A Braille typewriter?

Question

For school, I have to make a prototype of a Braille typewriter. I searched on Google images, but I can't exactly figure out what it looks like. My biggest question is the keys. In some pictures, there were a bunch, but in some there were like, ten, but there's 26 letters in the alphabet. can someone explain to me how a Braille typewriter looks? And how to use one?

Answer 1

Ok, for pictures, search for 'Perkins Braillewriter.'



Now, think of the typewriter. The Braillewriter looks veyr similar to a typewriter. However, in Braille, each letter is made up of one to six dots, in two columns of three. So, any letter can be made using only one to six keys, representing one to six dots.



So, now let's look at the keys on the Braillewriter. There are actually nine keys. The far left key moves the paper up (line break). The far right key is the backspace. The very middle key is the space bar. That leaves with two sets of three on each side of the space bar. Take the Braille cell's two columns, split them down the middle and spread them out like pants doing the splits.



So, normally, Going down the first column you'd have one, two, three; then on the second column, four five and six. But when you split it down the middle like a pair of legs doing a split, now the keys are, in order from left to right: three, two, one, (space bar), four, five, six.



To amke the first letter, A, you want dot 1 only. So you push down just the third key (the one just left of the space bar). For the next letter, B, you want dots 1 and 2, so press down keys 1 and 2 (2 is to the left of 1).



This takes abit of getting used to, but is easier as you practice. I definitely suggest borrowing a Braillwriter if you can, to try it out, or just to look at



I hope my description helped you figure out how it works, but you should take a look at one to really understand. Do a google search for Perkins Braillewriter, or Brailler for short.



An edit: Teddy and chilliswoman- Lots of blind people still use Braillwriters, especially students and teachers. They are *not* outdated, and are a great way to teach students quickly and easily how to write in Braille. I don't have one personally because I have an embosser and can't afford both embosser and Braillerwiter, but I know many people who have a Brailer and it gets used a lot.



Even though I have an embosser, I do borrow a Brailler from time to time. One thing I can do on a Braillewriter that simply isn't comfortable with embosser or slate and stylus is drawing. I love drawing images with an embosser as I can watch the image form, but doing it with the slate requires me to remember exactly what I've done and not miss anything. On the embosser, I can go back and forth as needed to adjust the picture without much problem at all, and there is far less counting of cells, which I hate. Doing drawings with the embosser is also a problem, as I have to determine the picture ahead of time then type in the characters that would make those symbols and contractions that I want in the image. Math is another type of work I'd much rather do on a Braillewriter than on a slate and stylus, embosser, or on the computer. Typing out on a Braillewrite allows me to look back at my work, look at more than one part of the equation at once, and still change things if I make a mistake.



People say Braille is outdated and so is the Braillewriter, but that is absolutely not true. Lots of people still use Braillers!

Answer 2

If you google for images for "Braille Typewriter" you will see many pictures of different models of machines.



To find out what the Braille code means (the system of dots) there are two websites I found for you. One is more for kids, but it is simple and easy to understand, and the other is a very comprehensive explanation on WIkipedia. The kids one includes a Braille translator, which is really cool.



Enjoy your research!

Answer 3

I'm not sure why you are doing this specific project, because people don't use Braille typewriters much anymore. (Just like we sighted people don't use them either.) But there are two basic ways to type Braille.



But to understand you really have to understand Braille. First there are three types of Braille, Grade 1, 2, and 3. Braille 1 is the simplest and is most like regular English. There is a Braille dot character for every letter of the alphabet and some symbols and punctuation. Braille 2 has multiple abbreviations for the most common words. Example: About is contracted to ab. But the ab in about looks different than the ab in Abby or in above (which is abv). There is a specific symbol to put before a capital letter. Grade 3 uses very few vowels and is mostly used for personal use. There are also multiple special characters for specific purposes such as math or music that are not commonly known by all.



Each character is made from 1-6 dots in two vertical rows of 3. An a is just one dot in a specific position.



1. Most people who use Braille use a regular keyboard. They can touch type just like anyone can touch type. They can buy special Braille keyboards or plastic overlays if they need them. After they are finished creating their document they translate it into Braille and instead of printing it - they emboss it.



2. Some people use an 9 key keyboard. This corresponds to the 6 dots positions in a Braille character and a space, backspace, and forward one line. These are called notetakers when they are a separate machine, but can also be just 6 keys on a typical keyboard. I don't know anyone who uses one of these - people I know who want to immediately Braille without an embosser use a simple stylus and a metal card with holes.

Answer 4

braille is a system of tactile reading and writing. each character or "cell" consists of 2 columns with 3 dots each, which are "embossed". they are numbered starting from the top as 1-3 in the first column and 4-6 down the second column. there are several dot combinations that create a letter, word, or symbol depending on the language. for example, if you wanted to make the word "every", the braille equivalent are dots 1,5 not all words are represented using only one cell, but there are many combinations or abbreviations that were created to save space on a braille page. braille cells are a lot bigger compared to print for the simple reason that a reader's finger has to identify the character. that help?

Answer 5

It looks just like a regular type writter expect it has braille on the keys. Look on google images. You will find a bunch on there.



http://www.google.com/imghp