Lars Ballieu Christensen Tanja Stevns RoboBraille in Bulgaria Braille books, audio books, e-books, accessibility, digital library Lars Ballieu Christensen Tanja Stevns

RoboBraille Mail and web-based translation service Free for all non-commercial users RoboBraille can Translate text into and from Grade 1 and 2 Braille in 6-dot and 8-dot Braille Convert text to audio books (mp3, Daisy) Convert documents into e-books (epub, mobi) Convert inaccessible documents to more accessible formats Produce ”visual Braille”, e.g., artwork for the pharmaceutical sector

RoboBraille service In operation since 2004; serving 10-20,000 requests each month Users Blind and partially sighted Reading impaired Educators, teachers, VI professionals Relatives Foreign language students Illiterate

A more inclusive information society Self-sufficiency Independence Inclusion Education Vocation Social Privacy Continued support after completion of education

What is RoboBraille Text-to-Speech Text-to-Braille E-book converter Daisy Pipeline Office automation OCR Accessible docs mp3 encoder Mail/web delivery .doc, .docx .htm, .html .xml .txt. .asc .rtf .pdf (all types) .mobi, epub .tif, gif, .bmp .jpg, .j2k, .jp2, .jpx .pcx, .dcx .djv .ppt .odt Mobile Folder Web Daisy Braille Tagged pdf mp3 Math Daisy E-books English Danish Greek Braille artwork Portuguese French German Italian Lithuanian Polish Slovenian Icelandic Norwegian Spanish Dutch Arabic Hungarian Romanian Bulgarian Russian Inuit Swedish

mp3 and Daisy by email Turn-around time 1+ minutes* Send an e-mail Attached document .doc, .docx, .htm, .html, .xml .txt. .asc, .rtf, .pdf (all types) .tif, gif, .bmp, .jpg, .j2k, jp2, jpx .pcx, .dcx, .djv tale@robobraille.org tydeligtale@robobraille.org britspeech@robobraille.org usspeech@robobraille.org textoparavoz@robobraille.org audio@robobraille.org potspeech@robobraille.org parlefrancais@robobraille.org aistis2@robobraille.org mowa@robobraille.org deutsch@robobraille.org preberi@robobraille.org castellano@robobraille.org leeme@robobraille.org arabic@robobraille.org arabicbilingual@robobraille.org v@robobraille.org; m@robobraille.org daisy@robobraille.org RoboBraille translates using TTS engines, Daisy Pipeline Imports (e.g., .asc) Converts (e.g., .htm  .txt) Translates text-to-speech (.wav) Compresses/Encodes .wav to .mp3 Or Uses Daisy Pipeline to create Daisy project including audio Zips it up into single file Resultat returned Link to mp3 audio file or zip file with Daisy project Turn-around time 1+ minutes*

Turn-around time less than a minute Braille by email Send an email Attached document .doc, .docx, .htm, .html, .xml .txt. .asc, .rtf, .pdf (all types) .tif, gif, .bmp, .jpg, .j2k, jp2, jpx .pcx, .dcx, .djv RoboBraille based on Sensus Braille translation engine Imports(e.g., .asc) Converts(e.g., .doc  .txt) Translates Exports (e.g., BrailleLite, North American Computer Braille, pef, formatted) sekspunkt@robobraille.org, sixdot@robobraille.org, brailleseipunti@robobraille.org, potbraille@robobraille.org, textoparabraille@robobraille.org, kurzschrift@robobraille.org ottepunkt@robobraille.org, eightdot@robobraille.org, ... lille6@robobraille.org, lille8@robobraille.org, … fuldskrift@robobraille.org, decontract@robobraille.org, ... 820da@robobraille.org, 820en@robobraille.org, … konverter@robobraille.org, convert@robobraille.org, ... eksport@robobraille.org, export@robobraille.org, ... filpart@robobraille.org, filepart@robobraille.org, ... Result attached HTML (.htm, .html) Tekst (.txt) PEF (.pef) Turn-around time less than a minute

Formatting - PEF PEF - Portable Embosser Format XML-based Unicode Braille - install Unicode font, e.g., Code2000 Same Braille document on all embossers Stand-alone PEF application or in Daisy Pipeline Specify format in subject line to RoboBraille Subject Chars pr line Lines per page Paginate Duplex pef4025pd 40 25 yes pef4025 no pef3025p 30 pef3025d

Formatting, embossing

Accessibility by email Send an email Attached document .pdf (alle typer) .tif, gif, .bmp, .jpg, .j2k, .jp2, .jpx .pcx, .dcx, .djv Specify requested format in subject field: pdf, rtf, txt, htm doc, docx, xml xls, xlsx, csv, pdf RoboBraille based ABBY Recognition Server Converts konverter@robobraille.org, convert@robobraille.org, … Return result as attachment pdf, rtf, txt, htm doc, docx, xml xls, xlsx, csv, pdf

E-books by e-mail Send an email Attached document doc, docx, rtf, txt, asc, pdf, xml, htm, html, tiff, gif, jpg, bmp, pcx, dcx, j2k, jp2, jpx, djv, epub, mobi RoboBraille conversion based on Calibre Converts epub@robobraille.org, mobi@robobraille.org, … Return result as attachment epub, mobi

Visual Braille by email Send an email pharmabraille@sensus.dk or dedicated mail account Attached control file # Control file for Sensus # RoboBraille/PharmaBraille # t1=Betnovate med chinoform t2=1% + 30 mg/g t3=100 stk p=Betnovate med chinoform f=OctoBrailleMM l=da n=standard RoboBraille based on Sensus Braille translation engine Translates text into Visual Braille Creates graphical artwork which can be used in design applications such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator or Quark Xpress. Result attached Turn-around time less than a minute

RoboBraille Digital Library Library for digital contents Two classes of material Public Protected Operated in accordance with Danish Copyright legislation (§17) or national copyright legislation Integrated with DanBib (official Danish Library Database, Z39.50) or other meta data repository (Google, Amazon)

Users * Must be associated with primary user Search/ retrieve Manage titles Manage users Generate reports Manage system Administrators √ Producers Primary users Professionals √* Relatives Guests √** * Must be associated with primary user ** Can search all but only retrieve public contents

Contents Alt format Media file Alt Publisher Producer Alternative Title Title Author ISBN Language … Alternative Alt format Media file Alt Publisher Producer Alternative Alt format Media file Alt Publisher Producer

Delivery Three modes Direct by email Direct by download Indirect via RoboBraille Physical media is shipped by ordinary mail (tactile illustrations, models, …)

Literature …

An award-winning service 2011: World Blind Union Braille21 Award Finalist (Germany) 2010: BETT Award for best Special Education Needs solution (UK) 2009: Access IT Award for Learning for most affordable eLearning solution (UK) 2009: National eWell-Being Award for ”Reaching the Digitally Excluded” (UK) 2008: European Commission eInclusion Award for e-Accessibility (EU) 2008: Well-Tech Award for Innovation and Accessibility (Italy) 2007: British Computer Society's Social Contribution Award (UK)

Project summary RoboBraille in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary Three years: 2012 – 2015 Funded by VELUX, a private Danish foundation Coordinated by the Danish National Center for Visually Impaired Children and Youth Project covers cash costs, hardware/software investments and Project is open to a wide variety of partners

RoboBraille in Romania Localised version of RoboBraille Mp3, Daisy Braille E-books Document conversion Support for local Braille devices Localised web interface Localised web site and other info material Electronic Library for digital media Material production

RoboBraille Stakeholders The primary users Organisations representing the primary users NGOs working for the primary users Relatives and parents organisations of the primary users Teachers of the primary users in both special schools and mainstream schools. VI and reading professionals in both special schools and mainstream schools

RoboBraille Stakeholders Management and faculty at special schools for the blind and partially sighted. Management and faculty at mainstream schools with integrated pupils/students. Faculty at academic institutions responsible for teaching special education and developing special education practiced.

RoboBraille Stakeholders School administrators at local, regional, national level responsible for special education and mainstream schools with integrated disabled pupils/students. Policymakers at local, regional, national level responsible for special education and mainstream schools with integrated disabled pupils/students.

Examples of partner roles Local coordination Translation and localisation Dissemination End users and other organisations Academic Pilot tests Reconsider teaching practices; inclusion practices and policies End-user support Host library and material production

Partnership of professional collaborators Participation must make sense to you or your organisation Costs are covered; you are expected to volunteer hours You are joining an international network You are fee to exploit RoboBraille for other purposes Fundraising Research and development activities Income generation

Supporting infrastructure www.robobraille.org/bulgaria Email list Dropbox folder Facebook group: RoboBraille Bulgaria

Important documents RoboBraille Service Summary Roles and Responsibilities of Partners in a RoboBraille Project Localising RoboBraille Presentation We will email the documents … Retrieve from www.robobraille.org/romania

Questions; comments ?!