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What's new in RTFC version 10

Support for Unicode:

Unicode is an international standard for the unique encoding of characters. The standard allows the encoding and representation of almost all characters from all languages of the world. While our Western European character set gets by with only 255 different characters, Unicode defines more than 149000 characters for over 160 writing systems. This also includes the dot patterns of Braille and special characters such as arithmetic symbols, pictograms, musical notes or Emojis. Each character is assigned its own numerical code, called a "code point". The resulting uniqueness of the characters is important for the international exchange of data. For example, Braille can be implemented independently of a specific Braille table by using Unicode. In Unicode, the dot patterns occupy the code points U+2800 to U+28FF. And because Unicode Braille characters are supported by screen readers for the blind, the same dot patterns appear on a Braille display for every reader.

Within the European Union, natural and legal persons have had the right for years to have their names correctly reflected on documents. This applies in particular to Greek, Cyrillic and diacritic characters. Diacritics are used to determine the accent - the pronunciation and stress of a letter. In the past, these accent letters were often represented only by their basic letter. However, today's computer systems can easily process all characters thanks to Unicode.

In order to standardize data processing within the European Union, the DIN standard 91379 came into force on November 1, 2024. It defines 924 characters from the Unicode that are necessary for the processing and representation of proper names. The standard is also known as String.Latin+ 1.2. It is mandatory for all IT procedures that serve the cross-federal-state data exchange or the exchange of data with citizens and companies in the EU.

Support for this standard makes Unicode accessible to all user groups for creating accessible files. This can be experienced in many areas of RTFC version 10.

Input Formats

Unicode characters from Microsoft Word documents and files in RTF format are retained as is, provided that the output format allows it.
Unicode Braille characters are retained, allowing sample text to be clearly reproduced in Braille.
Text files and files in PDF format can also be imported into UTF8 with or without BOM, UTF16 LE and UTF16 BE. Unicode Braille characters within text files can either be retained or converted into ANSI coding according to DIN 32982. You can set this by using the "Keep Unicode Braille " option from the "Text Import" tab in the program options.
Braille files can also be translated from Unicode Braille to printed text. Since the dot patterns themselves do not have a clear meaning, the language and grade of Braille can be specified for back-translation of unknown files. For this purpose, the option "Enable confirmation of back translation settings" from the "Text import" tab in the program options displays a separate dialog before back translation.

Output formats

In the daisy full text, as well as in the formats "HTML 4.0 Strict", "HTML Help", "Rich Text Format", "Portable Document Format" and "Microsoft Word Document", Unicode characters are retained unchanged and thus meet the requirements of DIN 91379.
In the formats "Daisy 2.02 Audio with Braille" and "HTML 4.0 Braille with CSS", the text can be converted into dot patterns as Unicode Braille.
In speech synthesis for digital audio books, the respective dot patterns are announced for Unicode Braille characters from the source document.
In 8-dot Braille (computer Braille), Unicode characters can be uniquely converted if an additionally loaded Braille table such as "DETAIL 1.0" defines them
For more information, see www.bskdl.org/detail/.
In 6-dot Braille (grade 1 or grade 2), accented letters and other special characters are represented in transliteration for better readability.
Braille files can also be saved in UTF8 with or without BOM, UTF16 LE and UTF16 BE. This enables the international exchange of files regardless of a specific Braille table. You can set the "Storage Format for Braille Files" using the "Language Settings" button from the "General" tab in the program options.
Unicode Braille characters from the source document are retained in Braille, making it easier to write textbooks with sample texts in Braille.

RTFC Braille Printer

RTFC's printer driver can handle files in Unicode Braille. On Braille printers that support a binary table, this extends the character set to all dot patterns except for the control characters for tabs, line and page breaks.

RTFC Document Reader

The Microsoft Word reading program takes Unicode characters into account and reads them correctly depending on the speech processor used. In the case of files in Braille, the back-translated text is read aloud, otherwise the respective dot patterns are announced in the context of the document.

RTFC Braille Keyboard

RTFC's Braille Keyboard allows you to enter Unicode Braille characters, as long as your word processor supports it. You can set this by using the "Unicode Braille for Braille input " option from the "Keyboard" tab in the accessibility settings. These settings can be accessed via the "Accessibility" button from the "General" tab in the program options. In this way, sample texts in Braille can be easily entered in Microsoft Word.

RTFC Braille Tags

Braille tags are control commands for Braille or daisy conversion, which can also be used to define text and insert it into a document. Within a text parameter, Unicode characters can be used if they are entered directly in the source document after the Braille tag has been inserted into the document.

Loadable Braille Tables for Computer Braille:

For the implementation of 8-dot Braille, external Braille tables can be loaded. This allows you to assign one or more dot pattern to each character - even for Unicode characters. This makes it possible to convert your documents exactly as they appear on the Braille display. Or you can write your own Braille table for a language that has not yet been developed.

The following table formats are supported:

RTFC format (*.rbt)
JAWS format (*.jbt)
NVDA or LibLouis format (*.utb(
Brailler format (*.tab)

The following tables are included:

DETAIL 1.0 (the extended Braille table of the BSKDL based on DIN 91379)
European DIN 32982 (the traditional Braille table for Eurobraille)
European Transcription (the extended character set of Windows for accented letters and other special characters in transliteration)

You can define the table in the "Computer Braille table" drop-down list in the "Computer Braille - Advanced Settings" dialog. You can access the dialog via the "Advanced" button next to the drop-down list for the output format.

TrueType fonts for computer braille simulation:

The new fonts "CDV Braille (ANSI)" and "CDV Braille Plus (ANSI)" are necessary for clear representation of all 255 dot patterns of 8-dot Braille. We provide these fonts free of charge with the kind permission of Jean-Claude Thilges (CDV Luxembourg).

Latin Braille:

We have developed a new Braille module that takes a pragmatic approach to translating Latin for both 6-dot Braille and 8-dot Braille. The implementation is based on a proposal by Vivian Aldridge, member of the Braille Committee of the German-speaking Countries (BSKDL).

For more information, see

www.braille.ch/altsprachen.htm

The module allows the clear representation of long and short vowels (as accented letters with macron and brevis), as well as frequently used ligatures such as "AE", "OE", "SS" and "ET". Alternatively, the vowels can also be written with circumflex for long vowels and acute for short vowels, which makes it easier to enter on the PC keyboard.

Otherwise, the basic system including math Braille of German Braille applies.

The Latin module can be selected in the advanced options for the output format with the language abbreviation "la". The language can also be assigned to a font family and set via Braille tags (only for the Professional Edition).

Italian Braille:

The new Braille module complies with the "Codice Braille italiano" (Biblioteca Italiana per i Ciechi "Regina Margherita" - ONLUS 2017).

This set of rules was agreed in order to standardize and further develop Italian Braille.

The module implements Italian Braille including simple mathematical expressions. It helps with the conversion of Italian texts - also as a foreign language in education for the blind.

The Italian module can be selected in the advanced options for the output format with the language abbreviation "it". The language can also be assigned to a font family and set via Braille tags (only for the Professional Edition).

Improved PDF conversion:

For the import of PDF files, RTFC now uses the import filter of Microsoft Word. The prerequisite for this is an installed version of Microsoft Word from 2016 onwards.

Word has excellent support for tagged PDF files as well as PDF/A format. Word also usually achieves good results for classic PDF documents that contain text as graphics and require optical character recognition (OCR). This allows PDF files to be converted to other formats in one step, with most of the formatting being taken care of. Optionally, PDF files can also be converted via RTFC's previous text import filter.

Improved accessibility check:

The accessibility report has been improved with regard to bulleted lists and numbering, opening and closing quotes for verbatim speech, page numbers, footnotes and endnotes, as well as the use of international character sets. The accessibility checker supports you in publishing digital works by revealing the potential for improvements in your documents before they are processed into other formats.

Improved graphical interface:

Here we listened to our customers, who would like to see only few changes in the operation of the program. so that you don't have to learn from version to version.

We have made targeted changes only where there have been difficulties in operation in the past. An example here is the selection of the main language and foreign language for Braille conversion.

Support for current software environments:

RTFC can now also be used with the following products:

Microsoft Windows 12
Microsoft Word 2024 (desktop app) and corresponding versions installed on-premises as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription
JAWS from version 2025

Important:

RTFC version 9 and older cannot be used with Windows 12 or current versions of Word 2024 (desktop app) and corresponding versions installed on-premises as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription. There is no approval and no support for this from our side.

Hint:

Registered users of version 9 can purchase the update to version 10 at half price. We do not offer discounted updates from older versions.

Customers who have purchased a new license of RTFC version 9 after July 1, 2024 can download and install the update to version 10 free of charge (goodwill regulation).

Further innovations and improvements within version 10 are in development. These will be free for registered users of version 10.

RTFC Homepage

What's new in RTFC version 9