Scary Worlds

I've always been a Braillist since I was a little kid when #accessibility and #technology were not as advanced as now.

I used to write and read on paper, and this has helped me to acquire the ability orienting in flat, bi-dimensional spaces. Yes, like a touch screen.

Now it's strange to say it as when the situation requires it, I try to get the best from circumstances, without a hardware #Braille display: having a huge, fragile and very expensive device in my hands every time I have to take a note, could make smartphone and tablet less portable than they currently are.

In fact I mostly use my iPhone and iPad with their touch screen and voice feedback only: since 2015, iPhone and iPad's operating system has implemented a function called BSI (Braille Screen Input) which uses these devices' multi-touch functionality, to reproduce Braille dots to type letters and numbers.

How Braille Screen Input works

Just using iPhone/iPad's assistive technology called VoiceOver, you can actually learn to type with “standard” keyboard. But, even on a large iPad, it's quite difficult to learn typing as fast as you do on a computer, or as sighted folks do; despite being trained, without sight it's difficult to be precise when relying just on a flat, smooth surface which talks when touched.

So, Apple has invented this method. Are we able to accomplish gestures with more than one finger, on the screen, even with 3 or 4 fingers, even with 2 hands simultaneously? Yes. We do...

So, they implemented a feature where the screen becomes a sort of interactive Braille platform: every finger touching anywhere on the flat surface, produces a Braille dot; and you can use 5 fingers at once – at least 3 per hand on iPhone, 4 per hand on iPad if you set the 8 dots Braille.

Explaining the concept of 6 or 8 dots Braille would be long, and not appropriate here. But I can admit it easily, if I did not know Braille, I could never have been able to write as I do now.

It's been a long time dream: having a small device in my pocket, extract it and write whatever I can, without being forced to use my voice! And now the dream came true.

When is a hardware needed?

If Braille's knowledge is essential, not in any situation Braille physical devices are essential; I do not give too technical details on Braille-related software and hardware, but I just explain:

Braille hardware gives you the physical view of what's written and it's essential if you have to code; I can't properly code myself but I know some basic PHP functions and HTML and without physical dots under your fingers, the risk of typos is very, very high and when you work with code, a typo can be fatal.

Anyways, Braille hardware becomes essential for my passion, besides work: anagrams.

I play with words in my native language (Italian) as I'm not that confident with English. I can write of course, but your native language makes the difference.

There's a page where a group of people from all over Italy have fun with anagrams, building a sentence from another (or even a name).

This requires much concentration and having confidence both with the language, and words! The page I'm talking about, creates ironic anagrams from titles, politician's names and quotes, even poetry; such an intriguing phenomenon, you even get his activity, from a politician's name!

But to create all of this, Braille is essential. Yes, I admit, current Braille devices are made by one line only, but if they were multiline it could have been even more fun!

Moving letters around and creating words is a good hobby and gives Braille a new life. The detail is that Braille isn't for everyone: being a Braillist doesn't make me think that this code is for everyone.

Braille needs a relevant learning curve and must be acquired during childhood or very young age; a person becoming blind as an adult, has not the same sensitivity in hands to allow them learning, it could be a frustrating effort instead.

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