This software is released at 1.0 but we're continuing to work on it. It is a complicated process to convert BRFs into eBraille files and user feedback will help us improve the process and the conversions.`
The eBraille Converter is meant to work with BRF files that have BANA formatting. If you are from a different braille region, the converter may technically convert your file to the new format, but the formatting will be incorrect. This is because the converter works by applying markup to your file based on the cell position and blank lines of the individual items within it. If your file is formatted according to the rules of a braille region that uses formatting rules different than BANA, then you will need to make changes to the software to accommodate that. Instructions on how to make those changes will come in a separate document later.
Run the program by pressing enter while focused on or double-clicking the file Convert2EBRL.exe.
When the program runs, this warning will appear:
This is a reminder that the Converter is still in development. Please convert files and review them but do not use the converter and expect to have perfect eBraille files. Changes are coming in future updates that will make any conversions made using an early version of the eBraille Converter inferior. Use the OK button to acknowledge the warning and proceed to using the program.
Now you will be on the General tab. The General tab is the main tab you will use when doing your conversions. The second tab is Page settings, and you will likely need to visit Page settings first before you start converting files. The third tab is Metadata.
Two buttons that are persistent across tabs are Close and Convert. Convert is will not do anything until you have a valid file to convert and a location to put the converted file. Close will close the program without converting a file.
There are several items on this tab. Here is what they are
Below the toolbar and above the tabs is an item called Conversion Profile. By default, it has two items “APH Interpoint” and “APH Single Sided”. These default profiles conform to how APH generally formats braille that is either meant for interpoint (double-sided) or single-sided production. The two profiles are in a dropdown menu, and you can select between them by activating that dropdown with either your keyboard or mouse.
Changing your profile will change the settings found on the Page Settings tab. The only difference between APH Interpoint and APH Single Sided is that APH interpoint uses the value “None” for the option Even Braille page number.
If the files you are converting do not conform to the settings utilized by the default profiles, you can create your own. To start, change the settings that will align with the files you are converting. When you make changes to any of the settings so that diverges it from the settings of the original profile, the dropdown menu will change to display the word Custom.
To reuse your new profile without having to recreate it each time you use the program, there is a button with an ellipsis on it next to the dropdown. Activate it and it will show the options:
When Save profile is selected, a dialog will appear. It has the title Name the profile. The only text on the body of the dialog is Profile name and then buttons for OK and Cancel. Below the text Profile name is a text box. Type the name you would like to use for your custom profile in this text box. Use OK to utilize this profile name or Cancel to exit the dialog.
The profile name cannot be blank. If no text is entered into the textbox and the OK button is used, a warning will appear saying “A profile name cannot be empty, please provide a profile name.”
The Metadata tab is where metadata is added to the file that will be converted. It has several fields.
Below the fields for inputting the minimum required Metadata, there is a section for Additional metadata. It has two buttons, Add and Remove. Add, when activated by mouse click or keyboard, displays all of the required metadata values. Select one to add that value. Additional custom metadata types will be available in a future update.
To remove an added metadata value, use the Remove button. It will remove whichever metadata value is currently selected. If no metadata values are selected, it will remove the last value added.
You will primarily work using the General tab as it is assumed that you will rarely need to change your page settings.
The first item on the general tab is Input type. Here you will select either List of BRF or Directory of BRF. These items change how Input BRF works when you use the Browse button.
List of BRF will have you point the converter to individual BRF files, most likely just one file. Directory of BRF will have you point the converter to a folder containing BRFs.
Once you have selected your input type, next you will interact with the Input BRF item. This item has a textbox where you can type the directory of either the folder or individual BRF that you want to convert or a Browse button, which will open the File Explorer and allow you to point to the folder or individual BRF you are wanting to convert.
The next item is a checkbox labeled as Include Images. Unchecked by default, if your BRF file has tactile graphic files that you would like included in your final conversion, this is where you would indicate that. The Image directory item is greyed out unless this checkbox is checked.
If the Include images checkbox is checked, then Image directory will become available. Just like the Input BRF item, you can either type the location of your images or use the Browse button to point the converter to the location. The primary difference between Input BRF and Image directory is that Image directory will always point to a folder and never to an individual graphic file.
Finally, there is the option for Output eBraille. This option works like Input BRF and Image directory, in that you can either type the location or use the browse button to point the converter to where you want your converted eBRL file to be saved. The main difference here is that you will also need to tell the converter what to name the file.
As we are still in beta, the converter will save your file as a zip. It does this because only a limited amount of program can read eBRL files. We will utilize the browser to review your created eBraille files.
While the Monarch can read eBraille files, you can also read them using your browser. This isn't a perfect process since browsers are made for web pages and not documents, so the formatting won't visually appear accurate and some of the braille characters will have a larger font size. This doesn't affect the actual braille if it is read using a Monarch or via browser with a screen reader and braille display but it is important to remember that this is happening. It's just the browser applying irrelevant formatting and that formatting isn't applied in other contexts.
Here are the instructions for how to read eBraille files without a Monarch.
Created eBraille files will first need to be unzipped. You can do this by changing the file extension from .EBRL to .ZIP. Once the file extension is .ZIP, you can extract it using your normal process.
Once unzipped, you can open and review the items freely. Note that ordinarily, a reader would just open a .EBRL file on their Monarch or eBraille reader of their choosing. For testing purposes, we’re going to see “inside” the eBraille file.
First open the unzipped folder from your conversion. You’ll find two folders and three files. One folder is called ebraille and the other is called META-INF. The three files are index.html, mimetype, and package.opf. These files are used by software when reading eBraille files and are ordinarily never seen by a person. Mimetype and package.opf can be ignored during the field test.
To start reading your eBraille files, open index.html in your browser. By default, Windows will open HTML files in your browser, so activate it by either double-clicking or pressing enter on it to open the file in your browser and begin your review. When reading outside of a Monarch or other eBraille-supporting braille display or tablet, the index.html is the best way to open your eBraille because it contains the table of contents, generated by the converter using the headings in your file, and it's a great way to access your entire file at once.