. "es~para." means "Start paragraph style" and "ee~para." means "End paragraph style".

The letter should look like this in braille: (See Fig. 13)

DBT Fonts

There are three font options when you translate a document: Braille, SimBraille, and Print.

Braille Font:

The Braille font looks like braille (See Fig. 14)

SimBraille Font:

The SimBraille font has "shadow dots" so that the sighted person can see the whole braille cell, including unused dots. (See Fig. 13)

Print Font:

If you select "Print Font" from the menu while you are in a braille document, you will see what braille looks like in ASCII type. To most people, it will look like a lot of gibberish, so in most cases you won't want to use the "Print Font" option when viewing the braille. (See Fig. 15)

Translated Line:

At the bottom of the braille document window is a bright yellow field that contains a line of text. This line of text allows a sighted user to read what the braille on the selected line says. (See Fig. 13)

How will this apply to my everyday work?

Understanding DBT features will allow you to use DBT more effectively. With the skills learned in this chapter you should be able to:

• Apply the use of styles to your individual documenting needs.
• Know the difference between a new line and a new paragraph, and create either one on demand
• Know the difference between various fonts
• Avoid confusion when managing print and braille documents.