Braille

Also called UEB, Unified English Braille, Grade 1 braille, Grade 2 braille, Contracted braille

Reading and writing by touch with a six-dot cell, and where it fits alongside speech and symbols in a person's communication.

What it is

Braille is a system for reading and writing by touch. Each character is a cell of up to six raised dots, arranged in two columns of three, and the 63 possible patterns cover the alphabet, numbers, punctuation and, in contracted braille, whole common words and letter groups. It was devised by Louis Braille in France in the 1820s, when he was a teenager and blind himself, and it has outlasted every rival because it is compact, fast and can be written as well as read.

English-speaking countries adopted Unified English Braille, UEB, in the 2010s, so the code in a UK school, an Australian library and an American signage standard is now the same. Grade 1 is letter by letter; Grade 2, contracted, uses the shortcuts and is what fluent readers use.

Braille is literacy, not communication technology, and that distinction is why it is in this library. A blind person who reads braille can read their own notes, label their own things and check their own spelling, none of which audio gives them, and a blind person who uses AAC can have braille on the keys.

Who it can help

Children who are blind or have very little useful vision, for whom braille is the route to literacy in the same way print is for sighted children. The evidence on employment and independence for braille readers compared with audio-only users is consistent enough that RNIB and the teaching profession treat braille as the default for a blind child with the fingers and the cognition to learn it.

Adults who lose their sight can learn it, and many do, but it is honest to say that late-learned braille is slow for most people and that audio, screen readers and magnification do much of the daily work. Moon is the easier tactile option for someone who read print.

For a deafblind person, braille is not just literacy but a channel: a refreshable braille display turns a phone, a computer and a captioned conversation into something the hands can read. That makes it one of the few technologies that gives a deafblind person independent access to text messages and the internet.

How it works

The cell is read with the pad of the finger moving left to right; fluent readers use both hands, one finishing a line as the other finds the next. Reading speed for a fluent adult is typically well below print reading speed but far above the pace of any spelling method.

Braille is produced by hand with a slate and stylus, on a mechanical brailler with six keys, or by an embosser from a file. A refreshable braille display has a row of cells with pins that rise and fall under software control, so the same display shows whatever line of text is on the screen and works as a keyboard too. Displays of 14 to 40 cells are the common sizes and prices are high enough that funding is the usual obstacle.

In AAC, braille labels on a communication device's keys or a braille overlay on a keyguard let a blind or deafblind person find the right cell; auditory scanning is the other route for someone who cannot see the screen.

Getting started

For a child, the route is the local authority's visual impairment service and a Qualified Teacher of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment, who assesses whether braille, print or both suit the child and teaches it. Ask for that assessment in writing and ask for it to be in the EHCP where one exists.

For an adult, RNIB runs braille courses by post and online, and the council's rehabilitation officer can start you off. Begin with labelling: a braille labeller costs little and lets a person mark tins, medicines and files on day one. Then the alphabet, then contracted braille if reading books is the goal.

Ask your phone's accessibility settings about braille input and output; both Android and iPhone support braille displays and on-screen braille typing, and a person who never reads a braille book may still type braille on a phone.

Where to get help

RNIB is the national authority on braille in the UK and the source of courses, books and equipment. The UK Association for Accessible Formats sets the standards for braille production. For deafblind people, Sense and Deafblind UK. AbilityNet advises on technology, including braille displays. The Health A-Z entry on visual impairment covers the clinical and registration side.