{"id":807,"date":"2021-08-04T15:53:55","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T15:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/?p=807"},"modified":"2022-02-24T08:30:01","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T08:30:01","slug":"what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Braille and How Does It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve seen it and might have felt it.\u00a0 But unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. Although many of us understand that braille is critically important to blind readers, we don\u2019t all fully understand it or how it works. So what is braille and how does it work?<\/span><\/p>\n

On a mission to support and promote the love of languages, Day Translations<\/a> and Day Interpreting<\/a> thought it would be wise to shed some much-needed light on the subject.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How Does Braille Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Blind and visually-impaired individuals learn to read braille the same way any average person would learn to read letters. It all starts with learning the alphabet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Braille was invented by Louis Braille in the 19<\/span>th<\/span> century. Words are formed using braille cells, which are combinations of six raised dots. In braille, there are two levels: grade 1 (uncontracted braille \u2013 every letter is written by itself) and grade 2 (contracted braille where a series of forms condense letters into words). So, in essence, braille is a code that enables people to read through touch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before braille was invented, blind people didn\u2019t have many opportunities for education and employment. The existing schools for the blind focused on teaching basic trade skills while reading, writing, and other academic studies were ignored. Braille changed all that and gave blind people a way of communicating with the world and getting educated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because braille is a code and not a language, it\u2019s easy to translate,<\/span> interpret<\/span><\/a>, and transcribe it into several languages like Italian, English, German, French, and Spanish.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Grades of Braille\u00a0 ‘Language’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In most languages, different versions (grades) of braille are used. Here\u2019s a look at each grade:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grade 1 Braille<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As mentioned earlier, grade 1 braille is a letter-for-letter substitution of each letter of the alphabet. For beginners, this is the preferred code because it allows them to get familiar with the aspects of reading braille.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grade 2 Braille<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Braille Grade 2 uses contractions that form sequences for the spelling of commonly-used letter groups. It\u2019s like the contractions we use in English, for example, \u201ccannot\u201d versus \u201ccan\u2019t\u201d, so it\u2019s a way of shortening words. Grade 2 braille is used to shorten the time it takes to read and write in braille and is, therefore, the most commonly used form of braille code in books, public signage, and restaurant menus.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grade 3 Braille<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Braille Grade 3 is the least used form of literary braille code. It\u2019s considered the \u201cshorthand\u201d of the code and compresses entire words into one of a few characters. But because there\u2019s no official standardization for grade 3 braille, official publications don\u2019t use it, but it can be found in personal letters and notes.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Transcribing and Translating Braille<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many people confuse braille transcription with braille translation, which conveys a misleading belief that braille is a language instead of a writing system. When braille is transcribed, the printed braille code is typed up in text form. Translating braille refers to the process of translating the braille code into a spoken language.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As you can see, braille is not a language but rather a unique code that enables blind and visually impaired individuals to read through touch. Although it\u2019s easier for children to learn to read braille than adults, it\u2019s never too late to learn a new skill. Technology will likely increase accessibility for non-braille options in the future, but braille is unlikely to lose its usefulness any time soon!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve seen it and might have felt it.\u00a0 But unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. Although many of us understand that braille is critically important to blind readers, we don\u2019t all fully understand it or how it works. So what is braille and how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interpreting"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Braille and How Does It Work? - Day Interpreting Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. So what is itand how does it work?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Braille and How Does It Work? - Day Interpreting Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. So what is itand how does it work?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Day Interpreting Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-04T15:53:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-24T08:30:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Copy-of-TEMPLATE-BLOG-POST-THUMBNAIL-3.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seldean Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seldean Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seldean Smith\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/be4caf5803e925cc49a97b38d5494cde\"},\"headline\":\"What is Braille and How Does It Work?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-04T15:53:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-24T08:30:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/\"},\"wordCount\":599,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Interpreting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/\",\"name\":\"What is Braille and How Does It Work? - Day Interpreting Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-04T15:53:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-24T08:30:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. So what is itand how does it work?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is Braille and How Does It Work?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Day Interpreting Blog\",\"description\":\"Welcome to Day Interpreting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Day Interpreting\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brand-Color-01.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brand-Color-01.svg\",\"width\":\"1024\",\"height\":\"1024\",\"caption\":\"Day Interpreting\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/be4caf5803e925cc49a97b38d5494cde\",\"name\":\"Seldean Smith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Seldean-Smith-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Seldean-Smith-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Seldean Smith\"},\"description\":\"Seldean is a multi-skilled content wizard that dedicates herself to writing content that goes beyond merely sparking interest in the audience.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/author\/seldean-smith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is Braille and How Does It Work? - Day Interpreting Blog","description":"Unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. So what is itand how does it work?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is Braille and How Does It Work? - Day Interpreting Blog","og_description":"Unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. So what is itand how does it work?","og_url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/","og_site_name":"Day Interpreting Blog","article_published_time":"2021-08-04T15:53:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-24T08:30:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1120,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Copy-of-TEMPLATE-BLOG-POST-THUMBNAIL-3.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Seldean Smith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Seldean Smith","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/"},"author":{"name":"Seldean Smith","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/be4caf5803e925cc49a97b38d5494cde"},"headline":"What is Braille and How Does It Work?","datePublished":"2021-08-04T15:53:55+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-24T08:30:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/"},"wordCount":599,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Interpreting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/","url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/","name":"What is Braille and How Does It Work? - Day Interpreting Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-08-04T15:53:55+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-24T08:30:01+00:00","description":"Unless someone close to you is visually impaired, you might not have given braille language much thought. So what is itand how does it work?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/what-is-braille-and-how-does-it-work\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is Braille and How Does It Work?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/","name":"Day Interpreting Blog","description":"Welcome to Day Interpreting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Day Interpreting","url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brand-Color-01.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brand-Color-01.svg","width":"1024","height":"1024","caption":"Day Interpreting"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/be4caf5803e925cc49a97b38d5494cde","name":"Seldean Smith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Seldean-Smith-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Seldean-Smith-150x150.jpg","caption":"Seldean Smith"},"description":"Seldean is a multi-skilled content wizard that dedicates herself to writing content that goes beyond merely sparking interest in the audience.","url":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/author\/seldean-smith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1251,"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions\/1251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dayinterpreting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}