Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

11 results found in braille.

Braille Authority of North America (BANA)
The standards-setting body responsible for establishing braille codes and guidelines for the production of braille materials in the United States and Canada. BANA publishes guidelines for tactile grap…
Braille Cell (Braille Character, Six-Dot Cell)
The fundamental unit of the Braille writing system, consisting of a rectangular arrangement of up to six raised dots in a 3x2 matrix (three rows, two columns). Each dot position is numbered 1-6, with …
Braille Embosser (Braille Printer)
A specialized printer that produces braille text and tactile graphics by pressing raised dots into heavy paper or card stock. Braille embossers range from personal devices to high-volume production ma…
Braille Input (Braille Keyboard Input, Braille Screen Input)
A text entry method that allows users to type characters using Braille code on a device, rather than a standard QWERTY keyboard. On touchscreen devices, Braille input typically maps finger taps or ges…
Braille Music Notation (Braille Music, Braille Music Code)
A tactile system for representing musical notation using the six-dot braille cell, encoding pitch, duration, dynamics, and other musical information for blind and visually impaired musicians. Unlike s…
Embroidered Braille
Braille text produced using machine embroidery rather than traditional embossing methods. Embroidered braille uses raised stitch patterns (typically candlewick knots) to create the dots of braille cel…
Finger Braille (Tactile Finger Spelling)
A communication method used primarily by deaf-blind people, in which a sender taps or presses on the fingers of the receiver to represent Braille dot patterns, simulating typing on a Braille typewrite…
Monarch (Monarch Tactile Display, Dynamic Tactile Device)
The Monarch is a multi-line refreshable tactile display developed by HumanWare and the American Printing House for the Blind, representing a significant advancement in tactile display technology. Unli…
Music Braille (Braille Music, Braille Music Notation)
A tactile music notation system that uses combinations of braille dots to represent musical elements including pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo markings, and other performance instructions. Music brai…
Nemeth Braille Code (Nemeth Code, Nemeth Mathematics Braille)
A system of Braille encoding developed by Abraham Nemeth in 1946 for representing mathematical and scientific notation, widely used in the United States and some other English-speaking countries. The …
Opticon (Optical-to-Tactile Converter)
An early assistive technology device developed by Dr. James Bliss in the 1960s that converts printed text into a tactile vibrating pattern that can be read with the fingertip. The Opticon uses a small…