Braille

Tactile reading system of raised dots

Overview

Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are blind or have low vision, in which characters are formed by raised dots arranged in cells of two columns and three rows. The six dot positions allow 64 possible combinations, including the blank cell, representing letters, numbers, punctuation, and contractions. It was developed by the Frenchman Louis Braille, who was blinded in childhood, and was first published in 1829, adapting a system of night writing devised by Charles Barbier for military use. Uncontracted braille spells words letter by letter, while contracted braille uses abbreviations for common words and letter groups to save space and reading time. Braille codes exist for many languages and for music and mathematics, and Unified English Braille has been adopted by many English speaking countries. Braille can be written with a slate and stylus or a mechanical braillewriter such as the Perkins Brailler, or produced by computer embossers, and refreshable braille displays use pins that rise and fall to present text from computers and phones. Braille literacy is widely regarded as important for education and employment.