A print table or chart presents many challenges to the transcriber. For example, a print table consisting of 10 columns and four lines is never going to fit on a braille page as it is presented in print. The table may need to be presented across two pages, broken into sections and placed on subsequent […]

This software can be used with your PC (for training purposes) and a basic keyboard that will accept the notion of pressing more than one key at a time. You can use it to practice writing braille instead of using a manual brailler such as a Perkins brailler.

A braille-ready file is a data file in a special format that can be read on a braille display or transmitted to a braille embosser. Braille-ready files typically have the extension .brf or .bfm. The braille codes in braille-ready files allow blind people to read electronic documents from computer disks or from the Internet. When […]

The term Braille Printers commonly refers to a group of electronic machines that emboss braille on paper. Complete listings and descriptions of the technologies and capacities of the various commercially available machines would fill a website by itself. The majority of braille material is produced with computer-driven embossers that in one way or another make […]

Transcribing mathematics or scientific notations requires a specialized braille code. (See Nemeth Code.)

In the United States, a variety of common magazines are transcribed and embossed in braille as part of the Library of Congress program called the National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). Some examples are National Geographic and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.

This term has been adopted by the blindness community in many countries as the central concept for advocating that children be taught good braille skills at an early age. Advocates equate braille literacy with literacy for sighted people and point to some critical statistics to bolster their position. In the United States, unemployment for blind […]

A computer-driven machine pressing braille dots into paper and other thin materials. Please see “Products” for links to manufacturers and retailers of such machines.

For purposes of this glossary, “braille books” is used in the broadest possible meaning and includes any product that is published with an ISBN number. They come with many kinds of coverings, binding methods, volume size, braille code, and use many different production methods. These and many other points of interest are described in our […]

The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) sets all the rules for braille code and formatting. Their committee structure and collaborative process assures that the rules are not changed without all the implications first being considered by the best minds. BANA has published several documents that set the standard to which the Library of Congress […]