Moon is a system of raised shapes, which can help blind people, of any age, to read by touch. It was devised by a blind English man, named Dr William Moon.
The characters are made up of raised lines and curves, similar to the print alphabet, to create a set of basic shapes. These shapes are rotated or reflected to create the 26 letters of the alphabet and additional dots are used for punctuation marks and the numeral sign.
An alternative to braille
When Dr Moon invented his system in 1845, braille - though invented 16 years before - had not reached the UK from France.
Easier to learn?
As the characters are fairly large and over half the letters bear a strong resemblance to the print equivalent, Moon has been found particularly suitable for those who lose their sight later in life, or for people who may have a less keen sense of touch.
Some children with additional physical and/or learning difficulties can acquire some literacy skills through learning Moon.
Why isn't the print alphabet raised?
People often wonder why the standard print alphabet is not raised for use by touch.
This was tried, however because of the complexity of printed letters, it was found that the raised letters had to be made very large to be felt properly. This meant slow reading speeds and with very bulky books, resulted in frustrated readers.
Other people tried different adaptations of printed letters before Dr Moon devised his system.
Moon materials and products
The Moon alphabet card shows the embossed Moon alphabet and punctuation marks, together with the print translation. You can order one free copy of the card from our online shop or by calling 0303 123 9999. If you want multiple copies of the card there will be a small charge.
Visit our online shop for
Moon products.
Moon literacy website
The Moon literacy website is an invaluable source of information for anyone with an interest in teaching, learning, producing or finding out about Moon.
The Moon Forum (Clearvision Project, Linden Lodge School, PIA, RNIB and University of Birmingham) manage the literacy website.