Braille script is a type of writing system for blind people. It consists of blocks of 6 raised (embossed) dots that are numbered and arranged in a systematic way.

The blind person touches the raised dots to recognize the letter or number that is represented.

The French inventor Louis Braille invented the Braille script to help him cope with his blindness after an accident while playing in his father’s shop.

Louis was sent to Paris to live and study at the National Institute for Blind Children and here he learned to read by tracing raised wooden letters in large books.

Charles Barbier de la Serre had developed this basic technique many years earlier.

When Louis was 15 years old he developed his own technique using cells of six dots and with spelling based on the normal system.

About thirty years after he developed it, it became popular around the world, and was accepted as the standard for helping the blind read books, clocks, wristwatches, thermometers, sheets of music, and even elevator buttons.

Obviously, since Louis was French, the original Braille script was based on the French alphabet, but was later adapted to many languages like English, Chinese, Korean, Bharathi, and Japanese.

When writing Braille, a slate and stylus are used so that dots are created on the back of the page so that it creates a mirror image on the right side.

Special Braille typewriters or instruments called the Perkins Brailler can also produce Braille.

With the increased use of computers, Braille can be produced using a computer with a Braille translation software.

Braille has been introduced onto Canadian banknotes so that those who are unable to see, can touch a note and know how much it is.

Other countries like Mexico, India and Israeli have also incorporated Braille into their currencies.

Thanks to the work of Louis Braille, many visually impaired children and adults who have access to Braille are able to learn at the same pace as those who are not.