Computerbraille (256 Braille characters)

• With the introduction of computers, it became necessary to modify the number of Braille characters so that each computer character corresponded to exactly one single Braille character. With the increase to 8 Braille dots, a total of 2to the power of 8 = 256 different characters became possible, just as with a computer's 8-bit code.
• In this 8-dot Braille system, known as Computer Braille, two additional dots have been added below the standard six dots. These eight dots are numbered according to the following scheme:

  	Line 1   Dot  [1] and [4]
  	Line 2   Dot  [2] and [5]
  	Line 3   Dot  [3] and [6]
  	Line 4   Dot  [7] and [8]

• Braille is not read on a monitor but rather on a Braille display which dynamically displays characters using small pins. Braille displays come in a wide variety of sizes and models. The cursor position is indicated by a full character flashing.
  
  
  A special program (screen reader) reads the screen and displays the content line by line. Consequently, the blind computer user does not 'see' the entire screen but must read the screen content line by line using their fingers. A mouse is not required; instead, the blind user must master a wide range of keyboard shortcuts.
  Highly efficient work is possible in combination with a standard keyboard.
  
  A Braille display is very expensive. An alternative would be audio output.
  
  
• Text can be entered either via an 8-key Braille keyboard (computer keyboard for Braille) or a standard computer keyboard, where blind users can identify the finger positions by the two marked keys F and J. Input via the Braille keys of the Braille keyboard is faster and more accurate.
  Learn to use the 6-dot Braille keyboard
  
  
  
  
  computer Braille keyboard simulator (8-dot Braille)
• To make computer work easier for the blind, various attempts have been made in recent years to combine the computer mouse with a Braille output. In addition to text output, certain graphical elements (such as lines and shapes) can also be perceived by touch, making the Braille mouse suitable for use with graphical interfaces (Windows, games).
  
  
  
  Tactile Explorer 2010 from Israel

  
  swissinfo.ch
  2008 - 2011
  
  
  
  The attempt to establish a touch-sensitive surface display named HyperBraille on the market does not appear to have been successful in the end. The original website is no longer online.
  
  
  
  A similar device, the DotPad, is, however, still on the market.
  

Unicode

• Like other alphabets, the Braille alphabet was incorporated into the extensive international Unicode character set, ensuring that texts can be represented unambiguously worldwide.
• On the web pages, the characters are specified in the format  &#x28..; , where the last two dots are to be replaced by the hexadecimal code of the Braille character. See also:

interactive Unicode Braille overview

or Text version of the Unicode Braille table

• These Unicode characters are visible only if a suitable Unicode font is installed on your computer system. If such a font is not available, the browser displays the character using a substitute symbol.
  
  Since the display of Braille characters in Unicode is purely visual (relying on an installed font), these characters are intended only for sighted. Consequently, the use of Unicode for Braille characters is extremely rare, and installing a corresponding font is generally unnecessary.
  [ Unicode test: ⠞⠑⠎⠞ ]
  Here you can encode your own text into Unicode Braille

Eurobraille

• The term Eurobraille now refers to the assignment of the 256 characters of a Western European character set to the 256 possible 8-dot Braille characters used in computer Braille.

  This allows, for example, all 256 characters of the ANSI character set to be displayed. Each character, whether uppercase or lowercase letter, number or graphic symbol etc., is assigned exactly one 8-dot Braille character. Outside of Europe, other definitions of computer braille exist.

• Strictly speaking, there are several character sets that were defined as Eurobraille in 1986 for various Western European languages. The character set most widely used today is arguably ISO 8859-1, which largely corresponds to the Western European ANSI character set used by Windows. An important principle of Eurobraille is to always represent standard print characters that appear in several of these character sets using the same Braille character. See also www.braille.ch/eb-allg.htm
  
  
  TTF Font:
  
  
  In Germany, the precise mappings of 8-dot Braille to the 8-bit code are defined in the
  standard 32982 (DIN = German Industrial Standard)
  
  
• Adapting to various languages and character sets necessitated certain changes compared to 6-dot Braille. Due to these differences in dot patterns between 8-dot Braille characters (Eurobraille) and 6-dot Braille characters (standard literary Braille), the familiar contractions used in contracted Braille (English Braille) are not available during routine PC work.
  The Braille characters assigned to the phonetic symbols in contraction Braille were, among other things, assigned to the numerals:
  Uppercase letters are formed by adding dot 7. The complete dot allocation is shown in the table at the bottom of the page.
• The character set of computer braille does not need to be fully mastered by the blind user. The main things that need to be learned are the capital letters and numbers (as above) and the most important symbols that may be required for working with a computer.
  In the field of computer braille, approximately 30 characters, in addition to the capital letters, need to be learned anew.
  Look also www.braille.ch/eb-erl-g.htm
  

  How can Braille be translated electronically?

  any texts convert in Braille code or Braille code in text, decipher Braille from numbers
  (Braille converter / also 8-dot)

  127 1235 1 24 123 123 15 36 147 135 145 15 0 12568 12 15 1235 234 15 2345 1356 15 1345  

  das verkürzte Computerbraille-Alphabet oder die vollständige Computerbraille-Tabelle zum Drucken
  die Textversion der Computerbraille-Tabelle mit Punktebelegung, Braille-Identifikator (BI) und Unicode

  

  
  die interaktive Übersicht über alle 256 Computerbraille-Zeichen

  
  
  
  
  Why not try writing in 8-dot Braille yourself...
  
  
  Use the computer Braille simulator or the computer Braille writer with text output (also suitable for screen readers) for practice
  
  Learning the 6-point Braille keyboard

usage

• Since characters involving dot 7 or 8 do not fit entirely on the fingertip, they are harder to read. Furthermore, with some characters, there is a risk of confusion when the upper or lower dots appear in isolation. For this reason, in 2001, the German Braille Committee unequivocally opted for the 6-dot Braille alphabet — rather than the 8-dot computer Braille system — for use in education and books.
  
• When texts in contractions are processed by computer, the transfer and display of the characters also takes place in Eurobraille, using only the 64 existing 6-dot characters of Eurobraille. These texts can only be meaningfully read via a Braille display if the contractions can be derived from the dot representation. Reading such literary Braille texts visually on a screen or aurally via a screen reader is virtually impossible without converting them into standard text.
• Text in Braille contractions cannot be entered using a standard keyboard; it must be entered via Braille keys. Alternatively, text can be converted into Eurobraille-compliant contractions using software. When encoding, it is important to use the Eurobraille code table so that, for instance, the Braille display can correctly render the text. (for example, deviation regarding Switzerland)