Image - Black block for layout only

Braille was developed by the Frenchman, Louis Braille in about 1820.

Image - simulation of a page of braille Braille consists of arrangements of dots which make up letters of the alphabet, numbers and punctuation marks. The basic Braille symbol is called the Braille cell and 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.simulation of a braille cell showing the 6-dots

The six dots are commonly referred to by number according to their position in the cell.

It took more than a century, however, before people would accept Braille as an excellent way for visually impaired people to read and write. Experienced Braille readers read Braille at speeds comparable to print readers. Braille readers say that the only limitation of Braille is that there isn't enough material available.

TranscriptionsUK can produce Braille in both Grade 1 (uncontracted Braille) and Grade 2, (contracted Braille). Our Brailler works from the original print copy, provided the print is clear enough to scan, or from material supplied in electronic format, such as e-mail or floppy disk.

Braille uses special characters called contractions to make words shorter. We use contractions like "don't" as a short way of writing two words, such as "do" and "not." In Braille there are many additional contractions, 189 in all! Using these contractions saves space, which is very important because Braille books are much larger and longer than print books. Uncontracted Braille (Grade 1) is a longer version.

Below is the same phrase "you like him" Can you see the difference?

Contracted Braille:
Image - simulation of contracted braille

Uncontracted Braille
Image- Simulation of uncontracted braille

Image - The Braille Alphabet

TranscriptionsUK use a double sided Brailler which not only cuts down on the size of documents but speeds up the production process.

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