Braille

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

There are a number of different versions of Braille:

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.
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 Grade 2 Braille.
Grade 3, which is used mainly in personal letters, diaries, and notes, and also in literature to some extent. It is a kind of shorthand, with entire words shortened to a few letters.

Braille has been adapted to write many different languages, including Chinese, and is also used for musical and mathematical notation. Its invention has also lead to new ways to help people with disabilities, such as ADA ramps, which are also known as 'braille for the feet'.

Braille

Basic Braille letters and accented letters

Braille abbreviations

Braille punctuation, numerals and special signs

Sample texts in Braille

Transliteration: "Be kind to others"

Sample text and other information provided by Samuel Barnes

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 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.

Text generated by the Braille Translator

Links

Information about Braille and other reading codes for the blind
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/Education/fonts.html

Your name in Braille
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/thenamegame.asp

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

Other communication/notation systems

Braille, Maritime Signal Flags, Moon, Morse code, Semaphore

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