Researching Braille
What is Braille?
Braille is a writing system that is physical and tactile. It uses 'patterns of raised dots to represent letters, numbers, and punctuation marks,' which is read by touch. The name comes from the inventor, Louis Braille, who developed the code in the 1820s.
Braille symbols are formed within units of space known as braille cells, which consist of six raised dots arranged in two parallel vertical columns of three dots. There are 64 combinations possible using one or more of these six dots, including the completely full and the completely empty cell. Each combination represents individual letters, numbers, punctuation signs, groups of letters or a whole word.
Braille is commonly read with the index, or first, finger of one or both hands.
History and Louis Braille
Louis Braille was inspired by Captain Charles Barbier who invented the tactile communication system 'night writing', which was used in the French army for transmitting battlefield communications in darkness. It has many similarities to Braille, being impressions in thick paper that are read by touch. The code uses dots and dashes, which Braille simplified and recreated with blind people in mind. Sight Scotland notes, 'by the time he was 15, he had trimmed Barbier’s 12 dots into six and found 63 ways to use a six-dot cell in an area no bigger than a fingertip. He also extended his code for music and later mathematics.'The Braille system was very popular with blind students, however sighted teachers refused to use it, and blind students had to study braille alone and in their own time. Braille was finally introduced at the Royal Institution in 1854, then expanding to countries all over the world.
Contracted and uncontracted
There are two forms that Braille can be written in;
Uncontracted braille, which is a direct letter-for-letter translation of print.
Contracted braille, which uses special signs to represent common words and letter combinations.
Uncontracted is learnt first and used for labelling and direct translations. Once uncontracted is mastered, the more complicated Contracted Braille can be learnt. This is used for long texts and reading materials as it increases reading speed and reduces the size of the document.
The War of the Dots
The New York System came about in 1868, invented by William Bell Wait, who was a teacher in the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind. It is an eight-dot system consisting of two horizontal rows of four dots each. This code competed with the American Braille alphabet, which consisted of fixed cells two points wide and three high. New York Point had an advantage over Braille in that it was able to write the most common letters with the fewest dots.The three scripts, New York Point, American Braille and English Braille, competed in what was known as the War of the Dots. Wait advocated the New York System as more logical than the others, however at around 1916, agreement settled on English Braille standardised to French Braille letter order. According to Wikipedia, his is due to the 'superior punctuation compared with New York Point, the speed of reading braille, the large amount of written material available in English Braille compared with American Braille, and the international accessibility offered by following French alphabetical order.'
How Braille is written and produced
'Over the years, braille technology has developed in the form of braille writing machines – typewriters with keys that transfer the braille alphabet onto paper – to modern day electronic braille note-takers and braille translation software.'
There are many tools, machines and technologies that have been developed in order to write Braille. In physical form, it is an embossment into paper.
Slate and Stylus (1800s)
The Braille slate and stylus apparatus comprises of two pieces of metal, plastic, or wood fastened together with a hinge at one side for paper to slide into. The back part of the slate is solid with slight depressions for the code. The front of the slate consists of rectangular windows that fit creating the cells. There are pins in the back of the slate positioned in non-cell areas to hold the paper in place and keep the top properly positioned over the back. The pins align with matching depressions on the opposite side of the slate. The stylus is a short blunted awl that is used to form the depression of each dot. The writing has to be done right to left, so that when the paper is out of the slate and turned over, it bumps are raised for reading.
'While modern alternatives exist, the slate and stylus remains an important and widely used tool for writing Braille, particularly in situations where electricity or other technology is unavailable.'Barbier needed to invent a way for soldiers to easily write using the 'night writing' system, resulting in the creation of the 'slate and stylus'. This is an apparatus used to emboss paper with code, which Braille then adapted to a more compact and adaptable version to suit his code.
The Braille slate and stylus apparatus comprises of two pieces of metal, plastic, or wood fastened together with a hinge at one side for paper to slide into. The back part of the slate is solid with slight depressions for the code. The front of the slate consists of rectangular windows that fit creating the cells. There are pins in the back of the slate positioned in non-cell areas to hold the paper in place and keep the top properly positioned over the back. The pins align with matching depressions on the opposite side of the slate. The stylus is a short blunted awl that is used to form the depression of each dot. The writing has to be done right to left, so that when the paper is out of the slate and turned over, it bumps are raised for reading.
Hughes Typeograph (1850)
The Hughes Typograph was a typewriter that enabled people who were blind to write without using the standard inked characters. It was designed by William Hughes in Manchester using raised characters which could be read by touch.According to the Science Museum Group, 'Hughes’ typograph was one of the more successful early typewriters designed for people who are blind and was a standard tool in schools for the blind throughout the 1850s.'
The Perkins Brailler (1951)
From this article on the Perkins website;
'The Perkins Brailler has been the most widely used mechanical braille writer in the world since its invention in 1951.' In the early 20th century, Perkins, the first school in the United States dedicated to students who were blind, set about manufacturing a braille-writer of their own. They used the Hall braille-writer model to design an improved version. 'However, like other braille writers of the time, they were noisy and expensive to produce. They also required frequent repair.' Mid-1930s, David Abraham joined the Perkins Industrial Arts Department. He had useful manual skills and experience in manufacturing and design, and developed the writers to become 'tough and hard to break, with a touch so light it could be used by young children and those who lacked finger strength.'
The Perkins Brailler writer remains the premier mechanical braillewriter in the world with more than 330,000 machines have been sold in 170 countries since production began.
Eventually, Perkins Solutions unveiled the Perkins SMART Brailler® in 2012. This new learning technology incorporates 'audio feedback and a display screen, and offers an intuitive way for individuals, both sighted and blind, to communicate, teach and learn braille together.'
The Perkins Brailler writer remains the premier mechanical braillewriter in the world with more than 330,000 machines have been sold in 170 countries since production began.
Eventually, Perkins Solutions unveiled the Perkins SMART Brailler® in 2012. This new learning technology incorporates 'audio feedback and a display screen, and offers an intuitive way for individuals, both sighted and blind, to communicate, teach and learn braille together.'
This machine was invented by John Martin to enable blind people to produce printed material which could be read by touch. Instead of embossing, this machine makes a letter-shaped hole in the paper. Once writing is done, the paper is turned over and read by touch from the shapes of the holes in the paper. With the introduction of Braille, these machines will have feel out of use and production.
Stenograph (1886)
A stenograph was designed for stenographers, who were shorthand writers. It uses an abbreviated symbolic writing method. There was a version of the Bartholomew Stenograph designed for the blind operator and produces five raised or embossed dots on a paper strip.
'In 1892, the first braille-writer was introduced, designed by Frank Hall, superintendent of the Illinois School for the Blind. This article describes it as having 'six piano-like keys could be pushed in any combination to create a Braille character in one action, using either one or both hands. The pins to emboss the paper came up from beneath, printing right side up, allowing the operator to read what was written as it was written. Importantly, this design eliminated the need to write in reverse.'
Kleidograph (1894) and New York Point (1868)
William Bell Wait who developed the New York Point system, also invented the Kleidograph to write it. However, he also managed to improve the design of contemporary typewriters for the blind, as this one had the ability to be operated with one hand. This allowed the 'user to read the raised dots with the other hand as the paper passed over the wooden platform behind the platen. This was made possible by a clever mechanism in which each of the four lower keys activated the two keys above, enabling the embossing of up to eight dots simultaneously. The two leftmost keys were designated for punctuation.'
Digital translators and writers
Information taken from Daxbury article.
In the 60s, new technology started to be introduced to the braille world. The first computerised braille translation system was the APH-IBM (collaboration between American American Printing House for the Blind (APH) and IBM) built for the IBM 704 computer.
This is how it worked according to Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind; "An operator typed text onto key-punch computer cards (...). The cards were fed into an IBM computer (...) which transcribed the braille and produced braille and English texts side by side for ease of proofreading. After corrections were made, the cards were fed into an electronic stereotype machine, developed at APH, which stamped the braille on zinc embossing plates. The operation eliminated manual stereotype machines. It reduced the translation of a 300-page book from six days of work by a skilled braille translator to one hour by an ordinary key-punch operator."
This is how it worked according to Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind; "An operator typed text onto key-punch computer cards (...). The cards were fed into an IBM computer (...) which transcribed the braille and produced braille and English texts side by side for ease of proofreading. After corrections were made, the cards were fed into an electronic stereotype machine, developed at APH, which stamped the braille on zinc embossing plates. The operation eliminated manual stereotype machines. It reduced the translation of a 300-page book from six days of work by a skilled braille translator to one hour by an ordinary key-punch operator."
This software 'pioneered the use of computer technology to translate text into contracted braille', inspiring further developments, including the widely used DOTSYS III program by Duxbury, and IBM's "Braillemaster".
From here, automated braille production developed resulting in many forms of digital readers and translators (from this article);
- Braille translation software, 60s, which converts print documents into braille for use with embossers or digital devices. Teachers and students rely on these tools to prepare accessible materials. Examples of this include the Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT) and the BrailleBlaster.
- Refreshable braille displays, 70s, which are electronic devices that convert digital text from a computer, tablet, or smartphone into tactile braille. Small pins move up and down through holes on a flat surface to form braille characters.
- Braille embossers, 70s, which are printers that produce hard-copy braille on thick, specially designed paper. Embossers are often paired with braille translation software to convert text before printing. Examples of this include PixBlaster and PageBlaster.
- Braille notetakers, 70s, which are portable, all-in-one devices designed specifically for blind users. They combine a refreshable braille display, braille or QWERTY keyboard, and speech output with built-in productivity tools.
Technobraille
A technology called 'technobraille' is a process in which epoxy resin is applied to the printed page to facilitate embossing it with braille and tactile images. This technology was used to create Touch the Invisible Sky by Noreen Grace in 2007, published by Ozone Publishing. This is one of five tactile astronomy books endorsed by NASA designed to allow blind and visually impaired people to better comprehend celestial objects and the distant universe. From NASAs article; a '60-page book with color images of nebulae, stars, galaxies and some of the telescopes that captured the original pictures. Braille and large-print descriptions accompany each of the book's 28 photographs, making the book's design accessible to readers of all visual abilities.'
A technology called 'technobraille' is a process in which epoxy resin is applied to the printed page to facilitate embossing it with braille and tactile images. This technology was used to create Touch the Invisible Sky by Noreen Grace in 2007, published by Ozone Publishing. This is one of five tactile astronomy books endorsed by NASA designed to allow blind and visually impaired people to better comprehend celestial objects and the distant universe. From NASAs article; a '60-page book with color images of nebulae, stars, galaxies and some of the telescopes that captured the original pictures. Braille and large-print descriptions accompany each of the book's 28 photographs, making the book's design accessible to readers of all visual abilities.'
There are also non tactile translators and writers that need to be considered, although they have nothing to do with Braille. For example, Screenreaders, which translate text into synthesised speech, are vital for blind people, improving the lives of blind people alongside Braille, but also working with braille technologies.
Other forms of reading and writing systems for the blind
This image depicts examples of six systems created for embossed type:
Haüy
The earliest systematic attempt to provide a method to read and write was by Valentin Haüy who used embossed roman characters. The process to do this involved wet paper being pressed against copper wire, which was complex and the outcome inconvenient. This article states that the 'books that were made were heavy, fragile, cumbersome, and expensive'. I have also read somewhere that he had been using movable letterpress type to emboss as well.
To teach students to write, an alphabet made from thick leather was provided, which the student used to trace the outline of letters to compose text.
All this being said, written communication between the blind could not yet be established.
To teach students to write, an alphabet made from thick leather was provided, which the student used to trace the outline of letters to compose text.
All this being said, written communication between the blind could not yet be established.
'Nevertheless, Haüy’s method of education marked a breakthrough in education for the blind by recognising the sense of touch as a means to do sightless reading.'
Louis Braille, who was blind, was a student at the school where Haüy’s methods were used, therefore educating him to be able to achieve what he did.
Moon
Another system was the Moon code, designed by William Moon, a blind man from Brighton who suffered from Scarlet fever, resulting him loosing his sight. He became a teacher of blind children and invented this system in 1845 to create a clear and open alternative to the preexisting embossed systems. The design uses curves, angles, and lines that bear a resemblance to the Latin script. It has been found to be particularly suitable for those who lose their sight later in life, and therefore already have knowledge of preexisting the Latin script, or for people who may have a less keen sense of touch due to its non-complicated and wide open characteristics. It has also been a useful mode of literacy for children with additional physical and/or learning difficulties.
As with braille, there are different grades; grade 1 being on Moon character per one Latin character, and a Grade 2 being a shorthand version to make texts more compact and faster to read. It is claimed by its supporters to be easier to understand than braille, however it is not as well known or widely used.
As with braille, there are different grades; grade 1 being on Moon character per one Latin character, and a Grade 2 being a shorthand version to make texts more compact and faster to read. It is claimed by its supporters to be easier to understand than braille, however it is not as well known or widely used.
