If someone had told me ten years ago that I could access nearly any book I wanted and that I could even read it in braille I would never have believed it. Automated braille translation (such as Apple's built-in braille support) has gone a long way towards making this a reality. Having said this, generating braille without human intervention does have its drawbacks. When is automated braille a viable option, when is it problematic and when is it quite simply a dream come true?

In this paper I will discuss the technical aspects of braille automation. I will also provide an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of automatic braille translation.