What led you to learn braille?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The first blind student I worked with was so good at braille I didn\u2019t even think about learning it. Instead I focused on accessible maths or ways in which maths could be converted more easily into single line maths. With a braille display you only get one line of characters; you can\u2019t access \u2018laid out\u2019 maths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second student I worked with wasn\u2019t so confident with braille, but likewise needed to be able to do quite a bit of maths in her discipline. I really wanted to help her with her braille and screen reading technology. This led me to at least try to bridge that gap and it started me off learning as much as I can about braille.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not the first time a student has explained to me that it can be hard to learn maths if you only listen to it; students find that having something tactile (braille and diagrams) can help them to revise better and engage more with the content. It helps for them to have multiple modes of representation, just like for sighted students. As they don\u2019t have the use of their sight, having tactiles and braille is really important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you get started?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I think I looked at tonnes of web resources and realised how much memorisation was going to be involved. So I found an app called Braille Academy<\/strong> on my iPhone and in a weekend I had mastered the alphabet. I highly recommend this app for learning the braille code by sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was frustrated at not having any texts to practice with though. I went around looking at any available braille in public or on the web but was frustrated by how much I couldn\u2019t yet decipher because I hadn\u2019t yet encountered contracted braille at the start. Not all braille is spelt out like English words-contracted braille are like short forms of characters or words to help reduce the length of braille. For example we use eg to mean the word \u2018example\u2019. Braille has lots of things like that. This does mean that until you\u2019ve mastered grade 2 braille, you can\u2019t always understand braille texts that you come across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This led me on to the UEB Online website<\/strong><\/a> where you can learn to type braille on a normal laptop, turning the letters sdf and jkl into the 6-dots on a braille machine. To explain, braille is normally typed using a 6-dot device like a Perkins brailler or on some braille device. This UEB braille fingering chart<\/a> shows how characters are normally input with 6-dots and UEB Online\u2019s guide to using the keyboard<\/a> explains it in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the UEB Online site, you can practice reading braille, converting that into text and converting text into braille. I\u2019ve finished module 1 and I\u2019m working on module 2. I\u2019m also loving the Braille Decoded app<\/strong><\/a> on my phone for practising reading and typing braille.<\/p>\n\n\n You can type 6-dot braille with the sdf and jkl keys if you are using UEB online, or you can switch on 6-dot entry with some software like BrailleBlaster<\/a>. With the NVDA screen reader<\/strong>, you can use an add-on called PC keyboard braille input<\/strong> and that let\u2019s you use the sdf jkl keys to imitate the 6-dot entry that someone with a braille notetaker would use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I just want to make it clear that you can\u2019t type English text, change the font to something like SimBraille<\/a> and then think that\u2019s ok. This would just be a font change for a sighted person \u2013 it might be useful if you\u2019re learning braille by sight, but it doesn\u2019t do anything for your braille student. You might as well just give them the digital file in plain English as they will usually have the technology that handles the conversion to braille.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For text or maths to be converted into braille that can be embossed by a braille embosser or read on a braille display , there is a converter called the Liblouis translator<\/a>. This conversion is built-in with a braille display, on an embosser or in software like BrailleBlaster. You don\u2019t have to download it or do anything yourself except to choose what level of braille you want it to output. You can set it to convert to Grade 1 braille, Grade 2 braille and so on. So you can give students an accessible digital file and their braille reader will usually handle the conversion into braille code. PDFs are not accessible for braille readers, fyi!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are quick reference charts like the Hadley chart<\/a> or the Aroga braille reference sheet or the Duxbury braille reference sheet<\/a>. But there is no easy way to look up braille dots digitally, which is frustrating. If I come across some new notation in braille when my student is doing their maths, I can\u2019t just look up dots 4 5 6, 2 4 6 and work out what that is. I\u2019ve tried using google search or even AI but this fails terribly, so I wouldn\u2019t suggest believing anything they offer you. So I rely on the charts or the manuals but it\u2019s not easy to find what you need when it\u2019s not always laid out to help you find the code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can imagine what it\u2019s like with the maths, even for sighted students, you have to get to know the various symbols, how they are laid out, how they are pronounced versus how the equation is read out. You have Greek letters and other symbols for vectors or differentials or matrices. Until you\u2019ve learned that braille, you can\u2019t \u2018read\u2019 the maths! And there are currently two different braille codes for maths. If you come from America, you\u2019re likely to learn Nemeth Maths. In the UK we use UEB maths. So that\u2019s another layer of \u2018fun\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reality what works fastest for the learners I\u2019ve worked with is for them or their transcriber to work with them to invent a way to represent new symbols. People suggest you could teach them latex<\/strong> since that is technically a single-line approach to describe the maths you want, but it makes it very unwieldy. You can\u2019t just have a \/<\/strong> for a fraction. You would have to read \\frac<\/strong> which is about 6 characters in braille. When you only have about 40 characters available per line, it takes a lot of effort to remember everything in your head to visualise the equation, never mind then trying to solve it! Read more about this frustration written up by one of our graduates in An Accessible Maths Journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not necessary but it can be fun and it means you are showing an interest in the student\u2019s way of working. I think it\u2019s ideal if lecturers will co-create materials with the students so they can tell you what works for them. At a minimum, using the tactipad and a braille labeller can be easy for anyone to get started creating braille-labelled things. (See Prepare tactile resources if needed<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We encourage our lecturers to prepare tactile materials that can more easily explain complex charts or graphs. These can provide an alternative medium to understand concepts and it really is down to the preference of your learners as to what needs converting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previously we didn\u2019t have a braille embosser so all content was either made tactile with a PIAF swell machine or by hand! See Creating tactile graphics for VI students part 1<\/a>, part 2<\/a> and part 3<\/a>. To help the lecturers understand how to work more accessibly with our VI students, I wrote a blog post about Preparing to teach our VI students<\/a> and sent emails round to the lecturers. What continues to make me very happy and amaze me is how creative our lecturers can be when trying to make tactile graphics. The blog posts have several examples but the most recent example is a joy to behold; it\u2019s fun to look at, great for textures and easy identification, and it has a number one on the top left so you can tell which way is up and which item it is in a series of 9 such diagrams! I hope they had a lot of fun making them because they were a real pleasure for our student to use in the lecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the example above doesn\u2019t have any braille labels on it, but the student can add these braille labels themselves or they can add a Penfriend label to record an audio description. (See Tools for creating tactile graphics<\/a>). The only challenge with some of these tactile materials is storing them \u2013 they can be bulky to store or flatten over time if too much is piled on top of them. A student recommended these expandable hole-punched pockets to store their braille content. I haven\u2019t found them in the stores, but I\u2019ve managed to source some on Temu!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, we now have a SpotDot embosser<\/a> but we\u2019re still learning to use it, and we have an added challenge. Most HE will end up with using a networked computer to print to the embosser \u2013 this means you can\u2019t get to the printer settings if you don\u2019t have admin rights. We haven\u2019t solved that one yet, but we\u2019re getting by in the meantime. Once I have learned more, I\u2019ll write it up on our blog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We went for the SpotDot because some students have some sight and appreciate being able to see large fonts or colours on the page as well as being able to feel the braille or embossed patterns. It\u2019s also useful to have print on any embossed material so peers or helpers can understand what\u2019s on the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The embosser is going to help us produce more professional looking resources for our students \u2013 I think I\u2019ll miss seeing the creative outputs from our lecturers so I hope it will be a blend between the two. It\u2019s also going to be great resource for our students who don\u2019t always have a way to print their own notes out from their braille reader. Now they can emboss multi-line reference material to refer back to easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of our students have their own Index V5<\/a> embosser so I\u2019ve had to get to grips with that as well. It\u2019s always good to learn something new!<\/p>\n\n\n\n My current student taught me about the braille slate (See Tools for creating tactile graphics<\/a>) and I\u2019ve been using mine to emboss labels on diagrams, but I was blown away by her weekly planning board in braille. It\u2019s a cork board and there are braille labels for each day, arranged to remind her of the structure of the day. Things like \u2018study\u2019 or \u2018lunch\u2019 are timeboxed in there. Fixed labels have flat drawing pins and other labels have push pins. It\u2019s an amazing example of her creativity that she can invent something she needs. I take for granted my ability to make notes in my bullet journal to help organise my week or my thoughts and this is how our student has created a similar tool for herself. What an inspiration!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We now run regular workshops for staff on creating tactile materials and we\u2019ll be showcasing the equipment that we have to help them with this. Our students come along to the workshop and it can be a really good exchange and very educational! (See Reflections on our Supporting visually impaired students workshop<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been learning more about screen readers and braille readers and how to teach these skills as well through a great site called Eye.T Vision<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m going to continue on my braille learning journey. There isn\u2019t a formal course that I can go on to become qualified without having to pay out a lot of fees myself, so for the time being, I\u2019ll just carry on with the UEB Online courses and certificates. I am learning a lot from working with our braille users so I feel very privileged to be able to learn directly from and with them. I would happily run a beginners braille workshop for a bit of fun \u2013 it would give me an excuse to bring out my Lego braille bricks and other bits of kit I\u2019ve been accumulating \u2013 learning braille can be a gateway to The Jisc Accessibility Community ran a Drop-In on the 1st October entitled ‘Braille Matters’. We had a very enlightening presentation by Elizabeth McCann from the Scottish Sensory Centre, introducing the history of braille and why it is still important despite the prevalence of digital technology. I was invited to give my perspective as a learning … Continue reading Braille Matters<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":256,"featured_media":195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,12,6],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-tactile-graphics","category-vi","tag-braille"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/10\/image-3.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"custom_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1765371666:257"],"_thumbnail_id":["195"],"_wpas_done_all":["1"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/256"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/10\/image.png\")
So you can type braille with a normal keyboard?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t know the braille, can you look it up somehow?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Braille](\"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/10\/image-1.png\")
What\u2019s the added challenge with maths and braille?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So do you think lecturers ought to learn braille?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can you tell us more about these tactile materials you\u2019ve written blog posts about?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/10\/image-2-1024x719.png\")
![\"A4](\"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/10\/pockets.jpeg\")
So you now have a braille embosser? Will that speed up the creation of tactile content?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do you have any examples of how your students are using braille creatively?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/digital-accessibility\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/10\/image-3-1024x698.png\")
What\u2019s next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
spending all my money<\/s> exploring all the tools and technology that can help blind people!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"