Braille

Braille is the internationally recognised reading and writing system for the blind and partially sighted people. The system was invented in 1852 by Louis Braille (1809-1852), who lived in France and was himself blind.

Braille is not a language, it is another way to read and write a language. Characters are represented by an arrangement of raised dots. Each Braille character or cell is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle comprising of two columns of three dots. A dot may be raised at any of the six positions to form many combinations. Counting the space in which no dots are raised, there are sixty four such combinations. For reference purposes, a particular combination may be described by naming the positions where dots are raised, the positions being universally numbered 1 through 3 from top to bottom on the left and 4 through 6 from top to bottom on the right for example, dots 1-3-4 would represent a cell with three dots raised, at the tip and bottom in the left column and on the top right of the right column.

Braille Transcription

Although it is possible to transcribe Braille by simply substituting the equivalent Braille character for its printed equivalent, such a character-by-character transcription, known as Grade 1 Braille, is used mainly by beginners. Note: Grade 1 Braille is recommended for pharmaceutical and medicines packaging.

Braille characters are much larger than their printed equivalents, and the standard 28 cm × 28 cm page has room for only 25 lines of 40 characters. 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. As with most human linguistic activities, Grade 2 Braille embodies a complex system of customs, styles, and practices. The Library of Congress's Instruction Manual for Braille Transcribing runs to nearly 200 pages. Braille transcription is skilled work and Braille transcribers need to pass certification tests.

The system of Grade 2 Braille contractions begins with a set of 23 words which are contracted to single characters. Thus the word but is contracted to the single letter b, can to c, do to d, and so on. Even this simple rule creates issues requiring special cases; for example, d is, specifically, an abbreviation of the verb do; the noun do representing the note of the musical scale is a different word, and must be spelled out.

Portions of words may be contracted, and many rules govern this process. For example, the character with dots 2-3-5 (the letter "f" lowered in the Braille cell) stands for "ff" when used in the middle of a word. At the beginning of a word, this same character stands for the word "to" although the character is written in Braille with no space following it. At the end of a word, the same character represents an exclamation point.

The contraction rules take into account the linguistic structure of the word. So, contractions are not to be used when their use would alter the usual Braille form of a base word to which a prefix or suffix has been added. And some portions of the transcription rules are not fully codified and rely on the judgement of the transcriber. Thus, when the contraction rules permit the same word in more than one way, preference is given to "the contraction that more nearly approximates correct pronunciation."

Grade 3 Braille is a system that includes many additional contractions, almost a shorthand; it is not used for publication, but is used mostly for individuals for their personal convenience.

Pharmaceutical Braille guidelines recommend Grade1 Braille (uncontracted Braille).