by Marisa Bennett, contributing writer
Fun with Braille
Recently, when bored by insomnia, I entertained my brain in a way that only sighted Braille dorks like me (who are also linguistics geeks) tend to do. I went through most of the photos tagged “Braille” on flickr and posted transcriptions of the ones I could read. The ones in English were fairly straightforward, as long as enough characters were in clear view. I also got to try my hand at entries in Dutch, German, French, and on Japanese beer cans (!). Wheee!
From this experience, I’ve learned that:
a) Artists who use giant Braille in public art often seem to have no reason for picking the Braille words they use,b) People on flickr feel the love when you tell them what the Braille sign on a diaper changing table says, andc) Some people have small or large Braille tattoos.
Read Between the (Braille) Signs
Have you always wondered what all those dots in the elevator * really * say? Well, so do some blind people, because man, those sign companies have no clue what they’re doing a lot of the time. I once visited my high school a few years after my graduation, and saw the sign on the teacher’s lounge door. In print it said “ teacher’s lounge ” but in Braille it said “ cafeteria.” umm, yeah. Kinda makes you wonder what the “cafeteria” and “men’s room” signs say in Braille, now doesn’t it?
Wanna learn more??
Did you know that, though Braille is the current worldwide standard, there weremany other tactile writing systems? Braille was developed by a blind teenager, Louis Braille, because he was so frustrated with the unwieldy systems preferred by sighted teachers.If you’re interested in learning Braille as used in English, see AFB’sBraille Bugfor fun instruction on the alphabet and numbers; AFB’sBraille Trail curriculumis also excellent.SeeBraille thru Remote Learningif you want to learn how normal (contracted) English-language Braille works, with all the special characters, standardized abbreviations and their usage rules.If you’re American, you can take afree correspondance coursefrom the Library of Congresson how to read, transcribe, and proofread Braille.If you want to learn Braille as it is used in other countries, use the free online pdf copy ofWorld Braille Usage, a book compiled by Unesco. There are listings by country along with contact information for each country’s Braille authority/organizations — most of which probably have their own web sites by now. They can probably direct you toward Braille learning resources in their country. A great resource.Braille fontsso you can play with “ink Braille for sighted people” on your computer. Check out thisASCII Braille cheat sheetto see how to use your keyboard to type special Braille characters in those fonts.Braille and Braille/Fingerspelling blocksfrom Uncle GooseMore toys and Braille practice materials fromThe Braille Superstore.Have fun learning Braille!
About the Author
Marisa Bennett learned to read Braille with her eyes at age eleven and has since worked at many schools and organizations that serve blind and deafblind people. She has a master’s degree in linguistics from
Gallaudet
University, and currently works with blind students in
Texas.
This entry was originally posted on January 10, 2007 on Marisa’s blog at http://www.xanga.com/thegreatlinguini/562099058/fun-with-Braille.html
Here are all the URLs for the links in this document:
· “Braille” on flickr- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/braille/· Dutch- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathibus/2519802/· German- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kifa/209940892/· French- http://www.flickr.com/photos/titipotatoes/282125915/· Japanese beer cans- http://www.flickr.com/photos/lipsticktraces/231846497/· giant Braille- http://www.flickr.com/photos/heloiselanteaume/143578683/· public art- http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidstamm/132738366/· Braille words- http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookfar/136955852/· diaper changing table- http://www.flickr.com/photos/w5nyv/12866060/· small- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyleska/73661494/· large Braille tattoos- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyleska/73661494/· many other tactile writing systems- http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/spring06/history.htm· Braille Bug- http://afb.org/braillebug/· Braille Trail curriculum- http://www.afb.org/braillebug/bboffer.asp· Braille thru Remote Learning- http://www.brl.org/· free correspondance course from the Library of Congress- http://www.loc.gov/nls/bds/index.html· World Braille Usage- http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000872/087242EB.pdf· Braille fonts- http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/fonts.html· ASCII Braille cheat sheet- http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/disabilities/asc_brl.php· Uncle Goose- http://www.unclegoose.com/BlocksBraille.html· The Braille Superstore- http://www.braillebookstore.com/view.php?C=Hands-On+Braille
by Marisa Bennett, contributing writer
Fun with Braille
Recently, when bored by insomnia, I entertained my brain in a way that only sighted Braille dorks like me (who are also linguistics geeks) tend to do. I went through most of the photos tagged “Braille” on flickr and posted transcriptions of the ones I could read. The ones in English were fairly straightforward, as long as enough characters were in clear view. I also got to try my hand at entries in Dutch, German, French, and on Japanese beer cans (!). Wheee!
From this experience, I’ve learned that:
a) Artists who use giant Braille in public art often seem to have no reason for picking the Braille words they use,b) People on flickr feel the love when you tell them what the Braille sign on a diaper changing table says, andc) Some people have small or large Braille tattoos.
Read Between the (Braille) Signs
Have you always wondered what all those dots in the elevator * really * say? Well, so do some blind people, because man, those sign companies have no clue what they’re doing a lot of the time. I once visited my high school a few years after my graduation, and saw the sign on the teacher’s lounge door. In print it said “ teacher’s lounge ” but in Braille it said “ cafeteria.” umm, yeah. Kinda makes you wonder what the “cafeteria” and “men’s room” signs say in Braille, now doesn’t it?
Wanna learn more??
Did you know that, though Braille is the current worldwide standard, there weremany other tactile writing systems? Braille was developed by a blind teenager, Louis Braille, because he was so frustrated with the unwieldy systems preferred by sighted teachers.If you’re interested in learning Braille as used in English, see AFB’sBraille Bugfor fun instruction on the alphabet and numbers; AFB’sBraille Trail curriculumis also excellent.SeeBraille thru Remote Learningif you want to learn how normal (contracted) English-language Braille works, with all the special characters, standardized abbreviations and their usage rules.If you’re American, you can take afree correspondance coursefrom the Library of Congresson how to read, transcribe, and proofread Braille.If you want to learn Braille as it is used in other countries, use the free online pdf copy ofWorld Braille Usage, a book compiled by Unesco. There are listings by country along with contact information for each country’s Braille authority/organizations — most of which probably have their own web sites by now. They can probably direct you toward Braille learning resources in their country. A great resource.Braille fontsso you can play with “ink Braille for sighted people” on your computer. Check out thisASCII Braille cheat sheetto see how to use your keyboard to type special Braille characters in those fonts.Braille and Braille/Fingerspelling blocksfrom Uncle GooseMore toys and Braille practice materials fromThe Braille Superstore.Have fun learning Braille!
About the Author
Marisa Bennett learned to read Braille with her eyes at age eleven and has since worked at many schools and organizations that serve blind and deafblind people. She has a master’s degree in linguistics from
Gallaudet
University, and currently works with blind students in
Texas.
This entry was originally posted on January 10, 2007 on Marisa’s blog at http://www.xanga.com/thegreatlinguini/562099058/fun-with-Braille.html
Here are all the URLs for the links in this document:
· “Braille” on flickr- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/braille/· Dutch- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathibus/2519802/· German- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kifa/209940892/· French- http://www.flickr.com/photos/titipotatoes/282125915/· Japanese beer cans- http://www.flickr.com/photos/lipsticktraces/231846497/· giant Braille- http://www.flickr.com/photos/heloiselanteaume/143578683/· public art- http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidstamm/132738366/· Braille words- http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookfar/136955852/· diaper changing table- http://www.flickr.com/photos/w5nyv/12866060/· small- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyleska/73661494/· large Braille tattoos- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyleska/73661494/· many other tactile writing systems- http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/spring06/history.htm· Braille Bug- http://afb.org/braillebug/· Braille Trail curriculum- http://www.afb.org/braillebug/bboffer.asp· Braille thru Remote Learning- http://www.brl.org/· free correspondance course from the Library of Congress- http://www.loc.gov/nls/bds/index.html· World Braille Usage- http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000872/087242EB.pdf· Braille fonts- http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/fonts.html· ASCII Braille cheat sheet- http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/disabilities/asc_brl.php· Uncle Goose- http://www.unclegoose.com/BlocksBraille.html· The Braille Superstore- http://www.braillebookstore.com/view.php?C=Hands-On+Braille
by Marisa Bennett, contributing writer
Fun with Braille
Recently, when bored by insomnia, I entertained my brain in a way that only sighted Braille dorks like me (who are also linguistics geeks) tend to do. I went through most of the photos tagged “Braille” on flickr and posted transcriptions of the ones I could read. The ones in English were fairly straightforward, as long as enough characters were in clear view. I also got to try my hand at entries in Dutch, German, French, and on Japanese beer cans (!). Wheee!
From this experience, I’ve learned that:
a) Artists who use giant Braille in public art often seem to have no reason for picking the Braille words they use,b) People on flickr feel the love when you tell them what the Braille sign on a diaper changing table says, andc) Some people have small or large Braille tattoos.
Read Between the (Braille) Signs
Have you always wondered what all those dots in the elevator * really * say? Well, so do some blind people, because man, those sign companies have no clue what they’re doing a lot of the time. I once visited my high school a few years after my graduation, and saw the sign on the teacher’s lounge door. In print it said “ teacher’s lounge ” but in Braille it said “ cafeteria.” umm, yeah. Kinda makes you wonder what the “cafeteria” and “men’s room” signs say in Braille, now doesn’t it?
Wanna learn more??
Did you know that, though Braille is the current worldwide standard, there weremany other tactile writing systems? Braille was developed by a blind teenager, Louis Braille, because he was so frustrated with the unwieldy systems preferred by sighted teachers.If you’re interested in learning Braille as used in English, see AFB’sBraille Bugfor fun instruction on the alphabet and numbers; AFB’sBraille Trail curriculumis also excellent.SeeBraille thru Remote Learningif you want to learn how normal (contracted) English-language Braille works, with all the special characters, standardized abbreviations and their usage rules.If you’re American, you can take afree correspondance coursefrom the Library of Congresson how to read, transcribe, and proofread Braille.If you want to learn Braille as it is used in other countries, use the free online pdf copy ofWorld Braille Usage, a book compiled by Unesco. There are listings by country along with contact information for each country’s Braille authority/organizations — most of which probably have their own web sites by now. They can probably direct you toward Braille learning resources in their country. A great resource.Braille fontsso you can play with “ink Braille for sighted people” on your computer. Check out thisASCII Braille cheat sheetto see how to use your keyboard to type special Braille characters in those fonts.Braille and Braille/Fingerspelling blocksfrom Uncle GooseMore toys and Braille practice materials fromThe Braille Superstore.Have fun learning Braille!
About the Author
Marisa Bennett learned to read Braille with her eyes at age eleven and has since worked at many schools and organizations that serve blind and deafblind people. She has a master’s degree in linguistics from
Gallaudet
University, and currently works with blind students in
Texas.
This entry was originally posted on January 10, 2007 on Marisa’s blog at http://www.xanga.com/thegreatlinguini/562099058/fun-with-Braille.html
Here are all the URLs for the links in this document:
· “Braille” on flickr- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/braille/· Dutch- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathibus/2519802/· German- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kifa/209940892/· French- http://www.flickr.com/photos/titipotatoes/282125915/· Japanese beer cans- http://www.flickr.com/photos/lipsticktraces/231846497/· giant Braille- http://www.flickr.com/photos/heloiselanteaume/143578683/· public art- http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidstamm/132738366/· Braille words- http://www.flickr.com/photos/lookfar/136955852/· diaper changing table- http://www.flickr.com/photos/w5nyv/12866060/· small- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyleska/73661494/· large Braille tattoos- http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyleska/73661494/· many other tactile writing systems- http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/spring06/history.htm· Braille Bug- http://afb.org/braillebug/· Braille Trail curriculum- http://www.afb.org/braillebug/bboffer.asp· Braille thru Remote Learning- http://www.brl.org/· free correspondance course from the Library of Congress- http://www.loc.gov/nls/bds/index.html· World Braille Usage- http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000872/087242EB.pdf· Braille fonts- http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/fonts.html· ASCII Braille cheat sheet- http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/disabilities/asc_brl.php· Uncle Goose- http://www.unclegoose.com/BlocksBraille.html· The Braille Superstore- http://www.braillebookstore.com/view.php?C=Hands-On+Braille