Over the last few years I have noticed quite a few misconceptions about Braille, the main one being that a Braille word are a direct copy of a non Braille word. Few people know about contracted Braille and it has led to a few examples of “Braille fonts” which just teach the basic alphabet.
Although Braille ABC fonts are not a bad thing, they are something that could certainly be done better. The fact that they perpetuate a misconception that Braille is just a direct translation, feels like something of a disservice to the medium. With that in mind we have tried to create a teaching aid, designed to help sighted and non sighted users learn about contracted Braille.
My aim was to create something that worked with a slate and stylus, while still giving the sighted a better understanding of the medium, something that worked as a teaching aid but where costs had been kept deliberately low. The final piece has managed to achieved most of these aims, it works with any A4 slate and stylus/Brailler and can be easily cut into tiles. All Braillists or Braillists-to-be will have this equipment readily available, and the only other things that’s required is a regular a4 colour print. This would bring the total cost to around 35p, or the cost of card and a coloured print. We wanted something that anyone with equipment could Braille, by having the embossing process done by the end user I was able to avoid having to ship a physical item. This reduces the costs and allows it to be easily and quickly distributed, at least to anyone with internet access.
The tiles are in a logical order, with the symbols for ABC coming first, followed by punctuation and “two letter contractions”. Meaning that the pages will work as a poster or “cheat sheet” where context gives you an idea of what the symbol could mean. They also work as titles that can be cut out and stuck together.
The smallest sheet is set up so that when any tile is placed next to another, then the spaces between those letters should be correct (at least for English standard Braille). This means that you can rearrange them to make words and alter the context of certain symbols. For example the letter “K” on it’s own becomes the word knowledge, but when used with other letters it reverts back to the letter K.
The bigger sheet keeps the Braille the same size but the larger tiles allow them to be moved around more easily, especially by younger children. It also creates more space to type on, allowing the visual elements to be bigger for those with partial sight, or educators with less than perfect vision.
If you combine these tiles with blue tack or sheet magnets, then you have a reusable resource that a Braillist can arrange and rearrange in order to create their own words. This bypasses the need to write with a slate and stylus which can often slow down early stage learners; as to write words by hand you have to write them backwards and back to front. This means that learning to read Braille can often come before learning to write it.
This resource is meant for young and new Braillists who are moving on to contracted Braille, but it is also there to help non-Braillists check work and quickly gain an understanding of the medium. We can’t always guarantee that a teaching assistant will know Braille and parents and teachers may have to learn the system as the child does. The fact that each meaning of each symbol is on the same tile, means that even when they are used in unfamiliar ways a sighted person can quickly check that a word is spelt right or that a sentence makes sense.
Although Braille ABC fonts are not a bad thing, they are something that could certainly be done better. The fact that they perpetuate a misconception that Braille is just a direct translation, feels like something of a disservice to the medium. With that in mind we have tried to create a teaching aid, designed to help sighted and non sighted users learn about contracted Braille.
My aim was to create something that worked with a slate and stylus, while still giving the sighted a better understanding of the medium, something that worked as a teaching aid but where costs had been kept deliberately low. The final piece has managed to achieved most of these aims, it works with any A4 slate and stylus/Brailler and can be easily cut into tiles. All Braillists or Braillists-to-be will have this equipment readily available, and the only other things that’s required is a regular a4 colour print. This would bring the total cost to around 35p, or the cost of card and a coloured print. We wanted something that anyone with equipment could Braille, by having the embossing process done by the end user I was able to avoid having to ship a physical item. This reduces the costs and allows it to be easily and quickly distributed, at least to anyone with internet access.
The tiles are in a logical order, with the symbols for ABC coming first, followed by punctuation and “two letter contractions”. Meaning that the pages will work as a poster or “cheat sheet” where context gives you an idea of what the symbol could mean. They also work as titles that can be cut out and stuck together.
The smallest sheet is set up so that when any tile is placed next to another, then the spaces between those letters should be correct (at least for English standard Braille). This means that you can rearrange them to make words and alter the context of certain symbols. For example the letter “K” on it’s own becomes the word knowledge, but when used with other letters it reverts back to the letter K.
The bigger sheet keeps the Braille the same size but the larger tiles allow them to be moved around more easily, especially by younger children. It also creates more space to type on, allowing the visual elements to be bigger for those with partial sight, or educators with less than perfect vision.
If you combine these tiles with blue tack or sheet magnets, then you have a reusable resource that a Braillist can arrange and rearrange in order to create their own words. This bypasses the need to write with a slate and stylus which can often slow down early stage learners; as to write words by hand you have to write them backwards and back to front. This means that learning to read Braille can often come before learning to write it.
This resource is meant for young and new Braillists who are moving on to contracted Braille, but it is also there to help non-Braillists check work and quickly gain an understanding of the medium. We can’t always guarantee that a teaching assistant will know Braille and parents and teachers may have to learn the system as the child does. The fact that each meaning of each symbol is on the same tile, means that even when they are used in unfamiliar ways a sighted person can quickly check that a word is spelt right or that a sentence makes sense.
