in my last post, I talked about how Braille can be a tool for literacy for the blind. I also mentioned that no matter what your age, learning this tactile system for communications can be an asset.

 
 

In this post, I will talk about what the Braille system actually is and why it is so useful.

 
 

If you missed my previous post on this topic, Here is the link How do Blind People Learn Braille? Part 1: What is Braille?.

 
 

When I say that Braille is a tactile system of communications, I mean that there are rules for how to make and read Braille that should be followed in order to get the greatest benefit from it. I will first talk about what makes up a Braille character. Then, I will quickly discuss just how you turn those little bumps into meaningful content.

 
 

Is Braille Another Language?

Braille is not a language in the way that French and American Sign Language are. Braille is just a method of representing text in a way that blind people can understand it. It doesn’t have its own syntax or grammar. With some variations, it is simply a character-by-character representation of English like you would read in a book. However, you use your fingertips to scan the page.

 
 

Not having to learn another language to read Braille is a great advantage. All you will need to start reading is the rules of how different characters are represented as bumps. The rules of English still apply.

 
 

Braille is a System of Bumps

Braille is made up of cells. Roughly, each cell represents a character. A braille potentially can be made up of six bumps—two across and three down.

 
 

Think of a muffin tin made up of two rows across and three rows down. Now, imagine having a few tennis balls. The color of the balls is left up to you.

 
 

With the tin and the balls, you can represent most of the characters of the alphabet, numbers, and special characters. It is just a matter of placing the balls in the right place.

 
 

To make the letter ‘A’, you simply place a tennis ball in the first row of the first column. Now you have an ‘A’! Congratulations. To make the letter ‘B’, you just put one ball in the first row of the first column then put a second ball in the second row of the first column. That is all there is to it.

 
 

Those of you good in math are probably bothered at this point with the thought that there are just not enough bumps in our muffin tin to make all the characters I mentioned earlier. To overcome this limitation, the Braille system allows the use of a second character in combination with the first to fully describe all the characters in the English language. I won’t go into what goes into that second cell here. Just believe me, Braille has got you covered in regards to representing our language.

 
 

 
 

To review, Braille is a system of tactile bumps. The basic unit of Braille is a cell. A Braille cell is made up of two rows across and three columns down. We used a 2×3 muffin tin to represent a Braille cell.

 
 

When you learn which combination of bumps represents a character, you are on your way to Braille literacy.