Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of “Braille” in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on “Braille” and its relation with “aiding the blind”. The research also analyzes many aspects of “Braille” and tries to gauge its effect on “blind people”. Finally the research describes various factors which are responsible for “the usage of Braille” and tries to describe the overall effect of “Braille” on “the development and lifestyle improvement of blind people”.

The Braille System

In the history of Communications, one of the most remarkable contributions of a genius is the Braille system of writing. It was named after its blind inventor, Louis Braille, a Frenchman. Before the invention of binary bits, Braille system is actually a binary encoding scheme for representing characters of a writing system for the blind. The Braille System has been designed in order for individuals who do not have the sense of sight and who are being given the privilege to study in a particular system. Braille is a special Alphabet, marked by raised lumps on stiff paper, which blind people can understand by the touch of their fingers. Braille perfected it in 1834 while teaching at a school for the blind in Paris. It was not, however, much used until 20 years later. The system has been designed under a significant pattern, brought forth by a blind Frenchmen named Louis Braille. Each letter or number have been identified and termed into a cell, arranged in a rectangle containing two columns of three dots each. Below is the actual alphabetical and numeric palette on the basis of which individuals make way to adopt in their lives.

As many of you probably already know, the Braille system enables people to read by passing their fingertips over the surface of a page with raised dots that make up letters and words. Invented in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman, this system was inspired by a failed military communication technique originally designed for nighttime use in Napoleon's army. In the Braille system, each letter is made up of six possible dot positions, arranged in a grid of two columns and three rows. The positions are numbered 1, 2, 3 from top to bottom in the first column, and 4, 5, 6 from top to bottom in the second. For each letter, a specific subset of the dots is raised, creating a unique character that the reader can sense with her fingertips. For example, to make the letter "E," positions 1 and 5 are raised.

Here's all 26 letters in the Braille alphabet:

A number of abbreviations (or "contractions") exist to make Braille move more quickly for the reader; for example, Braille shorthand exists for the letters "ch" and the word "but" is represented by the letter "b." Braille can by produced on a special typewriter or with a Braille embosser attached to a computer.

Writing Systems before the Braille

Other systems, which had been known since the 16th century, made use of the ordinary ...