What are Braille and Moon and how can they help?

Braille and Moon are writing systems formed of raised areas that are read by touch.

Braille is made up of six raised dots and is far more commonly used than Moon which is a simplified version of the alphabet.

Braille may be used as a direct representation of English characters, called Grade 1 braille, or it may be used as a short form called Grade 2 braille.

Grade 2 braille is used by more experienced readers because it is quicker to read and reduces the size of braille books which are generally much larger than print books.

There are specialised versions of braille used for subjects such as maths or music. 

For someone unable to see text well enough to read it, braille can be used to label objects and give access to books. Objects designed especially for blind and deafblind people may already be labelled in braille.

Our Computing section has information on using braille to access computers.

What should I look for in Braille and Moon products?

Not everyone reads Grade 2 braille and braille is far more widely used than Moon. If you are buying braille products for an unknown audience you should get Grade 1 braille because it will be understood by more people. 

Grade 2 braille is normally used to shorten books and large documents so Grade 1 should be used unless that would make the document unwieldy.

Possible stockists

Please note: The following list is not exhaustive. Sense is not responsible for the content of external sites nor do we endorse the products mentioned.

Emptech
Force Ten
RNIB
Sight and Sound