Getting Braille translated Right-First-Time

Getting Braille translated Right-First-Time

In a Class 4 drug alert issued on 26 April 2019, the MHRA said that an error in the Braille on the packaging of Prednisolone 5 mg tablets, manufactured by Genethics Europe Ltd and distributed by Genesis Pharmaceuticals Ltd, has wrongly stated the strength of the tablets as 1mg instead of 5mg.

Prednisolone is a steroid used to treat a range of allergies, blood disorders, skin diseases, infections, some cancers and to prevent organ rejection after a transplant.

Fortunately, Prednisolone toxicity is low for a single acute overdose or excessive dosing of short duration, adverse effects may include gastrointestinal effects (nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, increased appetite), insomnia, restlessness and increased motor activity.

Different governments across the world have made the use of Braille on medical packaging mandatory to suit the requirements of the visually impaired in their countries. Braille is slowly making its way into cosmetic and food packaging. The usage of Braille on packaging has evolved significantly in recent years and one must agree that it’s a step in the right direction.

It is heartening to find brands like Savlon include Braille on their antiseptic bottles.

What’s the impact of Braille on packaging for your organization?

Inclusion of Braille on labeling affects labor and costs. On one hand, printers have to know that not all dots are the same for all languages. Printers also have to account for specific dot diameters, offsets and line distances when embossing or printing to make sure that the Braille dots are easily touchable. Braille on packaging forces the designers to find the right balance between functionality and appearance. In concrete terms, this generates cost increases of about 5-25 percent for printers**. Keeping these factors in mind, organizations must be prepared for longer set-up times when using Braille.

A misplaced Braille dot or wrong spacing of the dots could mean something entirely different for a person reading the Braille. It could mean an incorrect product name or dosage information which may have disastrous consequences for a blind person.

Organizations must verify word spacing, line spacing, character spacing, number of dots, characters and lines along with horizontal and vertical dot spacing.

How do you verify Braille on a packaging artwork?

Artwork management systems will give you the ability to inspect, translate and verify Braille on an artwork. The system should allow you to proofread, annotate on the artwork and generate inspection reports. Proofreading tools for Braille enable errors to be identified faster and sooner leading to reduction in number of reworks and faster approval cycles. Improved efficiency leads to increase in overall quality and compliance.

ManageArtworks helps you manage Braille on your packaging artworks. Click here to know more.

Sources:

Source: https://goo.gl/45gS1d

https://goo.gl/iFXHHF

Courtesy: Avinash Voodi, Head – Marketing at ManageArtworks.

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