Why isn’t braille simply raised text of existing letters? Can raised lettering be used instead of traditional braille to support those with vision loss later in life? How could this method simplify the learning process for individuals transitioning to braille? #Braille #RaisedText #VisuallyImpaired #AlphabetRecognition #Accessibility #LearningMethods #Innovation #AssistiveTechnology
> Wouldn’t it be easier for braille to just be raised lettering of letter shapes that are already used?
No, because regular letters are hard to tell apart by touch. They need to be small enough that a single finger can cover them completely, yet also be capable of being distinguished. For example “e”, “a”, and “s” would be pretty hard to tell apart.
Braille is much easier to distinguish with such restrictions and also has the benefit of being more easily reproduced on various materials. Paper can easily be embossed with small separate bumps but the various swoops and enclosed areas of normal letters are more difficult.
>Wouldn’t it be easier for braille to just be raised lettering of letter shapes that are already used?Â
When Braille was invented, such a thing existed. The Braille alphabet became more popular because it was easier to read.
Your question got me wondering, “do braille ebook readers exist?”
Yes, but they are very expensive due to low volume of production.
Its easier and cheaper to print braille because its just a bunch of raised dots arranged in a particular pattern, as opposed to trying to print embossed letters. And mind you, its **cheaper,** not cheap.
Also, another form of raised printing already exists that is similar to full lettering, its called [Moon Type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_type) and basically replaces letters with simple curves and lines that make it easier for adults who have lost sight to read, but is far less common than normal braille.
Great points made in the comments already, but there is a key thing missing: braille also allows for blind people to _write_.
Before braille was invented there was a frighteningly small amount of books printed on essentially a huge typefont, embossed, so blind people could feel and trace the letters. These were so expensive and rare and limited.
Braille solved that issue, but more importantly, it also allowed blind people to themselves by simply pricking holes in paper, to be able to write notes / texts / … and re-read them themselves later. Something that was not possible in the earlier system of big embossed letters.
On top of the already good answers here: another reason Braille is used is that it can be read *quickly*. People who learn to read Braille can run their fingers over lines rather quickly and comprehend what’s being said. That would be very difficult with raised latin letters.
Because it is an international language for one thing, and another is that it’s specially designed to be very distinct between each letter to just the touch.
To add to the already very valid points: Braille also has shorthand versions, where one braille symbol stands for multiple letters or even whole words. This makes it possible to significantly shorten texts and read even quicker.
I feels just like l. i feels just like a semicolon, and commas and periods are super difficult to tell apart. D, O, and Q as well. B and E. Q and G. g and q. S and 5. 2 and Z. t and +. B and 8. I and [ or ]. On and on.
Because it’s hard to distinguish between D, O and Q. Or E and F. Or VV and W. Or nn and m. Etc…
It’s also super slow to check if it is a B or a P. People want to read entire novels.
So the Braille method replaced the existing raised letter system you describe.
You should know that there is not one braille. It’s like the alphabet, a set of symbols used in many different languages.
There have been many good points made! I also want to add, that there are a billion of font types and would make it harder to distinguish; compared to the same Braille “language”
I’m an architect, and usually have to get into signage and signage standard. Different institutions have different fonts for their branding. Currently for a school that I work for, they have two font types, plus the braille. But one of the font types has to be raised, the other doesn’t.
Most letters have the same structure to them (it would be really hard to tell the difference between D, C, F, H, I, E, B, P, R, K, L, M, N, and U, because all of them are written with a straight line). Braille reading takes years of training to get proficient in, imagine being blinded in an accident today and having to learn how to read letters on a raised surface tomorrow. You’d probably be fucked.
Why not just use Morse Code instead of Braille, then blind people could be radio amateurs as well!
Braille dots are much easier to distinguish because they have standard distances between the dots. There’s no thinking about “how does the shape bend?” when comparing q and g, or trying to feel for where the gap is when comparing a and e. The dot either is or is not there.
Because the dots are easier to feel differences between, braille can be made smaller and more compact.
Braille also doesn’t depend on fonts.
The “benefit” of raising letters is that it serves dual purpose for seeing and blind people, but different fonts can really mess with blind people.
Learning braille isn’t that hard. We teach the alphabet to 3 yr olds and they’re having to learn the language, reading, and phonetics at the same time.
An adult who can read already knows the alphabet and their language, so reading braille is just different symbols for the same alphabet in the same language. It’s not easy, but it’s also less difficult than you may be imagining.
If you’ve got an old-ish bank card, you can check for yourself – close your eyes and run your fingers over the numbers. Could you reliably reproduce those numbers?
CGODUQ… TEFPRB… ZXNWM… IHJL.. AV… too many letters are too similar… nevermind lowercase, or gods forbid the book is upside down