page_title: Braille
section_title: Uses
hierarchical_section_title: Braille / Uses
caption_attribution_description: English: relief map of Hannover main station Deutsch: "Bahnhofsplan für Blinde", Reliefkarte Hannover Hbf; der Ausschnitt zeigt die Eingangshalle
context_page_description: Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired. It is traditionally written with embossed paper. Braille users can read computer screens and other electronic supports using refreshable braille displays. They can write braille with the original slate and stylus or type it on a braille writer, such as a portable braille notetaker or computer that prints with a braille embosser.
  Braille is named after its creator, Louis Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight as a result of a childhood accident. In 1824, at the age of fifteen, he developed a code for the French alphabet as an improvement on night writing. He published his system, which subsequently included musical notation, in 1829. The second revision, published in 1837, was the first small binary form of writing developed in the modern era.
  These characters have rectangular blocks called cells that have tiny bumps called raised dots. The number and arrangement of these dots distinguish one character from another.
context_section_description: The current series of Canadian banknotes has a tactile feature consisting of raised dots that indicate the denomination, allowing bills to be easily identified by blind or low vision people. It does not use standard braille; rather, the feature uses a system developed in consultation with blind and low vision Canadians after research indicated that braille was not sufficiently robust and that not all potential users read braille. Mexican bank notes, Australian bank notes, Indian rupee notes, Israeli new shekel notes and Russian ruble notes also have special raised symbols to make them identifiable by persons who are blind or low vision.
  In India there are instances where the parliament acts have been published in braille, such as The Right to Information Act.
  In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires various building signage to be in braille.
  In the United Kingdom, it is required that medicines have the name of the medicine in Braille on the labeling.
  Australia also recently introduced the tactile feature onto their five-dollar banknote
  U.K. September 2017 – On the front of the £10 polymer note (the side with raised print), there are two clusters of raised dots in the top left hand corner. This tactile feature helps blind and partially sighted people identify the value of the note.
caption: An embossed map of a German train station, with braille text
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