Braille

Braille is writing system which enables blind and partially sighted people to read through touch. It was invented in 1824 by Louis Braille (1809-1852), who became blind in a childhood accident and later became a teacher of the blind.

Braille consists of patterns of raised dots arranged in cells of up to six dots in a 3 x 2 configuration. Each cell represents a letter, numeral or punctuation mark. Some frequently used words and letter combinations also have their own single cell patterns. It was based on a tactile military code developed by Charles Barbier known as night writing or sonography.

There are a number of different versions of Braille:

Uncontracted or Grade 1, which consists of the 26 standard letters of the alphabet and punctuation. It is only used by people who are first starting to read Braille.
Contracted or Grade 2, which consists of the 26 standard letters of the alphabet, punctuation and contractions. The contractions are employed to save space because a Braille page cannot fit as much text as a standard printed page. Books, signs in public places, menus, and most other Braille materials are written in Contracted Braille.
Grade 3, which is used mainly in personal letters, diaries, and notes, and also in literature to a limited extent. It is a kind of shorthand, with entire words shortened to a few letters. There is no official standard for this version of Braille.

Braille has been adapted to write many different languages, including Chinese, and is also used for musical and mathematical notation, chess, computing, science

Braille alphabet

Basic Braille letters

These letters are arranged to show how they are related: the middle row is the same as the top row with an extra dot in the bottom left corner. The bottom row is the same as the middle row with extra dot in the bottom right corner. W was an afterthought and doesn't fit this scheme, as Braille was invented for French and W is rarely used in French.

Braille punctuation, numerals and special signs

Some contractions and abbreviations used in Grade 2 Braille

Braille contractions and abbreviations

More Braille contractions (as used in the USA)
http://www.99main.com/~charlief/brl/brl2.htm

Sample texts in Braille

Transliteration: "Be kind to others"

Sample text and some other information provided by Samuel Barnes

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Grade 1 Braille)

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Grade 1 Braille

Transliteration

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Text generated by the Braille Translator

Links

Information about Braille and other reading codes for the blind
http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/readingwriting/braille/Pages/braille.aspx
http://www.brailler.com/braillehx.htm
http://www.nyise.org/blind/
http://www.duxburysystems.com/braille.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille

BRL: Braille Through Remote Learning
http://www.brl.org/

You've Got Braille - an introduction to Braille for kids (includes Braille translator)
http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/braille/

Blindness Related Learning - braille tutorials and related services
http://www.brailleschool.com

How Braille is used to represent Japanese, Korean, Russian and other languages
http://homepages.cwi.nl/~dik/english/codes/braille.html

Free Braille fonts
http://www.tsbvi.edu/math/1087-download-braille-and-asl-specialty-fonts
http://www.fontspace.com/category/braille

Export and emboss Braille documents using OpenOffice.org
http://odt2braille.sourceforge.net/

Your name in Braille
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/thenamegame.asp
http://www.gamehouse.com/blog/braille/

Braille Signage
http://www.eriecustomsigns.com
http://adacentral.com
https://www.cushingco.com/ada-signage/

Organisations that support blind and partially sighted people
http://www.nfb.org
http://www.rnib.org.uk
http://www.afb.org
http://www.brailleinstitute.org
http://www.nbp.org

Tactile Writing Systems

Braille for Chinese, Braille for English, Braille for Latin & Greek, Braille for Welsh, Moon, Fakoo, Quadoo, Siekoo

Page last modified: 27.04.22

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