Vision

Vision-Related Services | Braille

For additional information on assistive technology and/or products that deal with Braille, such as braille music and text-to-braille translation software, visit V.I. Guide's Assistive Technology and Assistive Products pages.

Braille Jewelry, by C. Roule

C. Roule designs jewelry, such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc., with braille designs on it. Mr. Roule is said to have gotten in this business to help educate people about blindness. His designs utilize grade I braille to make it easier for sighted individuals to look up and translate the braille letters on the jewelry. His web site shows one of the items and he plans on having a print catalog available soon.

Braille Music List

This page describes how to subscribe to the BrailleM e-mail mailing list (a mailing list about braille music), and also contains a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and their answers.

More resources about braille music

This information is based on a dialog on the AERNET mailing list in March, 1998. Good books about teaching braille music include: "How to Read Braille Music" by Bettye Krolick (available from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) and "They Shall Have Music" by Dorothy Dykema (available from the author at 604 North Allyn, Carbondale IL 62901 or from the National Braille Association). For braille music code books, there are books from the American Printing House for the Blind, such as "Primer of Braille Music." To get music in braille for students, you can try National Library Service again or contact a music braille transcriber (National Braille Association can direct you to one), or you can try Music Education Network for the Visually Impaired located at 8711 Sunland Blvd., Sun Valley CA 91352 (telephone 818-768-6242).

Braille Remote Learning (BRL)

Through this site, visitors can register to take an on-line course on braille. Not only is the cost free, but stipends may be available to you to cover costs associated with your Internet connection while you take the course. The course is paced fairly rapidly, but the webmaster and other "students" provide a lot of support.

Downloadable Braille Materials

Materials such as a periodic table, books, and graph paper are available for download from this page of the Texas School for the Blind's site. These materials have already been translated into braille and hence just need to be "printed" in braille using a braille embosser.

Goosebumps Braille Books

The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults is sponsoring a program that makes Goosebumps books available each month, free of charge, to blind youngsters, teachers of the blind, schools, and libraries serving the blind. Click on the link above to display a page that contains the ordering information. Print that page, fill it out, and mail it to begin receiving the books.

Hot Braille

This site is a wonderful resource for friends and family members of a braille reader. At their site, you can type in a letter of up to 4 pages (roughly 500 words or 1.5 print pages) along with a mailing address and Hot Braille will transcribe it into braille and mail it as free matter to your intended recipient. Hot Braille even processes letters in 19 different languages, translates them into localized Braille and then sends them to different countries.

International Braille Research Center (IPRC)

This non-profit organization aims to encourage and promote the teaching and use of Braille. Their site's Resource Library offers many articles of their own as well as those from the Journal of Vision Impairment and Blindness magazine regarding learning and teaching Braille.

Math: Computerized, Spoken and Braille

This page, from the EASI site, contains several links to articles on reading and teaching math, as well as sources for assistive technology and products, to facilitate teaching math to visually impaired students.

Resources for learning and teaching braille music

This page, from the Dancing Dots home page (makers of the GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator product), lists some sources for instructional materials on the braille music code and/or braille scores.

Tack-Tiles

This web site centers around a product called "Tack-Tiles", a braille learning aide invented by the father of a 14-yr. old blind son and fashioned after Lego's. This site offers the history of Tack-Tiles, information on this product and its successors (versions in Nemeth braille code, musical notation (i.e. braille music), French and Spanish braille, etc.), as well as ordering information.

Teaching Math to Visually Impaired Students

This site, part of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired's web site, covers teaching math, producing math materials, in Nemeth code, producing tactile math graphs, sources for talking and large print calculators, and more.

World Braille Usage

This book lists the braille codes used in various languages. It is available free of charge and can be requested by sending an e-mail message to the Library of Congress, providing your mailing address.

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