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The history of braille
Learn more about the different types of methods of reading and writing for people who are blind over the last few centuries, and explore the resources at the end of this guide!
Before there was braille…
Over the last few centuries, people have experimented with a number of methods of reading and writing for people who are blind. These have included embossed text, braille, and other approaches using symbols and shapes. Learn more about the different types, and explore the resources at the end of this guide!
- Embossed type
- Early braille
- Other approaches (including English Braille, American Braille, New York Point, and more)
- Resources
The kindergarteners in the photograph above are learning how to read and write braille with embossed books, slates, and braillers at Perkins in 1930. The student sitting at the head of the table on the right is reading an embossed book, while the student sitting next to him along the side of the table types on a smaller typewriting brailler. To his left, a student is using a smaller brailler. The next student is using a stylus on a tablet and the student at the end of the table is working with a word board.
Embossed type
First developed in Paris in 1786, embossed type is made by pressing the paper down onto blocks with raised letters. This leaves a shape that can be read by the fingers. The letters are shaped the same way as print letters. The presses used the same techniques as print letterpress machines – just with no ink.
The first books, made at the Paris School for the Blind, used a style of text with a number of decorative swirls. These could be hard to read with the fingers, so over the next decades, people experimented with different styles of text. We’d call these fonts today.
- Gall Type began in 1826 in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, as well as London, England. It had a triangular shape based on roman letters, and was the type first used for raised type books in English.
- Alston Type was a roman letter type also used in Edinburgh in the 1830s.
- Boston Line Type was developed in 1835 by Samuel Gridley Howe (the first director of Perkins) and Stephen P. Ruggles (a printer and crafter who also made the Perkins Globe). Boston Line Type was designed to be easier to read with the fingers using distinct shapes for each letter and more consistent spacing.
- Philadelphia Type developed in the 1830s. It used all capital letters and was designed by Julius Reinhold Friedländer at the Philadelphia School for the Blind.
- Kneass Type (sometimes called a later Philadelphia type or Combined type) combined lower case letters from Boston Line Type with capitals from Philadelphia Type. Developed around 1868, it was used for the first magazine for the blind in the United States.
Some types used symbols or shapes rather than letters:
- Moon Type was first published by William Moon in 1845. It uses symbols and shapes based on the roman alphabet. It is read boustrophedonically, like plowing a field, where you work left to right on the first line, then right to left on the next. This makes it easier for the reader’s fingers to keep track of the text on the page. Moon Type continued to be used through the 20th century, especially for people who became blind as adults.
- James Frere’s Phonetic-boustrophedon Writing has a similar approach, developed by Frere c. 1837. It was based on Garney’s shorthand.
- Decapoint or raphigraphy was designed by Louis Braille (published in 1839) to create a method both blind and sighted people could read. Ten dots in height, varying widths.
- Square hand was a form of writing by the blind using a pencil, tactile guides on a board, and a style of writing that involves keeping the pencil on the page from letter to letter.
Benefits and challenges
Embossed type systems had both benefits and challenges. That’s part of why they continued to be used widely into the early 20th century.
One big benefit was that most embossed type was similar to print type because of the common use of roman alphabets. That meant that family members, sighted teachers, and others could use the same embossed text books as someone who was blind, including for teaching, reading aloud, or as a shared activity.
However, embossed writing had a lot of challenges:
- Books were expensive to print.
- The letters were hard for many people to read, especially as books were used and the embossing wore down.
- Because of the cost of printing, only a small number of new titles were added in any given year, and readers had very limited choice.
Most importantly, embossed type wasn’t something that people could create for themselves. This meant that people who were blind couldn’t write notes (to themselves or others), make labels, or share things informally.
Early braille
Louis Braille began to develop his tactile writing code in 1824. Recent research has given more details about how Braille’s work explored and expanded on ideas initially proposed by Charles Barbier. Barbier was a former French army officer who had become interested in improving literacy for a wide range of people. The various systems and approaches he explored included a method for reading and writing for the blind, as well as a method that did not require a pen, simplified writing systems, and other adaptations for a variety of situations and needs.
Barbier was in communication with the Paris School for the Blind (Institution Royale des Jeunes Aveugles), and did a brief presentation there in 1821. By that time, his method was already used at the school, although most printed materials were in embossed type. However, Barbier’s systems and methods looked and worked differently than Louis Braille’s system. Barbier’s twelve dot grids did not fit under a fingertip, and the layout system he used could be confusing. Barbier had also not tested it with people who were blind.
Louis Braille was 12 years old in 1821, and over the next years, he began to develop his own system. In 1829, he published “Method of Writing Words, Music, and Plainsong by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged for Them” (in French, “Procédé pour écrire les Paroles, la Musique et le Plain-chant au moyen de points”). A music code followed in 1829 and a math code in 1838.
Barbier and Braille did eventually meet in person, but not until 1833. They kept up a cordial correspondence after that point until Barbier’s death in 1841. Barbier continued experimenting with different systems of writing until that point, while Braille refined his system.
Why braille?
Braille has some significant advantages over embossed type.
- People can write braille for themselves (with an inexpensive slate and stylus, or later with a brailler). That means they can write notes to themselves or others, or even braille longer texts.
- Braille takes up less space on the page than embossed type. With later formats called interpoint, braille could be on both sides of the page, allowing for physically smaller and more portable books.
- Many people find braille faster and less confusing to read by touch than embossed type.
- Later forms of braille allow for contractions, saving even more space.
Many approaches
Initially, schools for the blind were slow to include braille. Many had invested in embossed type printing and the sighted teachers couldn’t read braille. This began to change around the 1880s in the United States, particularly due to the advocacy of students and blind teachers.
By this point, people interested in braille had developed a number of different systems. Between the 1880s and 1919, Helen Keller and others of her generation needed to know five or six systems to access all the different books published in the United States in varying forms of raised type.
British or English Braille
British or English Braille is the form that was selected as the standard in 1919. From 1916, it had three different forms. Cells are two columns of three rows each, like modern braille.
- Grade 1 (now called uncontracted): Each letter or numeral is represented by an individual cell, everything is spelled out.
- Grade 1 ½ : 44 contractions were used for common letter combinations and a few words. This is no longer used.
- Grade 2 (now called contracted): This used about 200 contractions for common words, parts of words. These include examples like and, the, ing, er, ed, and more. Additional contractions have been added over the years.
American Braille
American Braille was developed in 1878 by a Perkins teacher who was blind named Joel W. Smith. From 1878 to 1900 it was known as Modified Braille and after 1900 as American Braille. Cells are two columns of three rows each, like modern braille.
American Braille was designed so that the letters used most frequently were represented with the fewest dots, making it much faster to write by stylus. It was used in 19 schools in the United States, but did not catch on widely.
New York Point
New York Point was developed at the New York Institute for the Education for the Blind. There’s a little uncertainty about who was responsible for the system, but credit is generally given to William Bell Wait. New York Point was developed beginning in 1868, and it was in widespread use by 1900.
Unlike British or American Braille, the size of the cells varied between letters. There were two rows of dots, two to four columns wide. Like American Braille, the most commonly used letters have the fewest dots.
New York Point took up less vertical space on the page because there were two rows instead of three. However, the system of capital letters was cumbersome, four dots wide, and often not used. The hyphen and apostrophe were also difficult to read. Helen Keller noted this made reading New York Point particularly challenging for children.
Music
Louis Braille was a musician himself, both as a cellist and organist. The original braille code was also used for music. It was introduced in England in 1871, with an international commission settling on the “Cologne key” for music notation in 1888.
Nemeth Code
Abraham Nemeth, a professor of mathematics who was blind, developed a braille system for reading and writing mathematics. Originally shared in 1952, it had a series of later revisions. While it’s not the only method used to write mathematics, it has become widely used.
Unified English Braille
In 2015, Unified English Braille (UEB) became the standard for all English language braille. Until that point, each country had slightly different versions. UEB made changes to improve clarity in different kinds of documents, including making it easier to share web and email addresses.
The War of the Dots
Between the 1880s and 1919, there were many arguments about which form of braille should be the standard. These arguments came to be known as “The War of the Dots”. While people agreed that the multiple systems were confusing and limiting (especially since many books were only printed in one system), they couldn’t agree on which system should be used.
In the end, the United Kingdom standardized on English Braille in 1916, and the United States in 1919, though there were minor differences between the two countries.
- These two systems standardized to French letter order, which gave better international accessibility.
- English Braille was chosen due to superior punctuation, speed of reading, and the large amount of material available compared to American Braille.
- Other languages also made changes, and many have adaptations to contractions depending on the language used. For example, German braille has a contraction for the letters “sch,” a common combination in German.
- Books and materials in other tactile formats (especially Moon Type) continued in use into the 20th century.
Resources
Embossed type systems
- First Raised Letters: Early Efforts in Embossed Line Type video (4:25). Mike Hudson from the American Printing House for the Blind describes early types and their uses.
- Examples of Gall, Alston, Lucas, & Moon Type from The New York Institute for Special Education.
- Lucas Type video (2:03) from American Printing House for the Blind. Mike Hudson describes Lucas Type and its use.
- American Braille and Boston Line Type video (12:52) from Charlie’s Desk. A comparison of these two systems, with the visual and tactile aspects of the systems described as part of the narration.
- An example of Kneass’s Philadelphia Magazine for the Blind in Combined Letter or Kneass Type from the American Printing House for the Blind.
The development of braille
- Charles Barbier: A hidden story by Philippa Campsie in Disability Studies Quarterly, Spring 2021. This article talks about Barbier’s work, the development of braille, and the interactions between Barbier and Louis Braille.
- First Publication of the Braille Code video (2:16) from the American Printing House for the Blind. Mike Hudson explains the importance of the publication of Braille’s book in 1829.
- “The War of the Dots”, chapter from “As I Saw It” by Robert Irwin (1955). This chapter focuses on the many debates involved in standardizing on a single braille system. The top of the article links to additional formats for the text. It includes a detailed discussion of the various proponents, a letter from Helen Keller outlining her issues with New York Point, and many more details.
- Adapting the Braille Code to Music by C. Michael Mellor from Future Reflections in a special issue “A Celebration of Braille”
- Early Braille Music Codes by Bettye Krolick (1978), shared by the NLS Music Notes blog
- Braille music from RNIB shares details of braille music, along with a short podcast series discussing various aspects of music and braille.
- The History of the Nemeth Code: An interview with Dr. Abraham Nemeth from Future Reflections in a special issue “A Celebration of Braille.” An interview with Dr. Nemeth in 1991.
Braillers and devices
- Braille Slates: Interlining Frame, 1902 – 1914, British and Foreign Blind Association, Jumbo Stylus video (11:30) from Charlie’s Desk, describing a slate and its use.
- The Hall Braille Writer video (21:33) and First Braille Machine, Second Edition: The Hall Braille Writer, Lovely Example, Updated Features video (6:39) from Charlie’s Desk, describing the Hall Braille Writer, an early model.
- Death of a Braille Writer, the Brailler is Born: Why David Abraham’s Perkins Brailler was innovative video (15:07) from Charlie’s Desk, exploring the development and history of the Perkins Brailler. The visuals are described as part of the video narration.
- The Possum Moon Writer video (10:24) from Charlie’s Desk, looking at a linear embosser for Moon Type developed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind. The video describes the item in detail.
Resources from the Perkins Archives
- Photographs of braille writers and other writing apparatus in the Perkins Archives on Flickr.com. Our collection includes braille slates, writing boards, embossed books, moon writers, braille cubes, and even nineteenth-century 3-D pens. Devices range from the 1830s to the 1980s.
- Writing devices for people who are blind in the Perkins Archives on Flickr.com. This collection features includes a braille typewriter, a pin-type board with pin-type pieces, and several writing guides. The devices are from circa 1880 to 1921.
- First embossed book for blind on Flickr.com. Printed in 1786, “Essai Sur L’Education des Aveugles,” by Valentin Haüy is the first embossed book printed for use by the blind.
- Procedure for Writing Words, Music, and Plainsong in Dots, 1829 on Flickr.com. This album features sample images of the copy of Louis Braille’s book proprosing braille that is held in the Perkins Archives. For a detailed description of the book and full transcription, please visit the Natioanl Federation of the Blind.
- History of France, 1837 on Flickr.com. Following the publication of Louis Braille’s “Procedure for Writing Words, Music, and Plainsong in Dots,” 1829, the “History of France,” 1837 is the first book printed entirely in braille. This is a few sample images of the copy held in the Perkins Archives.
- Opinions of Blind Teachers and Pupils in Regards to the Braille System, 1866. Pamphlet containing testimonials about the benefits of braille dedicated “To the Trustees, Principals and Teachers of Blind Asylums, and to the Friends of the Blind Generally.” The pamphlet was printed in St. Louis, Missouri home of the Missouri School for the Blind, the first institution in the United States to adopt braille, including the establishment of the first braille printing press.
Suggested citation:
Arnott, Jennifer. “The history of braille.” Perkins Archives Blog, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown MA, February 3, 2025.
