An explanation of Braille, its inventor, history, and current usage.
From the Braille 21 conference website: http://www.braille21.net/en/braille
Braille
The inventor
Louis Braille, the inventor of braille, was born in the French village Coupvray, close to
Paris, in 1809. At the age of 3 years, he had hurt himself seriously with a tool at one
eye. Overleaping inflammations resulted in total blindness of both eyes. Intelligent and
lively as Louis was, he was promoted by his parents and by the pastor and visited the
village school. Beginning in 1819, he visited the royal institute for the young blind in
Paris. Already in 1825, he presented the writing for the blind developed by him to the
public. At this time, Braille was only 16 years old.
The system
Of course, there have been precursors to braille regarding to the embossed
representation of writing. The crucial stimulus for Braille’s system came from Charles
Barbier, an artillery captain, who had developed a night writing, based on 12 dots.
Louis Braille revised the system several times until it had the form which is still valid
today: six dots are arranged in two columns and three lines – like the number 6 on a
dice. This form fits comfortably under a fingertip and therefore it is ideal to read. The
combination of the dots allows 64 different possibilities of grouping. These are enough
to represent all letters, accents and punctuation characters in the languages that use –
like the French – the Latin alphabet as written language.
Braille in different languages
Braille was also adopted in languages whose common print is not based on the Latin
alphabet. In these cases, braille represents the transcription of the actual writing system
(e.g. Russian, Arabic or Chinese) of the Latin writing. Only three languages have
matched totally different phonetic values to the braille characters: Japanese, Korean
and Tibetan.
Contracted braille
Braille characters need much more space than common print letters. Thus, there are
contracted versions in many languages. These are space-saving and faster to reed. To
be able to use contracted braille, many sign combinations have to be learned.
Other areas of application
Braille is also used in other areas but sheer reading. Thereby, the same 64
combinations are used but they have another meaning. There are for example the
music notation (invented by Braille himself), writings for chemical and mathematical
characters, and writings for knitting, chess and computer braille (often consisting of 8
dots).
The production
At the beginning of its history, braille could only be produced manually by the help of a
slate and a stylus. Later, braille typewriters were developed. Today, in the digital age, a
braille display can be connected to a computer. And also, the transcription of longer
texts for books and magazines happens computer-assisted. Common print is converted
to braille which is embossed with different embossers or simply converted to mobile
devices.
Braille in the 21st century
Since its invention, braille is indispensable for education, employment and social
participation of blind people. It is a big factor for the mediation of world knowledge to
print-disabled people. In the digital age, the vision of a global library, where every book
is available in appropriate quality for everybody at the same time, can become reality. If
on paper, medicine packs, convenience goods, in the elevator, on handrails or as
dynamic display on computer, mobile phone, PDA & Co.: Braille’s dots are always
involved into the fundamental human right to information.
However, due to the presence and its rapid technological developments, we are faced
to big new questions in our handling with braille and have to answer them:
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How are blind people enabled to experience texts in their own way and pace?
Can we ensure that braille is affordable for everybody who would like to use it?
How can we guarantee that also blind people are profoundly skilled in spelling in
times of talking reading devices?
Why notes in braille if there are dictating machines?
Sighted people do not waive learning reading and writing because of pictograms
and acoustic media. Why should blind persons do this?
Why using braille on paper in times of notebooks and dynamic displays?
The answer to these questions has to be seen as challenge and chance for the
advancement of braille – not as its crisis. Braille21 was convened to meet the challenge
and promote the positive development of the six dots.