Working with Braille: a study of Braille as a medium of communication Working with Braille A study of Braille as a medium of communication BARRY HAMPSHIRE x s, - —--X The Unesco Press Published in 1981 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris Printed by Presses Centrales, Lausanne ISBN 923-101864 7 ©Unesco 1981 Printed in Switzerland Preface Unesco's interest in the problems faced by those with some form of handicap is longstanding and has resulted in a number of studies concerning different aspects of special education for the handicapped. Such education aims at preparing handicap­ ped students for a full life in the community. The severely visually-impaired have specific needs regarding reading and writing, given their dependence on an alphabet composed of embossed dots. As early as 1949 Unesco took the initiative to promote a survey of problems aimed at establishing world Braille uniformity. The Organization asked Sir Clutha Mackenzie of New Zealand to produce a universally acceptable plan for the application of Braille to all languages, thereby fulfilling the hopes of Louis Braille, the blind French professor who invented the alphabet of raised dots for finger-reading in 1829. In 1954, Unesco published the results of this work, World Braille Usage, in English, French and Spanish. It was a landmark for the blind of the world and lifted Braille from a jungle of punctographic codes to a universal medium. There have been developments in this field since then which merit publication, and so Unesco decided to carry out a study on Braille as a medium of communication, dealing with Braille research; the use of Braille; selection, editing and distribution of Braille material; the production of Braille; Braille code systems; and reading, learning and teaching Braille. The study led to this publication, which also deals with presses and Braille libraries, manufacturers of equipment, sources of information relating to Braille, research centres and Braille recorders. This publication has examined the situation of the visually handicapped in relation to Braille as a medium of communication. It will be of interest not only to persons with a visual impairment but also to teachers, producers of texts in Braille, to anyone closely connected to a person with a visual difficulty and to those interested in the area of communication for and with persons who cannot use their eyes. The main author and editor of this book is Barry Hampshire (United Kingdom) who is associated with the Swedish Federation of the Visually Handicapped. The late Dr Walter Cohen of the South African National Council for the Blind, Dr Jan-Ingvar Lindström of the Swedish Federation for the Handicapped, and the late John Jarvis of the Royal National Institute for the Blind, United Kingdom, have contributed articles for the book, and numerous experts have in different ways generously contributed to the result of this study. The Unesco Secretariat expresses its appreciation of Mr Hampshire's work and that of his collaborators. The author is responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of Unesco and do not commit the Organization. Contents Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 9 Chapter 1 The use of Braille 13 2 Selection, editing and distribution of Braille material 33 3 The production of Braille 49 4 Braille code systems 89 5 Reading, learning and teaching Braille 103 6 Braille research 127 Appendix A Presses and Braille libraries 139 B Manufacturers of equipment 151 C Sources of information relating to Braille 161 D Research centres 165 E Braille recorders: description and specifications 169 F The 'U' and Nemeth systems for representing mathematics and science in Braille 173 Acknowledgements Although the present book is not the cooperative effort originally planned, various organizations and people have contributed significantly towards its completion. First, I should like to express my gratitude to Unesco for providing the initiative for this publication and to Bengt Lindqvist who, under the auspices of the Swedish Federation of the Visually Handicapped, undertook the responsibility for the work to be carried out. Secondly, I should like to express my gratitude towards the late Dr Walter Cohen, Jan-Ingvar Lindström, and the late John Jarvis for the articles they contributed. Furthermore, particular thanks go to Dr Jeanne Kenmore of Helen Keller International, who provided material relating to the Braille presses and libraries, and the sample problems in the Braille mathematics codes and to Anders Amor who not only read and commented on all the chapters as they were written, but also encouraged and supported the work from beginning to end. I should also like to diank the following people who read and commented upon the manuscript in preliminary form: Ms Ulla Cahling, Dr J. M. Gill, Dr J. Kenmore, Dr H.-J. Küppers, Mr B. Lindqvist, Mr W. Poole and Dr M. J. Tobin. In no way, however, should these readers be held responsible for any errors that may remain. Finally, I should like to express my gratitude to Ms Elaine Bryant for her patience and skill in transforming my preliminary draft into a presentable manuscript in such a short time. B.H. Stockholm March 1979 Introduction Braille has been the major medium of communication for the severely visually handicapped for more than a century. It has been adapted to all the major languages of the world and most of the minor ones. Furthermore, special Braille code systems have been worked out to represent mathematics, scientific symbols, music, phonetics and other specialized symbol systems. Braille has, thus, proved flexible when faced with the problem of creating a new code system out of the fixed-character set of just sixty-three characters. In fact, this flexibility coupled with the many enthusiastic and inventive Braille experts in several countries, has proved to be a weakness of the system. This is because many countries have arrived at different Braille code systems for the same print symbol system, which sadly has resulted in nearly a dozen different Braille mathematics codes, at least two different ways of disposing Braille music, and half a dozen different Braille computer codes, etc. In the early 1950s Unesco, together with other international organizations, such as the World Braille Council and later the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind (WC WB), attempted to achieve some standardization of the various Braille codes. In 1954, Unesco published World Braille Usage which presented charts of the Braille codes of all the languages which had one. Since 1954, WCWB has tried to continue this work of standardization through its various subcommittees, although with limited success. During the nearly thirty years since the publication of World Braille Usage a great many changes and developments—socially, technologically, economically—have occurred in most societies and these have had significant implications for commu­ nication media for the visually handicapped. For example, the increased wealth of many countries has allowed considerable expansion in the use of such alternative media as talking books and special low-vision aids. The general expansion of research and development activities, especially during the 1960s and early 1970s, has resulted in increased effectiveness of Braille production techniques and greater insight into the Braille reading process. The current trend towards automation has meant that the visually handicapped require much more 10 Working with Braille effective access to information in order to compete for jobs, as these increasingly demand the handling of information in some way or another. In short, the demands on Braille have become more exacting. It must be available quickly as people are no longer prepared to wait several montfis for a book. It must reach a wider range of people as authorities and organizations can no longer afford to pay for it when alternative media, although perhaps less satisfactory in some cases, can be produced more cheaply and reach a much greater number of the blind and visually handicapped. The major problem with Braille today is, therefore, no longer standardization. Although desirable, mis seems to be something everyone must live without, at least for the foreseeable future. What is important is the dissemination of the information which is currently available about Braille to as wide an audience of practitioners, administrators, teachers, social workers and, not least, to Braille readers tfiemselves, as possible. Much of this information is only disseminated through academic publications and, therefore, often does not reach the kind of people who could make most use of it. The purpose of this book is, then, to provide a source for information about the developments relating to Braille which have taken place during the past thirty years. Chapter 1 discusses the use of Braille and its relationship to other media such as talking books, large-print books and reading machines. There have been such significant developments in the production and distribution of these media that they have often been discussed in terms of threatening the continuing use of Braille. There seems little chance of any of these alternatives providing any total substitute for Braille. On the other hand, these alternatives are useful for certain types of material in certain situations. The optimum areas of use of Braille, in relation to other media, are then important to define if visually handicapped people are to gain the maximum benefit from each. The two following chapters are concerned with Braille production. This involves a process starting with selection of material for publication in Braille, editing the material so that it is appropriate for the medium of Braille, the actual production of the material and finally its distribution. The actual process used for the manufacture of Braille underwent considerable development during the 1960s and 19 7 0s and these are presented in Chapter 3.