Braille

Hard copy Braille is a bulky medium with the average paperback book taking up around six to seven heavy volumes. It has also been expensive to produce.

Braille printers, or embossers, are now available for the home or office user so hardcopy Braille is cheaper to produce.

Electronic Braille has transformed how Braille readers can access the printed word.

Electronic Braille devices come in many configurations. Typically, they have a line of pins that change to form Braille characters. Sizes of Braille lines vary from one to 80 characters. Some devices have built-in memory whereby electronic files can be copied onto the device for reading. Some displays connect to computers and smartphones and tablets and can act as both input and output for these devices.

The Braille display communicates with the smart device or computer via a screen reader. It is possible to therefore read in Braille anything that can be spoken on a computer or smart device.