Whilst there are many benefits and uses of braille, there are many blind and partially sighted people who do not - and some who cannot - learn braille.
Some reasons for this may be:
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Some people's fingers are not sensitive enough to feel the relatively small braille dots
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Braille may be too difficult for some people to learn (or may be perceived as too difficult)
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Some people feel there is a stigma attached to braille, that it makes them "look like a blind person"
Who needs an alternative tactile code to braille?
There are two particular groups who are traditionally less likely to learn braille:
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People who lose their sight later in life: being older, this group may have lost the sense of touch in their fingertips, may feel they are unable to learn braille and may want something more familiar, or similar to the print alphabet
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Blind or partially sighted children with additional disabilities: this group may have poor motor skills, making it difficult for them to focus on small braille dots, they may also have limited cognitive capacity for learning braille
What are the tactile alternatives to braille?
The most widely used alternative tactile code to braille is the Moon code, which is a raised alphabet based on print letters.
Another tactile alphabet is Fishburne - a code designed mainly for labelling.
In the past, there has been some use of raised print (embossed versions of print characters). Whilst this seems a good idea in terms of familiarity for former print readers, print letters were not designed to be felt, and therefore have to be produced in a very large size to be easily discriminated.
Other symbols can be used as tactile labels to increase independence.
Related research reports
For a review of research into alternative tactile reading codes, and discussion of areas which need further research (published April 2008), see:
For findings on tactile codes used around the world, and discussion around whether an alternative to braille is needed (published April 2009), see: