Braille History
Braille, developed by Louis Braille, was taken from the French military code that was used to communicate with soldiers after dark. The two by three dot dimension allows for many different combinations for letters and numbers, and was easier to read than raised letters. Ninety percent of visually impaired who are employed use braille to read and write, so I chose to use braille to create my medication cards. At the moment, there are very few technological advances in creating braille. Right now, the slate and stylus and braille printers are the only technologies that can create braille. However, a braille printer is expensive and unnecessary for my project, so I decided to use a slate and stylus, which is cheap and easy to use.
Braille Technology
At the moment, there are very few technological advances in creating braille. Right now, the slate and stylus, braille printers, and braillewriters are the only technologies that can create braille. However, a braille printer or braillewriter is expensive and unnecessary for my project, so I decided to use a slate and stylus, which is cheap and easy to use.
Braille Grammar
Braille grammar is similar to English grammar in many ways. Both are read from left to right. Words consist of the same letters. However, for braille, numbers require number signs every time a new number is written because the dots are the same as the alphabet except for the number sign indicating that it is a number. Also, there is a capitalization symbol (bottom right) and different dot combinations for accents. There is also a short-handed way to write braille by leaving out some consonants in words like over (ovr) and behind (behnd).
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Slate and Stylus
When using the slate and stylus, there are a few important things to know. Slates come in different sizes; ranging from the width of a regular sheet of paper to the width of an index card. When embossing braille on a card, you slip the paper under the top and line it up with the braille cells. To write the braille, you start from the top right cell and create the letter backwards and from right to left. The reason for this is because when the paper is flipped over so that one may feel the dots, it is written the right way and from left to right. For example, to use the slate and stylus, it is taught that the dots are labeled 1-6 from top right, down to the bottom right, top left, and down to the bottom left. The letter b would have the numbers 1 and 2 instead of 4 and 5.