Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, under contract with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, is developing a course in Technical Braille Transcribing to teach students to transcribe print technical materials into Unified English Braille (UEB). Upon successful completion of the course, students will receive a Library of Congress certificate in Technical Braille Transcribing. There is no tuition charge for the course, and instructional materials may be downloaded for free. See below.
Prospective students must meet the eligibility and prerequisite requirements before beginning the course.
Eligibility
- United States citizenship or residency
- High school diploma or equivalent
Prerequisites
- Library of Congress-certified Braille Transcriber Certificate (dated January 2016 or later) or a Letter of Proficiency in UEB
- One year of experience with UEB after receiving the above certification
Equipment Required
A forty-cell slate, a braillewriter, or a computer using direct input or a software program with translation capabilities.
How the Course Works
At this time, the course is still in development. Once the course is opened to the public, it will be administered by correspondence only.
The course lessons will cover challenging literary formats – for example cartoons, poetry with language translation, and puzzles – in addition to technical subjects, such as non-UEB braille codes within UEB, math, and computer notation. Each lesson will describe elements of formatting and/or technical material, give examples, and provide practice drills.
Each lesson will conclude with an exercise that tests student comprehension of the material. The exercises will be evaluated by correspondence with Clovernook. Exercises may be submitted in electronic format (.brf) or hard copy braille.
Students will be required to submit exercises on a regular basis – at least every 90 days. Students will be removed from the course’s active student file if they are not heard from in over 3 months. Students may only submit one lesson at a time. The course will take approximately twelve to eighteen months to complete, including the final course exercise.
Grading
Instructors will prepare written reports pointing out errors and citing sections of the instruction manual, formats, and/or code books that should be studied again. Students will be given three chances to submit an acceptable exercise. If a student does not submit a passing transcription on the third attempt, the student will be required to re-start the course from the beginning, and is only eligible to do so after a period of six months.
Certification
The final course exercise will be sent to students upon request. The final exercise may be submitted in electronic format (.brf) or hard copy braille. Students scoring 80 points or above will receive the Library of Congress certificate in Technical Braille Transcribing.
How to Enroll
Details will be posted once the course is open to the public.
Instructional Materials
Necessary instructional materials will be listed below, and will be free to download. Hard copy formats will be available to students upon request. Students who withdraw from the course will be required to return the hard copy materials.
More Information
For more information, email technicalbraille@clovernook.org.