Braille is not a language. Braille is a tactile reading and
writing system that is used by blind and visually impaired people and was named after its creator, Louis Braille.
Braille is
very important to the lives of visually impaired people, because the
ability to read and write in braille opens the door to literacy,
intellectual freedom, equal opportunity, and personal security. Even
though Braille is mainly used by blind or deafblind people, teachers,
parents and others who are not visually impaired tend to read Braille by
sight rather than by touch.
Louis Braille, who became blind at the age of 5 years after an accident
and a subsequent infection of his eyes, was an educator and the inventor
of a system of reading and writing for the blind or visually impaired.
His system, simply known as "braille", remains basically unchanged until
today. Braille was inspired by the military cryptography of Charles
Barbier and built a new method specifically designed for the needs of
the blind. He presented his work to his peers for the first time in
1824.Braille developed a code for
the French alphabet. He published his system in 1829. The second
revision, published in 1837, was the first small binary form of writing
developed in the modern era. Braille's system was not used much in education
until, many years after his death, it was recognized as a revolutionary
invention, and it has been adapted for use in different languages.
The Braille System consist of raised dots. The basic braille alphabet, braille numbers, braille
punctuation and special symbols characters are made up from six
dots in a "cell". Picture the side of a dice with the number 6. Three dots each
in
a grid of two parallel vertical lines are the basic setup for braille. Different combinations of the
dots represent different letters, numbers, and symbols. Nowadays, the braille system includes also mathematics and scientific
characters, music, computer notation and foreign languages.
Blind and visually impaired people communicate via braille in various ways. Most known probably is "reading" braille with one's fingers and writing by means of manual braille machines which resemble old-fashioned typewriters - just with only 6 keys - and "emboss" the dots. Today braille writing devices come in a vast variety: from old-school slate and stylus
approaches to electronic braillers with built-in screen and speaker that provide instant visual and audio feedback. "Braille printers" are more
accurately referred to as "braille embossers", since they render text as
tactile braille cells, and therefore require heavyweight paper that
won't be punctured by the embossing pins. In general, braille also requires more
pages for the same amount of information compared to regular
paper print with ink.
Modern technology also offers options like braille readers/keyboards for computers as well as applications for reading and writing braille even on smartphones.
