Braille

Braille is a form of written language used by visually impaired and blind individuals. Braille uses a series of six raised dots arranged within a unit of space known as a cell that people read with their fingers. The dots, or bumps, represent letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and even whole words. Louis Braille, a French man who was blinded as a child, invented the braille system, but it was not widely used until after his death. Many improvements have been made to braille over the years, and advanced braille technology in the twenty-first century has allowed the visually impaired to use electronic devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. Braille is also available in different foreign languages throughout the world.

History

Louis Braille was born in 1809 in Coupvray, France. He was accidentally blinded as a child after cutting his eye with a sharp tool. His eye became infected, and the infection spread to his other eye, making him blind in both eyes. At school, he learned by listening, but he found it difficult.

When he was about ten years old, Braille attended the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris. Braille also found it hard to learn there since the teachers mostly taught by speaking to the students. Books that contained a system of raised print letters were available at this time, but this method of reading was hard to decipher by touch.

In 1821, a soldier named Charles Barbier spoke at the school about a form of secret code called night writing used by soldiers to communicate on the battleground. The system, which consisted of a series of twelve raised dots and dashes, was difficult for the soldiers to learn and use. The method intrigued Braille, and he decided to adapt it and create a new system to allow the visually impaired to read.

By the time he was fifteen, Braille had created a simplified version of night writing that used only six dots. In 1829, he published the first braille book, Method of Writing Words, Music, and Plain Songs by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged for Them. Braille also created a braille system that used symbols for reading music and math. However, the blind community did not embrace the braille system until many years later.

The Royal Institution hired Braille as its first blind apprentice and later professor. Braille suffered from a respiratory illness for much of his life and later acquired tuberculosis. He taught at the school until he became too ill. He died in 1852 at the age of forty-three. While Braille did not see his creation used during his lifetime, braille later became the definitive form of communication for the blind community.

Overview

Braille uses a system of raised dots arranged in two parallel columns of three dots (two dots wide by three dots high) contained in a square cell. The numbers one through six designate the positions of the dots. The first dot in the left-hand top of the first column is one; the dot underneath is two; the last dot of the first column is three; the dot in the right-hand top of the second column is four; the one under it is five; and the last dot in the second column is six. Sixty-four combinations are possible with this system.

A cell itself can represent either a letter, number, punctuation mark, group of letters, or word. It also can indicate whether a character is a number or a letter and if that letter is capitalized. The braille designations for zero to nine correspond with the letters A through J. The cell before the letter or number tells the reader whether these cells are numbers or letters. For example, a cell with dots in positions three through six means the next cell is a number. A cell with one dot in the sixth position means that the following cell contains a capital letter.

Braille takes up more space on a page than traditional printed words. A line of braille is about forty characters long, while a line of print could be up to seventy characters. A page of braille is about twenty-five lines long, compared to a page of print, which is about double that number. In addition, braille books are much longer and their heavier pages must be made from a thicker paper stock and be bound in a looser format so the books lay flat.

To combat the problem of large multivolume books, another form of braille called contracted braille, also known as grade 2 braille, was developed. Regular braille is known as uncontracted braille, or grade 1 braille. Uncontracted braille uses cells to represent every single letter, number, or symbol. Contracted braille uses cells to signify combinations of letters such as -ed and -ing and whole words such as the and for. Some people believe that children learn contracted braille first because it requires the knowledge of both types, while others argue that it is easier for young children to understand uncontracted braille before they learn contracted braille.

Throughout the years, several electronic braille devices have been developed for computers, smartphones, and tablets. Braille display technology allows blind people to read information that appears on the screen of a computer. A device that looks like a small keyboard attaches to the computer. As the person moves the mouse around the screen, the device produces braille in the form of small pins that move up and down. Braille printers along with compatible programs allow computers to print braille by embossing characters onto sheets of paper.

An application called BrailleTouch exists for smartphones and tablets. It has six buttons that allow users to create characters to compose messages. Users can swipe the screen to insert spaces or make deletions. The technology offers voice, click, and vibration feedback to alert users of mistakes.

Bibliography

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