Braille 200: Did you know?

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 15:

Every four years, the International Council on English Braille (iceb) hold a General Assembly in a member country.
In between General Assemblies, the Executive of the International Council on English Braille meet in the middle of a four year term. In 2018 INBAF proudly hosted that mid-term meeting in Dublin.
Braille can be 3D-printed onto objects. It is really important to get the dot definition right, so that the braille is easily legible, not too sharp or too flat.
Braille features in a key scene of Mrs Browne’s Boys D’Movie.

Week 14:

January 4th is celebrated as World Braille Day.
Braille is also used to create tactile maps for blind individuals to navigate public spaces, streets or landmarks. These maps are often found in places like museums, airports, or on walking trails.
In some countries government documents, such as official infomation, tax forms, social services paperwork and more, are made available in Braille.
Some leisure games, like chess, scrabble, playing card or other board games have Braille on them so they can be enjoyed by everyone.
A braille version of the book “The Bread of Life” was part of the payload on Apollo 15 in 1971.

Week 13:

The Esperanto language has a dedicated braille alphabet. One Esperanto braille magazine, Esperanta Ligilo, has been published since 1904, and another, Auroro, since 1920.
Following the publication of Louis Braille’s “Procedure for writing Words, Music and Plainsong in Dots” 1829, the “History of France” 1837, is the first book printed entirely in braille.
Braille is used to represent not only letters, but also numbers, punctuation, mathematical symbols, music notation and more.
Braille is a code not a language, meaning it is used to represent language, not a language itself.
Many smartphones now feature built-in braille support. Screen readers, like VoiceOver on Apple devices, enable Braille users to access text on touchscreens by connecting a Braille display via Bluetooth.

Week 12:

Perkins Braillers are used in more than 170 countries worldwide
In 1951, the first Brailler was produced at Howe Press. Sixty more followed the first one that year. The next year, 800 were manufactured and a thousand the next.
7,000 to 8,000 machines sent out annually, only 7 or 8 are returned for repair under the one-year warranty.
Greg Flanagan is the only qualified Perkins braille repairer in Ireland and if you need a Perkins repaired, you can contact INBAF to get in touch with Greg to coordinate this.
Dr. Abraham Nemeth (1918 – 2013) was an American blind mathematician who invented the Nemeth system for representing mathematical and scientific notation using six-dot braille in 1952.
Braille has 63 possible combinations of six dots.

Week 11:

All Perkins braille machines are manufactured and distributed by Howe Press, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, Mass. 02172 U.S.A.
David Abraham was the creator of the Perkins Brailler, with the first one produced in 1951 and the 222,171st one produced on June 30, 1993.
David Abraham was born in Liverpool, England, he was a member of the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. In the Corps, Abraham learned about mechanics and the need for precision and accuracy.
There are 756 parts in the machine with 354 different parts in all.
Barbara Bush took a Brailler to newly freed Poland in 1990, donating it to the Laski School for the Blind outside Warsaw.

Week 10:

There is Braille on the various displays in the Learning and Discovery Centre in Dublin Zoo.
Lego with Braille on it is available to all children learning Braille in school.
Lego Braille is available in different languages like Arabic and Chinese.
The first library for the Blind opened in Hatch Street in the 1890’s.
Embossers are very loud and are usually kept in a separate room to the Braillist.

Week 9:

Several European countries use 8-dot braille for computer notation, but Luxembourg’s standard literary braille code is uncontracted 8-dot braille (source: European Blind Union, EBU).
Through INBAF, Ireland is a full member of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) since 2012 and represented at Executive level.
Louis Braille injured himself with the very same tool from his father‘s workshop that he would later use to invent the braille coat
On the Bank of England banknotes there are a series of clusters of braille dots to help identify the various denominations.
Embossers are very loud and are usually kept in a separate room to the Braillist.
Braille is available in 133 languages.

Week 8:

Louis Braille died of tuberculosis aged 43.
The Braille system was not officially accepted until two years after Louis’ death.
A single page in print will typically translate into 2-3 pages in Braille.
In many countries, libraries for the blind offer postal lending services where Braille books are mailed to blind readers at no cost.
Whilst Hebrew and Arabic is written and read right to left, Hebrew and Arabic braille is written/embossed and read left to right.

Week 7:

Unified English Braille (UEB) was introduced to standardise Braille across the English speaking world.
Braille e-books exist. Devices like the Canute 360 display multiple lines of Braille, allowing for digital Braille books.
The worlds first Braille smart watch, The Dot Watch, was developed in South Korea and allows blind users to read notifications via Braille on their wrist.
The library of Congress has the largest Braille book collection.
Louis Braille was inspired by the ‘night writing’ system, it was a tactile code designed for soldiers to read in the dark. He saw its potential but found it too complex.

Week 6:

Louis Braille was fifteen when he invented Braille.
Braille was not widely accepted at first – many educators resisted it, favouring raised print systems that were harder to read by touch.
France was the first country to adopt Braille officially.
The first English Braille code was developed in 1860 – Dr Thomas Rhodes Armitage and others helped introduce Braille to English speaking countries.
Many ATM’s have Braille on their display for visually impaired users

Week 5:

There are two versions of Unified English Braille, contracted and uncontracted.
Duxbury is a popular Braille conversion software.
There’s an asteroid named Braille. In 1999, NASA named the asteroid “9969 Braille” in honour of Louis Braille.
There is a braille music notation system for reading and writing music for the blind.
Braille has played a significant role in the history of accessibility and the rights of people with disabilities.

Week 4:

Prior to computerisation, braille was published using zinc sheets which were put into a press to emboss the paper.
Braille can be published using thermoform paper. This is a plastic material which involves heating until the plastic melts and then the paper is stretched across a mould which consists of the master braille copy. The master copy can be either braille characters or a graphic representation of a picture, map or drawing. When the thermoform paper cools down it holds the layout of the master copy.
Braille shorthand which is often used for taking dictation in a business setting is designed to resemble print shorthand. For example using K for hard C’s and S for soft C’s. A braille shorthand machine contains rolls of shorthand paper similar to a till roll which is fed through the machine as the braille is embossed.
The perkins brailler is the most widely used mechanical braille writing machine in the world since its invention in 1951. The machine has six keys to represent the six braille dots in braille, a spacebar, a backspace key and a key to move the braille head to the next line. Paper is fed through rollers into the body of the machine.
As well as inventing the Braille code, Louis Braille was a talented cellist and organist

Week 3:

Instead of having one form of literacy, teachers of students who were blind or vision-impaired in the 1800s and early 1900s in the USA used multiple systems to teach their students. This 103-year conflict was known as “the war of the dots”
The braille King James bible was completed in 1924. It is estimated that a braille bible takes up around 6 cubic feet and weighs around 70 pounds.
The first braille publication produced in the Republic of Ireland was called “The Blind Citizen” This publication was produced by the now-defunct Irish Association for the Blind and its founder J. P. Neary established the organization in 1923.
Braille paper or manilla paper is a special type of paper which is thicker than copy paper because it needs to support the embossing process.
The earliest form of braille writing involved a stylus and a writing frame. Braille like print is read from left to right but the reverse is the case when writing on a writing frame. Not only that, but the layout of braille cells are in the reverse order as opposed to the layout when reading the braille cells.

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.

Week 1:

The call bell on the Dublin Bus fleet has the braille 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.