TRANSCODING SYSTEM FOR DELIVERING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS TO A DEVICE HAVING A BRAILLE DISPLAY

An electronic document delivery system is described including a client machine coupled to (i.e., in wired or wireless communication with) a transcoder proxy. The client machine may be, for example, a palmtop or handheld computer or a wireless communication device with limited memory and/or processing capability. The client machine includes a Braille display and provides Braille format information identifying a selected Braille format to the transcoder proxy. The transcoder proxy is coupled to receive the Braille format information and electronic documents. Each electronic document includes presentation information (e.g., text and/or user controls such as buttons). The transcoder proxy includes a rule set including rules for translating electronic documents from any one of a set of first digital formats (e.g., a text-based markup language such as HTML, extensible markup language/XML, POSTSCRIPT, or portable document format/PDF) to any one of various Braille formats (e.g., English Braille, European Braille, Japanese Braille, and/or grades such as grade 1, grade 2, etc.). Locating the rule set within the transcoder proxy reduces the resource requirements of the client machine. The transcoder proxy translates the electronic document from the first digital format to a second digital format (e.g., a scripting language) such that the presentation information is converted to the selected Braille format, and provides the electronic document to the client machine in the second digital format.