This method of switching between the Nemeth Code and Unified English Braille has been developed to ensure the continued viability of the use of the Nemeth Code for mathematics. The necessity for this adaptation, which is similar to the current use of switching to computer braille code for email addresses and the like, stems from two basic issues:
- In current Nemeth code transcriptions, the nonmathematical text that surrounds the mathematics is based on English Braille, American Edition (EBAE), which is being replaced by Unified English Braille (UEB). If the surrounding text were to continue to be in EBAE, then, in order to use Nemeth Code, braille users and producers would need to be familiar with two sets of rules for contractions, capitalization, emphasis, punctuation, spacing, and so on. Such a requirement would be especially burdensome in the long term to future braille users and producers who learn braille according to UEB symbols and rules and would then need to learn old rules that have been replaced.
- As the use of electronic means to read and write in both print and braille proliferates, the need for accurate translation both from print to braille and from braille to print becomes an increasingly critical consideration. An unambiguous switching method eliminates code conflicts and makes it possible for accurate translation in either direction to occur, so that mathematics can be communicated between print users and braille users using Nemeth Code.