Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
RNIB - Supporting blind and partially sighted people
Hello, one of the most important ways of reading and writing for somebody who has
severe sight loss is braille
It's been with us for a long time and you know people keep saying it's old-fashioned
you don't need it any more
well I'm here to tell you that's not true
braille is as important in the 21st century as it was in the 19th century
when Louis Braille invented it
it's always been quite difficult
to learn to read
and write for some people
especially people losing their sight in later life
so RNIB has been working very hard with new publications a new products to
extend the use
of braille throughout the country
and one of the best things that we've come up with is a tiny little pocket
writing braille frame called the Braille King
now with this device
anybody can very quickly learn how to make short notes
in braille
because braille isn't just about reading great long books like war and peace it's
about how you write down a phone number or make a shopping list and the
Braille King is ideal for that
but those of you who know about braille will know that there have been braille
frames like this for many years
but they've all been ones where you have to prick out the dots
with a little kind of needle device
pointing downwards, now without getting too technical about it that means you
have to write from right to left
and do everything backwards
and that's really not making it as easy as you might do
to help somebody learn to read and write braille
the great thing about the Braille King
is that you can use it and write braille
from left to right the right way around
and it's very, very simple
I've got it in front of me and it comes with its own little stylus
and a little pack of paper
so I am going to tear off one piece of paper
and just drop it into
the two halves of the Braille King
and close it up and then I'm ready to write down
whatever I want to in braille just by pricking out the dots and once I have learnt the
shape of the character I just have to copy it
so it's very simple
very easy very neat and you can keep it in your pocket
because for people who don't know
an ordinary braille typewriter costs about five hundred pounds
so this at about ten pounds is a massively
much cheaper alternative for writing
simple bits of braille and short notes. The Braille King can be used not just by blind
people but also by sighted people who want to communicate with their blind friends
and to demonstrate that, next to me i've
a representative sighted person and actually he is a very special sighted person
because this frame is called the Braille King for a purpose because it
was invented
and designed by my friend, a great friend and colleague Alan King
now Alan can you show us then how as a sighted person you could use this
to make a simple note to me
without you even having to learn braille beforehand. I can
as I say luckily the design of the Braille King has
text on the back of the holder
and so what i can do in order to write my message
is to take the frame off
the packaging
and then I can get then my piece of paper tear that out
turning the braille instructions towards me
I can then see what braille
is and how that corresponds to the text so that I can create my braille
message correctly by using this instruction. So you're just copying it.
I am yes. So if I just place the paper inside the frame and I can use these to create my message
and note and I will do that for john as I know he does read Braille I can
then think what I am going to say for example and then use this instruction on
the back to create my message so I know that everything that I write
from the alphabet there, I can create in braille
so if I just write
John's name for example so i'll do a j
o..
h
and then an n, and you're just straightforwardly copying that from the alphabet
I am yes, so you don't need to have of learn anything at all, no
and I'll know that each
braille character that I've written hopefully will be correct assuming
I've read it right so if I just take that out
of the frame and then give that to John
absolutely that's john, thank you
and I can do that for all sorts of messages and
phone numbers and notes and anything like that
so any sighted person who has a blind braille reading friend
really you've got a tremendous opportunity now
there's no barriers no problems no technical difficulties and no expense
because this frame costs about ten pounds
so it's going to be really easy now for all of you to
write a Christmas card for example, to a blind friend
so instead of getting a blank square card from you
with no idea who sent it
you could actually put your own personal message on and that would make such a
difference to people
so help us to spread the word
around the country
that braille is alive and thriving in the 21st century and has
a lot of everyday practical uses for far more people than currently benefit
from it
So go to our online shop
and look at the RNIB
Braille King
designed by
mister king
and our phone number
RNIB helpline is 0303 123 9999
or ordering it on our online shop
at www.rnib.org.uk/shop
RNIB
Supporting blind and partially sighted people