Topic 1.1: Development of Braille
In this topic we define braille and explore its development
1.1.1 Defining Braille
Braille is a system of embossed dots which are formulated using combinations of six dots (REB, 2019). They are arranged in two vertical rows of three dots each. Different arrangements of the dots form the alphabet and other characters which you will learn later in this unit. They form a group of six dots numbered as follow:
One group of the six dots as shown above is called Braille cell.
Persons with Visual Impairment (PVI) read these dots through touch. Those who read through touch are referred to as touch readers. They use their fingers to find the position and arrangement of the dots and know what is communicated. Braille writing is very different from print writing. Each letter of the alphabet and all other print characters and symbols have their Braille equivalent depending on the arrangement of the dots. This is done by using the six dots of the Braille cell. The position of the dot in a cell can make a lot of difference in meaning. For those who are not visually impaired they can read braille with their eyes. You will learn how to write the alphabet in Braille later.
1.1.2 Background of Braille
Before Braille was developed as a system of reading and writing for people who are blind, there were other efforts to enable them to read and communicate with each other or with sighted individuals. The following are persons who contributed in the development of Braille:
Valentine Haûy (1745-1822)
In 1784 Valentine Haûy founded the first school for the blind in Paris and realized that the development of some methods of reading and writing was a precondition for providing any systematic and meaningful education to persons who were blind. Haûy concentrated on using regular print in embossed form. This form of embossed print went through many modifications and therefore could not survive long. All embossed letters had for the blind one basic short-coming; it was talking to the fingers the language of the eye (REB, 2020)
Charles Barbier (1767- 1841)
Charles Barbier was an army officer in the French army and also an engineer. He needed to send messages without being discovered at night. This could only be done by touch and it is only this basis that he came up with “tangible dots”. It was his idea to use embossed dots as the medium most suitable for such touch reading. His system was used by soldiers to communicate at night in the battlefield. Charles Barbier’s system consisted of twelves dots, six vertical dots in two rows. The greatest disadvantage of this system was its difficulty for touch reading since the dots could not be well covered by the fingertips (REB, 2020)
Louis Braille (1809- 1852)
Louis Braille who was also French man became blind when he was young. He was acquainted with Barbier’s system of dots while he was still quite young. He used it experimentally with his pupils when he became a teacher. He conceived the idea of using the upper half of the Barbier cell and designed an alphabet with the six dots cell that had two rows of three dots. The new code now called Braille was accepted in 1854 two years after Louis Braille’s death. It is the Braille we use today (REB, 2020).
Braille has undergone many modifications in terms of contractions (abbreviations) representing groups of letters or whole words that appear frequently in a language (REB, 2020). The use of contractions makes reading easier and reduces the size of braille books. This has led to modification of the braille codes to make them easily understood.
