Transcribing NIMAS Files

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Transcribing NIMAS Files

• Using DBT and NimPro

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Transcribing NIMAS FilesUsing DBT and NimPro

• Peter J. Sullivan
• VP, Development
• Duxbury Systems, Inc.
• 270 Littleton Road, Unit 6
• Westford, MA 01886-3523
• peter_at_duxsys.com

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Acknowledgements

• We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of
  the following individuals and organizations to
  todays presentation
• CTEVH
• Pearson Scott Foresman
• American Foundation for the Blind
• Bob Stepp, CASC
• Braille Institute
• Susan Christensen

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Goals

• Youll talk the talk
• Youll understand NIMAS, NIMAC, and NimPro.
• Youll walk the walk
• Youll transcribe portions of a real textbook
  from a NIMAS file.
• Youll get your questions answered
• And I hope youll answer mine.

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Goals

• ,y'll legtn no? ab brl1 p se4 7,b .,i
  probably w47

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Outline

• Desktop Orientation
• NIMAS and NIMAC
• Whats wrong with DBT
• A better way NimPro
• NimPro design details (yawn!)
• Using NimPro, step-by-step
• Demo Basic NimPro
• Demo Lab Front Matter
• Demo Lab Body Matter

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Desktop Orientation

• Workshop files are on a CD in your D drive.
• Youll be storing files on the C drive, in
  c\megawork.

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Desktop Orientation

• Please locate the following icons on your
  desktop

Play with these applications, or others, if the
presentation bores you.
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Suppose You Need a Book in Braille
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NIMAS Files Can Help!

• But what are NIMAS Files?

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NIMAS Files are for New K-12 Textbooks
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NIMAS Files are DAISY Files
For the full story, seehttp//nimas.cast.org/abo
ut/index.html
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NIMAS Files Replace Other Formats

• Many states require NIMAS files for new
  publications they will purchase.
• Publishers who make NIMAS files available will
  usually not make other formats (PDF, Quark, plain
  text, etc.) available.
• If a publisher has made a NIMAS file available to
  any state, it is available to all.

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NIMAS Files Come in a Zip Package

• You can download the Zip package with or without
  graphics.
• A short PDF is always included.
• The main file is a .XML file. Well be looking
  at a sample.
• Your CD file contains a full package, with
  graphics, already un-zipped.

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NIMAS Files are Available Through Your States
Authorized User(s)

• Go to http//www.nimac.us
• All can search for content by title, publisher,
  or ISBN
• Log In to obtain content
• Authorized Users (AUs) can obtain content as
  required under contract with the publisher
• Alternate Media Producers (AMPs), including
  braille transcribers, can obtain content assigned
  by an AU
• You may or may not use the NIMAC directly.
• Well see more later!

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Now You Have a NIMAS File
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And You Need it in Braille
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Can You Do It?
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Yes!
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Demo 1

• DBT Can Read NIMAS Files!

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Opening with DBT Alone

• DBT can only open the .XML file, not the package.
• The resulting file is large too large for DBT
  to handle efficiently.
• DBT doesnt recognize all styles.
• DBT cannot recognize nested structures (e.g.
  lists within lists).
• DBT misses numbers in numbered lists.

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Why NimPro?

• NimPro improves the imports of DBT and MegaDots.
• NimPro can divide files as needed.
• Designing one product (NimPro) allows us to make
  improvements in two product families.
• NimPro can ease transition of graphics from the
  NIMAS package into tactile formats.

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What is NimPro?

• NimPro is a preprocessor. (NimPro stands for
  NIMAS Processor.)
• It is a standalone application.
• NimPro is free for users of MegaDots (2.3) and
  DBT (10.5 or newer).
• NimPro is still unreleased, and indeed
  incomplete. But it is available, and, we
  believe, quite useful.
• For latest builds and information, see
  www.duxburysystems.com/nimpro.asp

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What Files does NimPro Use?
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NimPro Project Files

• Contain text as in the original NIMAS file.
• Text is in linear form just a series of
  paragraphs instead of nested structure of
  original NIMAS file.
• Paragraph styles are intended to be meaningful to
  braille transcriber.
• Contain dotty graphics.
• Link to ink graphics from the original NIMAS
  file.
• May evolve to support Braille-in-Daisy.

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Step 1Get the Hardcopy Too!
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Step 2Put a Friendly Face on the NIMAS File
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NimPro Display

• Text and graphics are presented in a natural
  order, derived from the NIMAS file.
• Text styles are presented on screen as they would
  be presented to a print reader.
• Text styles are shown also on a Style Map to
  the left of the document text.
• NimPro normally displays one page of the document
  at a time.
• NimPros simulated print display is not
  intended to eliminate the need for hardcopy.

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Step 3Review Paragraph Style Tags
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Step 4 Revise

• Use Quick Keys in Edit Style Mode to revise
  paragraph style tags
• Use Text Edit Mode to change text
• Use Wizards forthe Big Jobs

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Step 5 Divide and Conquer

• Divide by pages
• Divide by sections

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NimPro Functionality Summary

• Print-oriented display, with pictures, allows you
  to easily spot problems.
• Wizards are designed to fix several common
  problems at a stroke.
• Quick Style Editing, and other limited editing
  capabilities, can be used to fix other problems.
• Export to DBT, Word, or MegaDots to fix further
  problems.

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Demo 2

• Basic NimPro
• Reading Documents
• Using Quick Keys
• Saving Selected Pages
• Viewing with DBT or Word

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NIMAS Trouble

• Text is sometimes out of natural order
• Typos
• Image description errors
• Overuse of bold text
• Indistinct styles for Contentsand Index
• Heading levels must bematched to braille
  formatneeds

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NIMAS Trouble (Continued)

• Some lists are doubly-numbered
• Some headings are written as Body Text

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Step 6 Edit Individual Volumes

• Use DBT,
• Use DBT-Ready Word Files, or
• Use MegaDots

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Demo 3

• Using a Wizard

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Demo, QA and Lab

• Front Matter and Rear Matter

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Quick Keys Reference

• B Body text (ordinary text paragraph
• L1 List Item (an entry in a list)
• T Production Note (a transcriber's Note)
• H1 Heading 1
• H2 Heading 2
• H3 Heading 3

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Demo, QA and Lab

• Body Matter

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Quick Keys Reference

• B Body text (ordinary text paragraph
• L1 List Item (an entry in a list)
• T Production Note (a transcriber's Note)
• H1 Heading 1
• H2 Heading 2
• H3 Heading 3

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Recap Coming Attractions

• View By Section will support all the same
  features as View By Page.
• The NimPro native document format isnt entirely
  working yet. It will allow you to save and pick
  up your work within NimPro without having to
  reload the original NIMAS file.

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Recap Coming Attractions

• We plan to enhance NimPros direct editing
  capabilities, though we do not anticipate
  eliminating the need for touchup in DBT or
  MegaDots.
• More Wizards are to be added, and existing
  Wizards enhanced, as-needed. Our limited
  experience with real-world NIMAS files prevents
  us knowing what will be needed in this regard.

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Recap How-To

• Use NimPro for a quick assessment, overall fixup,
  and division of the NIMAS document.
• Get NimPro at www.duxburysystems.com/nimpro.asp
• Use DBT, Word, or MegaDots from there to
• Search/Replace
• Re-arrange
• Introduce section markup
• Mark uncontracted and CBC text