Talking Heads’ Braille Translator Worries For The Future of Braille Learning

Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

One of the services that Talking Heads provides is Braille translation / transcription - converting written English to braille.

Braille is a worldwide code which uses a system of six raised dots and is used to translate many languages into the embossed form. This is read by running the fingertips over the embossed characters.

One of our highly talented braille experts, Alan, who is also an expert repairer of braille typewriters, has recently been interviewed by The Guardian about the worrying situation of him being the last UK certified repairer of the famous Perkins braille typewriters (the world’s most widely used braille machines) - and he’s getting ready for retirement.

In ‘this day and age’ you may think that digital technology has taken over - but it simply isn’t the case. As Alan says,

“We still teach sighted kids to use pencils to learn to write, so having a mechanical way of writing is still very important for blind kids”.

Braille typewriters are “6kg analogue machines… a vital communication tool for blind users and are especially crucial for teaching blind children to read and write”.

As the Project Managers at Talking Heads can testify, braille is (still) a valid and widely-used form of communication and losing braille typewriters would be the beginning of the potential loss of the format. If in 20 years there’s no one in the UK who knows how to repair the machines, children will have no way of learning how to read braille - which in our technological age seems like going backwards!

If you have any questions about braille ‘transcription’ (using the word ‘translation’ is always up for debate for many!), then please get in touch.

You can read the full interview with Alan on the Guardian’s website.