Braille Code

Written by Kyle Berns, School for the Blind High School TVI

What do tennis balls and a 3 by 2 muffin tin have to do with Louis Braille? Louis Braille is the person who invented braille AND tennis balls and the muffin tin can be used to learn/teach braille. January 4 is the anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille. Without braille people who are blind or visually impaired had no way to independently read and write. Now with computers, there are screen readers that allow people who are blind and visually impaired  to access documents and other material. But braille is still the most important thing to learn for people who are blind or visually impaired to access print independently.

There is another learning tool called a SWING CELL that shows braille in its 6-cell arrangement, but then can be ‘opened’ to match the keys on a braille writer.

Before Louis Brialle’s invention of the braille code, there were other less efficient ways that print was displayed for blind and visually impaired people. Braille is truly an elegant, and well-designed way to represent print. THANK YOU, Louis Braille, for your invention.