As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the invention of the Braille code throughout the year we are collating lots of interesting and fun facts about this incredible reading and writing system that you may find useful and enjoyable.
Every week we’ll be adding more to this page so bookmark it and come back regularly to find out what’s new!
Week 1:
- The call bell on the Dublin Bus fleet has the braill symbol for the letter S for Stop embossed on it.
- Medication containers have braille labels on them.
- Lifts in public buildings often have braille floor numbers embossed on them.
- Some bleach and disinfectant containers have braille labels embossed on them.
- The Garden for the Blind in Stephens Green in Dublin has braille labels on the various plants.
Week 2:
- Some classic games have been adapted for use with braille versions like monopoly, scrabble, dominoes, uno, etc as well as Braille playing cards
- Braille readers generally use their index fingers to read braille with the assistance of specific neurons such as the endings of the Merkel cells in the skin. These cells are super-sensitive and allow braille readers to access the brailled word.
- In American and British braille each cell is equal to a 29-point font print character.
- The distance between two adjacent dots in the braille cell is between 2.3mm and 2.5mm. The distance between corresponding dots in adjacent cells is between 6.1mm and 7.6mm. The height of a braille dot is between 0.6mm and 0.9mm.
- BRAILLEX was the first electronic braille display invented by Papenmeier in 1975. Information could be stored from the device onto an audio casette. In 1985 the BRAILLEX IB 80 was the first digital braille display that could connect to the IBM PC and compatible models.