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braille

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braille


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Braille  \Braille\,  n. 
  A  system  of  printing  or  writing  for  the  blind  in  which  the 
  characters  are  represented  by  tangible  points  or  dots.  It  was 
  invented  by  Louis  Braille,  a  French  teacher  of  the  blind. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  Braille 
  n  :  a  point  system  of  writing  in  which  patterns  of  raised  dots 
  represent  letters  and  numerals  [syn:  {Braille}] 
  v  :  transcribe  in  Braille 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  braille 
 
    /breyl/  (Often  capitalised)  A  class  of 
  {writing  systems},  intended  for  use  by  blind  and  low-vision 
  users,  which  express  {glyphs}  as  raised  dots.  Currently 
  employed  braille  standards  use  eight  dots  per  cell,  where  a 
  cell  is  a  glyph-space  two  dots  across  by  four  dots  high;  most 
  glyphs  use  only  the  top  six  dots. 
 
  Braille  was  developed  by  Louis  Braille  (pronounced  /looy 
  bray/)  in  France  in  the  1820s.  Braille  systems  for  most 
  languages  can  be  fairly  trivially  converted  to  and  from  the 
  usual  script. 
 
  Braille  has  several  totally  coincidental  parallels  with 
  digital  computing:  it  is  {binary},  it  is  based  on  groups  of 
  eight  bits/dots  and  its  development  began  in  the  1820s,  at  the 
  same  time  {Charles  Babbage}  proposed  the  {Difference  Engine}. 
 
  Computers  output  Braille  on  {braille  displays}  and  {braille 
  printers}  for  hard  copy. 
 
  {British  Royal  National  Institute  for  the  Blind 
  (http://www.rnib.org.uk/wesupply/fctsheet/braille.htm)}. 
 
  (1998-10-19) 
 
 




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