Duxbury Braille Translation Software

Using Word and Duxbury Braille Translation (DBT) Software

Dates / Times

1st online session: Tuesday, October 12, 2021 — 1:00 – 3:30 pm 

2nd online session: Thursday, October 14, 2021 — 1:00 – 3:30 pm 

3rd online session: Tuesday, October 19, 2021 — 1:00 – 3:30 pm 

4th online session: Thursday, October 21 2021 — 1:00 – 3:30 pm 

5th online session: Tuesday, October 26, 2021 — 1:00 – 3:30 pm 

6th online session: Thursday, October 28, 2021 — 1:00 – 3:30 pm 

Course Description

As part of the BEST Grant’s goals to support the implementation of braille instruction, technology and the production of quality braille materials, BEST is offering a training focused on creating braille materials with Duxbury Braille Translation Software. This training is intended for educators, paraprofessionals, and braille transcribers who produce braille materials for students who are blind or visually impaired. This multi-session training is designed to teach participants how to use SWIFT and the BANA template for Microsoft Word to prepare files for DBT Win. The course consists of four online sessions with five additional assignments to be completed independently.

Prerequisites

It is helpful to be familiar with word and DBT.

Learning Objectives

After completion of this training the student will be able to:

  • Configure Microsoft Word (Options, Quick Access Toolbar)
  • Configure DBT (Embosser Setup, Import Options, Word Importer, Formatted Braille Importer)
  • Use SWIFT and the BANA braille template
  • Use styles to efficiently format documents for braille
  • Format print page numbers
  • Format headings
  • Format paragraphs
  • Format basic exercise material
  • Use Word's simple Find and Replace

Free Software for Your School District

The BEST Grant will provide the most recent version of Duxbury Braille Translation Software (DBT) (or will upgrade an older version of the software) to participants who complete all four sessions and additional assignments of the course to use in their school district/agency (one copy per district/agency). A single user license or upgrade of DBT will be emailed to you.

BEST Grant will provide the following:

  • A laptop and additional monitor will be mailed to the participant for use during the training. After completion of the training sessions, the laptop and monitor need to be mailed back to the AT&AEM center. A return UPS mailing label will be provided. 

  • To qualify for one (1) single user license of DBT for use in your school district or agency, you must: 

  • Attend all six sessions 

  • Submit each assignment by the designated due date 

  • Return the laptop and monitor to the AT&AEM center 

The single user license of DBT will be ordered and emailed to you after the above requirements are fulfilled. 

Participant Activity Assignments

Send assignment files to Susan Christensen: chrn3292@gmail.com. 

Before First Session: Friday, October 1, 2021 (5:00 pm) 

Submit a .docx source file you need to prepare for DBT. For example, the source file may be a file run through OCR (such as ABBYY FineReader or OmniPage), teacher prepared, personally typed, etc. NO MATH. Send the corresponding pdf or image file if the source file was prepared from paper copy or another file format (i.e., .pdf, .jpg, .png, .tif, etc.). 

Thursday, October 7, 2021 (11:00 am) 

Activity assigned at the end of Session 1. 

Monday, October 11, 2021 (5:00 pm) 

Activity assigned at the end of Session 2. 

Thursday, October 14, 2021 (11:00 am) 

Activity assigned at the end of Session 3. 

Monday, October 18, 2021 (5:00 pm) 

Activity assigned at the end of Session 4. 

Thursday, October 21, 2021 (11:00 am) 

Activity assigned at the end of Session 5. 

Monday, October 25, 2021 (5:00 pm) 

Activity assigned at the end of Session 6. 

Instructor

Susan Christensen, DBT Specialist. Email: chrn3292@gmail.com

Contact Hours

Fourteen (14) contact hours will be offered for completion of this course.

Registration

  • This workshop is limited to 15 participants
  • Deadline for registration: September 30, 2021
  • You must have a Lending Library account in order to register and be provided the equipment. By registering you are agreeing to return the equipment in a timely manner and in the condition it was received as well as any additional agreements per the Lending Library registration

Register online via OCALI Pass

For more information contact Augusta Fisher at augusta_fisher@ocali.org