What is Braille ?

To reduce space and increase reading speed, virtually all Braille books are transcribed in what is known as Grade 2 braille, which uses a system of contractions to reduce space and speed the process of reading.

it is not used for publication, but is used mostly for individuals for their personal convenience.

Grade 3 braille is a system that includes many additional contractions, almost a shorthand

Pharmaceutical Braille guidelines recommend Grade 1 Braille (un-contracted Braille). PharmaBraille fonts are Grade 1 braille.

Braille is a system of reading and writing by touch used by the blind.

It consists of arrangements of dots which make up letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks

The basic Braille symbol, called the Braille cell, consists of six dots arranged in the formation of a rectangle, three dots high and two across.

Other symbols consist of only some of these six dots. The six dots are commonly referred to by number according to their position in the cell:

There are no different symbols for capital letters in Braille

Capitalization is accomplished by placing a dot 6 in the cell just before the letter that is capitalized.

The first ten letters of the alphabet are used to make numbers. These are preceded by a number sign which is dots 3-4-5-6:

Thus, 1 is number sign a; 2 is number sign b; 10 is number sign a-j and 193 is number sign a-i-c:

Some abbreviations are used in standard American Braille in order to reduce its bulk.

These must be memorized, but most Braille readers and writers find them convenient, rather than a problem. Braille is written on heavy paper, and the raised dots prevent the pages from lying smoothly together as they would in a print book. Therefore, Braille books are quite bulky.

Today there are three methods of writing Braille, just as there are two methods of writing print.

A Braille writing machine (comparable to a typewriter) has a keyboard of only six keys and a space bar, instead of one key for each letter of the alphabet.

These keys can be pushed separately or altogether. If they are all pushed at the same time, they will cause six dots to be raised on the paper in the formation of a Braille cell.

Pushing various combinations of the keys on the Braille writer produces different letters of the alphabet and other Braille symbols.

Writing Braille with a slate and stylus compares to writing print with a pen or pencil.

The stylus is used to push dots down through the paper, while the slate serves as a guide.

The Braille slate can be made of metal or plastic and is hinged so that there is a guide under the paper as well as on top of it.

A person writing Braille with the slate and stylus begins at the right side of the paper and ends the line on the left, since the dots are being produced on the underside of the paper.

Of course, the Braille reader reads from left to right, for the dots are then on the top side of the paper.

Although this may seem a bit confusing, it need not be at all troublesome, since both reading and writing progress through words and sentences from beginning to end in the same manner.

The speed of writing Braille with the slate and stylus is about the same as the speed of writing print with pen or pencil.