[Nfbv-announce] How Do Blind People Read

[John Bailey]

How do blind people read books?
View the video at:

How Do Blind People Read Books? Part I

By Heather Rasmussen



This is a question I was asked frequently as a blind college student.  The National Federation of the Blind believes that reading, literacy, and access to the written word are major components of independence for the blind.  
As a blind reader today, you have a number of options where reading is concerned.  This is the first of two articles on this subject, and here I’ll discuss braille!  



BRAILLE is a method for those who can't read print with their eyes to read using their sense of touch. Braille is a system of raised dots (bumps) which can be read by the blind using their fingertips. 



Braille was originally developed by a blind Frenchman named Louis Braille in the early 1800s in France. The modern English Braille system is composed of groups called cells, six tactile dots arranged in two columns of three rows each.  Braille has cells representing letters, numbers, and also a kind of short hand called Compressed Braille  for reading and writing faster.  You can use the braille Nemeth Code for mathematics, and if you are musical, there’s braille music notation as well.

You can find many hard-copy books available in braille today, especially books for children.  Resources exclusively for kids’ books include Seedlings and the American Action Fund, among others.  

The National Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS for short) is a free lender of recorded and braille books and magazines for both blind adults and children in the US.

Many textbooks are available in braille as well.  If you're a student, you can work through your school system or university to obtain them.  A common supplier for elementary and secondary school textbooks is the American Printing house for the Blind (APH).  You can get braille copies of religious materials, such as the Bible or Quran, from specific organizations found through a simple web search.
While raised dots on a page are wonderful and very accessible, you’ll find that it has its limitations: braille books can be heavy, take up a lot of space, and are expensive to produce.  However, with today’s technology, braille is not limited to paper: you can also read some electronic books, further discussed in part II, on a refreshable Braille Display.  This is an electronic device that uses movable pins to represent Braille dots.  When you reach the end of the line shown, you simply advance it like a sighted person would advance their screen.  This allows you to access material not available in hard-copy braille, and can also make your reading life more portable and convenient. 
In summary, one way to read as a blind person is to use braille, and you can do this either as a hard-copy book or on a refreshable braille display.  There are other options for blind readers, but now you know one important way that blind people can read books!



The National Federation of the Blind of Virginia Communications Committee is composed of volunteers with the passion of sharing the message that those with vision impairments are just as capable as anyone else given the right training and attitude. Comments? Contact the committee by emailing:

NFBVCC at hotmail.com



John Bailey

Chair

703.994.2040