Stellenbosch Graduate's Braille-to-Text Breakthrough
From: TimesLive (South Africa) - 12/11/2017
By: Petru Saal

Researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa have developed
software that can instantly convert Afrikaans text to braille, a breakthrough
they say could have a significant impact on teaching. The program, developed
by Stellenbosch's Pallier Gerber, was written in such a way that there are
different levels of complexity between Grade 1 and Grade 2 braille. "A
teacher can now prepare text and then decide with the click of the mouse on
which level they want to present it" Gerber says. The program could be used
to help with lesson preparation and significantly reduce the time it takes to
convert reading material from Afrikaans to braille. The program also enables
teachers to compare what a student wrote in braille with the Afrikaans
equivalent on a computer screen and immediately give feedback. "This means I
will now be able to teach like any other teacher in a mainstream school"
notes Stellenbosch vice principal Hannes Byleveldt.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/sci-tech/2017-12-11-stellenbosch-graduates-braille-to-text-breakthrough