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BrailleBlaster 2.1.3: Major software update

New and improved features for BrailleBlaster and important information about how to access files created with the old software.

BrailleBlaster is a free braille transcription program developed by the American Printing House for the Blind to help transcribers provide blind students with braille textbooks.

Its been over a year since the last stable BrailleBlaster release. I am pleased to announce the release of BrailleBlaster 2.1.3-stable and with the many improvements I think the wait has been worth it. Although we have not changed the major version number, this update is definitely a major improvement. When compared with the previous stable release the file handling is significantly improved, many more NIMAS files correctly open, table handling is very much improved and an overhauled find and replace tool. There are many more improvements and bug fixes. We recommend all users to update to this latest version, even beta users should upgrade as there have been important bug fixes since the last beta version.

One very important thing to highlight is that we had to make significant changes under the hood in the file format. Unfortunately this does mean any files created with BrailleBlaster 2.0.42-stable or earlier will not open in this version. However it is possible to have this version of BrailleBlaster installed at the same time as 2.0.42-stable, so should you have old files you need to work on you can still do this with the older BrailleBlaster version. This new version will be listed as BrailleBlaster in your apps, where as the older version will show as BrailleBlasterV2.

As usual this version of BrailleBlaster can be downloaded from the BrailleBlaster website. Full details of what is new can be found in the release notes below. In seeking creating software to work well for users, we look forward to recieving your feedback about this verssion of BrailleBlaster.

BrailleBlaster 2.1.3-stable, December 15, 2023

Welcome to BrailleBlaster Version 2.1.3-Stable. We have overhauled the internal BrailleBlaster file type to improve stability and usability. Additional improvements were made in file handling and performance. Please note that older Brailleblaster files are not compatible with BrailleBlaster 2.1.3-Stable. Please complete work with your current version before primarily using BrailleBlaster 2.1.3-Stable. We are sorry for this inconvenience. These changes will make BrailleBlaster easier to improve and support as we move forward. We are excited to share this new release and look forward to receiving your feedback.

Improvements from previous stable release

Improvements from previous beta release

By David Goldfield

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

If you need help using your assistive technology learn about my training services by visiting

WWW.ScreenReaderTraining.com

Back to Paths to Technology’s Home page

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