The Liblouis software suite provides an open-source braille translator, back-translator and formatter for a large number of languages and braille codes. It is a set of libraries designed for use in any of a number of applications, both free and commercial. It is written in C so that it does not require a runtime environment and hence can be used in applications written in high-level languages such as Java and Python.
We dedicate this release to the memory of John Boyer, the original author of liblouis. Sadly he passed away recently. We owe him a tremendous amount of gratitude. Without him liblouis would not exist.
This release contains major updates to Hungarian, UEB, and Chinese bopomofo braille. Danish has been completely reworked and there is now support for the Danish braille standard 2022. There are also some new tables so that liblouis can now generate Georgian computer braille, Swahili (Kenya) and Chichewa (Malawi). Aside from that there is the usual assortment of code cleanups and bug fixes.
This release contains significant updates to many existing braille tables (Chinese bopomofo, Hungarian, Japanese, Russian, Swedish, UEB grade 2 Ukrainian). On top of that it also contains new tables for Chinese Common Braille Scheme, Kinyarwanda and Luganda thanks to Cary-Rowen and Jake Kyle. Behind the scenes Samuel Thibault has been working tirelessly to fix memory related bugs.
Liblouis is an open-source braille translator and back-translator named in honor of Louis Braille. It features support for computer and literary braille, supports contracted and uncontracted translation for many languages and has support for hyphenation. New languages can easily be added through tables that support a rule- or dictionary based approach. Tools for testing and debugging tables are also included. Liblouis also supports math braille (Nemeth and Marburg).
Liblouis has features to support screen-reading programs. This has led to its use in numerous open-source and proprietary screenreaders such as NVDA, Orca, BrailleBack and JAWS. It is also used in some commercial assistive technology applications for example by ViewPlus.
Liblouis is the translator of choice for Benetech’s Bookshare, providing braille access to more than 350,000 books to members worldwide. Bookshare currently offers titles in braille in more than a dozen languages, with the ability to quickly add new languages as translation tables become available.
Liblouis is based on the translation routines in the BRLTTY screenreader for Linux. It has, however, gone far beyond these routines. In Linux and Mac OSX it is a shared library, and in Windows it is a DLL.
Liblouis is free software licensed under the GNU Lesser GPL.
The software has interfaces to a number of programming languages. There are known bindings to C, Python, Java and Javascript.
Liblouisutdml is an open-source braille formatter. The formatting can be configured via a style sheet. By incorporating Liblouis it provides the capability of translating any XML or plain text file into properly transcribed, embosser-ready braille. This includes translation into grade two, mathematical codes, etc.
Liblouisutdml is free software licensed under the GNU Lesser GPL.
There are several braille production systems based on Liblouis and/or Liblouisutdml.
BrailleBlaster, a joint project between ViewPlus Technologies, American Printing House for the Blind and Abilitiessoft, is aimed at hands-on production where every detail of the Braille is controlled via a graphical user interface.
DAISY Pipeline, backed by the DAISY Consortium, is aimed at automated, hands-off, high-volume production on the server.
Sao Mai Braille, a rich text editing and Braille translation software for Windows, is developed by Sao Mai Center for the Blind, a non-profit organization based in Vietnam.