12.1 Fundamentals
12.2 Identifying Sidebars
12.3 Formatting Sidebars
12.4 Samples
12.1.1 Publisher design of textbooks has exploded into creative layouts, and frequently challenges braille production. Textbooks used to be black and white, had few images, and content was read from top to bottom. Textbooks now are full of color, images, tables, boxes, bullets, etc., and reading order is not always obvious.
12.1.2 Transcriber's Notes
12.2.1 The purpose of this section is to help identify sidebars. The use of sidebars, a publishing term for information placed adjacent to text, is one of the design elements that can create confusion. A sidebar is detached from the main text and found in a section either off to one side of it, or above or below it, on the same page. Sidebars may or may not be linked, or related to, the adjacent text, and the reading order of sidebars and text is not always obvious. Sidebars have a different function than marginal notes and are formatted according to the text layout, e.g., with headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.
See Sample 12-1: Boxed Sidebar in Column on page 12-4.
See Sample 12-2: Boxed Sidebar Within Text on page 12-5.
12.3.1 Determine if the sidebar supports the text or if it is supplemental information. Once this has been decided it is easier to find the most appropriate location to insert it.
a. Look for specific references to the text of the sidebar. Insert the sidebar after a paragraph when it adds supportive information.
See Sample 12-3: Arrow Leads Reader to Sidebar on page 12-6.
b. Determine the best location for the sidebar when it provides extraneous information. This may be after the final full paragraph on the page, before a heading, etc.
See Sample 12-4: Extraneous Information in Sidebar on page 12-7.
c. Sidebars utilize the full width of the braille page.
d. The text layout of the sidebar dictates the format used, i.e., headings (centered, cell-5, cell-7), 3-1 paragraph, nested list, poetry, etc.
e. Insert a blank line before and after a sidebar, if it is not enclosed in a box.
See Sample 12-5: Sidebar with Student Activity on page 12-8.
f. Add box lines for clarity if the content of the sidebar interrupts the flow of text.
g. Enclose boxed or screened sidebars in a box to help separate the content of the sidebar from the flow of text.
h. It is not always necessary to use box lines when they appear in print, especially when sidebars begin a lesson, chapter, etc.
See Sample 12-6: Sidebars at Beginning of a Lesson on page 12-9.
i. When a sidebar is necessary for the understanding of a particular text, insert that sidebar before the related text.
See Sample 12-7: Word List in a Sidebar starting on page 12-10.
Sample 12-1: Boxed Sidebar in Column, page 12-4
Sample 12-2: Boxed Sidebar Within Text, page 12-5
Sample 12-3: Arrow Leads Reader to Sidebar, page 12-6
Sample 12-4: Extraneous Information in Sidebar, page 12-7
Sample 12-5: Sidebar with Student Activity, page 12-8
Sample 12-6: Sidebars at Beginning of a Lesson, page 12-9
Sample 12-7: Word List in a Sidebar, page 12-10