PS: One more imortant thing I should add: Just like sign language, Braille is NOT
'universal'.
Yes, Braille is used all over the world, but which characters, accents, etc are assigned to which dot pattern may be very different from language to language.
My comments upthread re #contractedBraille apply to #UEB, aka Unified English Braille, now in use across (all?) English-speaking nations.
6 dots = 64 possible one-cell characters
34/34
Ideally, I wanted to transliterate my washer and dryer buttons into proper Braille.
I'm not fluent in #ContractedBraille so I wrote out what I thought was correct, then found some online Braille translators to double-check.
I love that 'speed' can be written in just four characters, as "spe[ed]". ❤️
22/x
For example, #ContractedBraille would let me use the character "p" as a stand-alone that means "people."
Or a special character that means the entire word "the", "and", or "for."
There are many, many others! 🙂
21/x
If you learn the Braille alphabet, you've essentially learned uncontracted Braille, aka 'grade 1 Braille.' This type of Braille takes up a LOT of space on a page.
#ContractedBraille has contractions, short forms, word signs and so forth to let more words be conveyed in this #monosized, #monospaced print environment.
This link leads to a handy summary chart (but doesn't reflect all the additional rules that may apply):
https://www.duxburysystems.com/braillechart.asp
20/x
The thing is, with Braille being monospaced and one-size (roughly equivalent to 26-point #Helvetica Condensed, with a fixed-width spacer between each character), it can take a LOT of 'real estate' for writing out even a short paragraph.
Braille books may be several volumes compared to their print-text editions.
Accordingly, Braille has a cool system of shortening things, known as #ContractedBraille.
https://www.brailleliteracycanada.ca/en/braille
19/x
Likely Jan Lukas