ADA Braille

[Scott Shepherd]

Sent an an email to the people where I ordered the braille book and they informed me the book was entirely in braille. I told him what I was trying to do and he recommended a piece of software they sell for $19.95 that translates written text into Grade 2 braille.

So, I changed my order to that. Will report back when I get it. Could prove to be a useful tool for only $20.

[Scott Shepherd]

They emailed me the file, which was a nice surprise. It was an .exe file, which, when run, extracts into a new directory at C:\Braille\.

Once installed, it's an old style DOS program for sure. In windows, you have to go to "Run" from the start menu, or either find the executable file in the Braille directory and double click it (or create a shortcut to it).

It wouldn't run for me. It kept opening a box saying that it needed the location of the file command.com. The default was C:\Windows, which apparently wasn't correct for XP, so it sat there and wouldn't let me cancel. I had to do a Control/Alt./Delete and stop the process.

I did a quick search on my system and found the file at C:\Windows\system32, and when I entered that, the program began to work.

It's not much more than an old DOS style box that you type in. At the bottom of the box, it says "grade 1" and "grade 2". Click on either and it instantly converts to either. That's all it is. No bells, no whistles (which is fine).

It only shows the actual dots, so you have to work out where the spaces are and what characters make them.

For $20, I'm 100% certain I'll save that much by having it.

However, you might be upset with the fact that you have to know a little about computers to get it to run. I didn't email them back for help, so I'm assuming they would have been more than happy to help anyone get it run.

Glad I bought it.

Hope this helps someone.

-Scott

[Larry Bratton]

Here is some info on Braille that might be helpful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille
ADA signs are generally a pain to make and I never felt that I could get enough money for them relative to the time they take with a rotary machine. I use the Raster method of applying the braille after the holes are punched and that is slow work also.
Laser will help cutting out the applique for the 1/32" raised letter part and possibly with cutting the sign plates out of the plastic. Lots of people out there selling signage and I found that most times I could buy the few signs I needed, cheaper than I could make them.