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# CHAPTER 5

# DISSENSIONS

1. ROMAN TYPE AGAIN
2. OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION
3. THE ARMITAGE DIARIES
4. GROWING DISSATISFACTION WITH THE BRAILLE CODE
5. "REVISED BRAILLE" 1905
6. CODES IN USE IN AMERICA FROM 1871
7. MODIFIED, LATER KNOWN AS AMERICAN, BRAILLE

Labour of Writing

Calculation of Space Saved

The New Code

8. PRINTING

9. MORE COMPARISONS

10. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF WORKERS FOR THE BLIND

11. COMMISSION ON TYPE FOR THE BLIND

## 1. ROMAN TYPE AGAIN

Worcester College for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen was founded in 1866 and about the same time a society was formed to provide embossed books in the Roman type (Armitage, 1886, p.212). Armitage regarded this as a retrograde step so would have disapproved of the decision of the London School Board (1876) to use Roman type in their schools for the blind. Haüy's contention that the blind should be treated in all ways as much like the sighted as possible still lingered on, and few fully realised that Roman letters present difficulties for tactile recognition.

Two years later Blair, the first headmaster of the College, read a paper before the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science entitled "Education of the Blind" (published 1876) in which he described all known 'living' examples of embossed codes. He praised the braille code but his own preference was for upper and lower case Roman letters, perhaps not realising that, depending on the script used, approximately half the lower case letters are different shapes from the capitals. For tactile reading this increase in the number of symbols to be recognised is an extra burden. He considered (1877) that it was simple for the blind to read if the letters were printed large enough, and then described which parts of the letters were easiest to identify, in particular, those which extended above and below the line. In fact, it is the internal parts of letters which cause most confusion. For example, in capital letters the cross bar in A and H, the complicated designs of B, E, K, and R, and the number of upright (or sloping lines ascending to type used) of M, N, V, and W are all difficult to detect.

Blair considered that speed was not important because "Blind men have generally very few books to read and more time at their disposal" (1876, pp.9-10). He could not forecast the vast amount of reading required by future pupils who took up professions such as law and the church.

## 2. OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION

The Elementary Education Act of 1870, while not superseding the work of the voluntary school, authorised local authorities to create board schools, and education became mandatory. Blind children were not specifically mentioned, many not receiving education under the clause which exempted children from attending school if there was "some reasonable cause", (Hurt, 1988, p.103).

Armitage realised that there was a category of young people who had potential and for whom suitable educational opportunities were not provided. Education and work prospects are intertwined given the right training, and the braille code provided the means of learning. The school at Paris was at this time providing musical training leading to work as piano tuners and organists. Armitage described how this came about in the 1883, June/July number of the first volume of "Progress", the first magazine specially provided for braille readers which was edited and largely written by himself (see also Armitage, 1886, pp.64-66; Illingworth, 1910, pp.51-52). The training resulted in many of the students becoming self-supporting and Armitage wished to introduce similar prospects for blind students in Britain.

In 1870, by a fortunate coincidence (Hurst, 1890, p.4), Francis Campbell, director of music at Perkins School for the Blind, called on Armitage and they soon discovered their similar ambitions. Together they were prime movers in the establishment of the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind in 1872, with Campbell as principal. The venture was successful and the college was "soon turning out well-qualified musicians and teachers and still larger numbers of piano tuners with the majority of them able to support themselves" (Langdon, 1972, p.2). Armitage's aims of education made possible by the means of the braille code, in this case including the braille music code, and followed by employment, were coming true.

## 3. THE ARMITAGE DIARIES

Armitage wrote several diaries during the 1870s and 1880s. He wrote about his social life, contents of sermons, descriptions of scenery, how interesting pieces of machinery worked, etc., but wherever he went in Britain he seems to have made a special effort to visit institutions for the blind, smaller organisations and even blind individuals. A typical entry was, "No reading to speak of but they promised to introduce braille and higher music to the more intelligent" (Armitage (1870), Diary Entry, Glasnevin, 1878, braille p.56). He also made several European tours more specifically to enquire into methods of education and conditions of work when education was completed. He wrote because he was interested, but the diaries also demonstrate his campaign for a more active and rewarding life for blind people, and, as shown above, he used these opportunities to advertise the need for the use of the braille code.

Later, when Armitage and Campbell were among those chosen to give evidence before the Royal Commission on the Blind, the Deaf and the Dumb, etc. (Report 1889), his entries become more specific. Unfortunately, some of the diaries are missing, but judging from the large amount of detail included concerning the deaf in mainland Europe, it may be inferred that similar minutiae were collected concerning blind people. In 1884 he made an extended tour of institutions in eastern America. He described the buildings and the conditions of work and never failed to enquire into the educational methods, encouraging the use of braille wherever possible. (A shortened account of conditions in American institutions occurs in Armitage, 1886, pp.183-211). Armitage died in 1890. Francis Campbell received a knighthood for his services to the blind, and had Armitage lived longer it is more than likely that he too would have received this accolade in recognition of his long and enterprising work on behalf of blind people.

## 4. GROWING DISSATISFACTION WITH THE BRAILLE CODE

> "Hora Jucunda", a monthly magazine published at the Edinburgh Asylum, first appeared in 1893 with Illingworth, the headmaster, as editor. It was one of five such braille productions appearing at the time and there were two magazines in Moon type (Illingworth, 1910, p.56). It seemed that there was a growing dissatisfaction amongst some braille readers concerning the code so Illingworth asked for correspondence on the matter. A letter by A.C. which appeared in the first number included the following: "The thanks of the blind are due to the British and Foreign Blind Association for introducing the Braille type into this country; but in the matter of contractions that body has not always acted with that clearness and precision which one could have wished. The arbitrary rules which they drew up have often been violated by them in the printing of their books. Now this leads to confusion."

Several more extracts from letters were quoted (ibid., pp.57-61) culminating with another from A.C.: "What we want is uniformity in printing; if we could get the London people to adhere to their own rules, and co-operate with us in working out some minor improvements, we will have achieved a great deal."

The BFBA cannot be blamed for all the confusion, for unauthorised changes and mistakes were sometimes introduced in "Santa Lucia" (ibid., p.75) and other journals for the blind. Most differences involved the use of contractions across syllables and unwise omission of letters in words, for example "I distinctly remember reading in the Bible about the man that 'fred' the Lord" (ibid., p.60) giving connotation of 'Frederick' instead of 'feared'.

As an outcome of the correspondence and because of the non-cooperation of the BFBA, "Our English Braille Union" was formed with branches throughout the country (ibid., p.62-63). Part of their remit was to discuss the present braille code, which was to be printed in successive numbers of "Hora Jucunda", with a view to possible improvements. Eventually, BFBA produced a system of "Recommendations", but in spite of the great amount of work that had been engendered, the contents were considered to be unsuitable. This dismay was voiced by Illingworth when he read a paper entitled "Uniform Braille System" at a Conference on Matters relating to the Blind held in London in 1902.

The "Recommendations" were couched in legal language, and the extract included in Illingworth's paper (ibid., p.79) certainly proves this point. Furthermore, there were "no less than 820 words or thereby (sic), in the majority of which not the smallest guide is given to the correct spelling of the original word". He also objected to many of the contractions included "because by their omission of vowels, etc., and neglect of the rules of syllabication, they cannot convey to the reader the sense of delight" which literature should bring. He made further more detailed objections and then made a plea for the inclusion of the capital letter.

The conference recommended the setting up of a committee to make a further study of the braille code. The first meeting of the (British) Uniform Braille Committee took place on 6th January, 1902 (minutes, UBC), and the aim was defined at the next meeting (7th February, 1902) viz. "to consider the point systems now in use for the blind, with a view to recommending a uniform system of sufficient simplicity to be generally acceptable".

The committee first considered whether it would be advisable to adopt American braille, which differed from British braille in that the letters which appeared most frequently were allotted the signs with the least number of dots in the cell. [A more detailed description of this system will be given later in this chapter.] As this version of the code was not universal in America, and blind users in Britain might not be ready to accept such a change, it was decided that work should be confined to the betterment of the present British version. The BFBA were asked to co-operate and this joint British Braille Committee eventually produced their report at the first Triennial Conference for the Blind held in Edinburgh in 1905.

## 5. "REVISED BRAILLE" 1905

The long awaited report of the British Braille Committee, which was presented at the first Triennial International Conference on the Blind in 1905, showed that the contractions omitted from "old braille" were minimal: SELF and FAITHFUL were left out and DECLARED and RECEIVED were replaced by DECLARING (dclg) and RECEIVING (rcvg). Six meanings which had previously been represented by simple upper wordsigns were given different configurations. These simple wordsigns could then represent new words of greater frequency.

The total number of new signs added in 1905 were more than double those appearing in the "Dictionary of Braille Contractions" (BFBA, 1895), most of the additions being composite wordsigns and shortforms. The following table gives this information in a compact form (see Appendix).

Table 1. Table to show the number of signs contained in the British literacy braille code in 1895 and 1905 respectively.

| 1895 | 1905
Simple upper wordsigns | 27 | 34
Upper groupsigns | 12 | 13
Lower contractions | 14 | 19
Composite wordsigns | 9 | 36
Composite groupsigns | 11 | 14
Shortforms | 24 | 73
Totals | 97 | 189

The 1895 dictionary also included 20 words from which the EA sign should be omitted. This rule became obsolete when a contraction for EA was included. Details of these changes may be seen in Appendix 1. Some of these contractions do not occur frequently enough to seem worth their inclusion; this aspect will be discussed more fully in the next chapter.

## 6. CODES IN USE IN AMERICA FROM 1971

In contrast with the comparatively settled state of braille reached in Britain by 1905, America had a long and sometimes bitter struggle ahead, often referred to as "the battle of the dots". It lasted from 1871 when Wait introduced the New York point system as an alternative to Howe, later known as Boston, line type, until 1932 when Grade 2 was finally accepted. Comparative unity then became possible among English speaking peoples of the world (Irwin, 1955, p.3).

The Missouri institution was the first to accept the original braille system some time between 1859 and 1861 (Kerney, 1952, p.115). The position of the letter W had been changed so that it appeared between V and X on the seven line table which Braille had used to demonstrate his system; this involved a symbol change for W, X, Y, and Z. The contractions listed in Smith (1878, p.43) are fewer than those used in Britain at that time (BFBA, "Key to Braille reading and writing", undated). When the New York point system was introduced in 1871 the Missouri Institution followed the fashion for a short while, but this code was found to be unsatisfactory so the newly purchased writing apparatus was "sold to the ragman" (Kerney, 1952, p.116) and braille was used there once again.

The several code changes over the years were not adopted immediately by the institutions, for old stock of materials had to be used until new type material could be produced in sufficient numbers. Braille music was found to be superior to Wait's music code (Smith, 1878, p.51) so this resulted in the anomaly of some institutions using braille for music and New York point in the classroom (Sibley, 1892, p.75). At the Illinois institution where New York point was the official type, students began to use braille for their own use, but the slates were confiscated when this fact became known to the superintendent (ibid., pp.74-75).

## 7. MODIFIED, LATER KNOWN AS AMERICAN, BRAILLE

Howe's son-in-law, Michael Anagnos, succeeded him in 1876. Recognising the need for a punctiform code to replace the use of Boston line type, he encouraged Joel W. Smith, a blind piano tuner at the school, to seek an improvement on the present systems. Accordingly, Smith undertook "a careful examination to ascertain how exactly and completely the conflicting reports which have been published set forth the value of their respective systems" (Smith, 1878, p.40). This was in preparation for the convention of the AAIB to be held in Columbus, Ohio, in 1878.

### Labour of Writing

From a representative selection of authors he counted a total of 50,038 letters together with the punctuation involved. In both codes the frequency of occurrence for each letter of the alphabet and punctuation sign were multiplied by the number of dots occurring in each symbol The resulting totals showed gains in the labour of writing the New York point over braille of 16½% for uncontracted and 1½% for contracted codes (ibid., Tables 1 and 2, pp.42-43).

The individual punctuation figures seem high for New York point. When extracted they give a gain of 41.3% over braille punctuation, a result which is not surprising. Wait had not included punctuation in his first draft. He could not use the braille symbols because, having a code of only two dots high the symbols were already used. Smith allowed five points width for each punctuation mark in his calculations of space used by New York point (ibid., p.45, Table 3).

### Calculation of Space Saved

Armitage (BFBA, 1874, p.2) had used only the same ten contractions that occurred in the New York point code when making his comparison of space, whereas Smith considered that "each system should be compared as they are ordinarily published or written" (ibid., p.47). No details seem available of the complete list of contractions used at that time, and Smith confessed (ibid., p.48) that he had omitted some which he thought of least value. Had they been included it is likely that they would have had a minimal effect on the results. By using the numbers of dots already counted and by representing spaces between letters and words and also between lines, Smith was able to compare the area covered by each code. The results showed gains for New York point for uncontracted and contracted versions of 18¼% and 4% respectively (ibid., pp.45-46). These results are very different from the claims made by Wait of 50% and "about 75%" in 1868 and 1871 respectively (ibid., p.40).

Having proved the superiority of New York point in both the labour of writing and the saving of space, Smith then considered the following factors:

1. music is a universal language and Braille's music code was used exclusively in Europe and also in some institutions in America, where it was regarded as an improvement on Wait's version;
2. it would therefore be an advantage for the literary code also to be in braille;
3. from the encouraging results of Wait's use of the smallest number of dots for the words of greatest frequency, the braille code could be modified accordingly.

### The New Code

When re-arranging the letters and contractions according to this principle he was able to keep twelve of the letters in their original shapes, thus making it easier for learners to transfer from the old to the new version. No change was made to braille punctuation or numbers. Smith then compared his results between the three systems.

The following table was compiled from information contained in Smith's (1878) paper (1878) entitled "Comparison of the braille and New York systems of point writing, and proposed modifications of the braille system".

Table 2. Table to show percentage gains, in the labour of writing New York point over "old braille", modified braille over "old braille", and modified braille over New York point.

| Uncontracted | Contracted

New York point and

"old braille"

Modified braille and

"old braille"

Modified braille and

New York point

16.5%

25.6%

10.9%

1.5%

23.2%

22.0%

Encouraged by these findings Smith presented his case for the adoption of modified braille at the AAIB conference held in 1878. He was given short shrift by Wait and his followers. Most institutions were already using the New York point code and the grant from the government for publishing embossed material was used exclusively by the American Printing House for this purpose. Other codes had to be paid for so Wait's code already had an unfair advantage.

Undeterred, Smith presented another paper a month later at the Congress for the Improvement of the Lot of the Blind and the Deaf Mutes in Paris. From samples of French and German literature he had used a similar method to compare the frequencies in the French and German languages. He claimed that there was enough similarity in letter frequencies for a universal modified code to be possible. This seems unduly optimistic so it is not surprising that the vote went in favour of a general adoption of unmodified braille. New York point continued for the time being to be the code used most extensively in America.

In 1890 Edward J. Allen became director of the institute for the blind in Philadelphia. He had taught at the Royal Normal College in London and then at the Boston school, so he had a working knowledge of both English braille and modified braille. At the AAIB convention held at Brantford in 1892, he was a prime mover in the appointment of a subcommittee set up to consider yet again the choice of the best code. This time the choice was the modified code, later known as American braille, even though no books were then available outside the Boston school.

## 8. PRINTING

A development of great importance was to substantiate this preference for the modified code. At the same conference (1892) Frank H. Hall demonstrated his braille typewriter. It had six keys, each able to make one dot of the 3 x 2 matrix which could be combined to make the symbols. It was claimed that a competent operator would be able to write "two or three scores of words per minute" whereas a writer using a handframe "could seldom achieve more than twenty words per minute" (Irwin, 1955, p.8). The "stereotypemaker" followed the same design but was powerful enough to emboss sheets of brass for printing.

Wait speedily produced his own versions of the two machines but he encountered problems. New York point symbols for letters and contractions varied from 1 to 4 points in width and between 2 and 4 points for punctuation, whereas braille symbols were always 2 points wide. Wait planned the new apparatus so that "the small letters can be made into capitals by means of styles which form larger points than those of small letters" (Bledsoe, 1972). This would save space because no capital sign would be required but according to J. Lorimer, who was a braille user, such type might be tactually confusing (pers. comm.). As far as is known this difference in size of dots within a text has never been tested. "The competition between backers of the two systems stimulated the development of improved appliances which might otherwise have been long delayed" (Irwin, 1955, p.10), and the success of Hall's innovations must have encouraged the use of some form of braille.

## 9. MORE COMPARISONS

A committee of the New York Board of Education called a meeting in 1909 to discuss which type should be used in their public schools, but the rivalry and exaggeration of the various claimants was so fraught that a second meeting had to be arranged (ibid., 1909, March and May). There is also a lively account of the proceedings by Irwin (1955, pp.10-16) who was present together with Charles Campbell, son of the director of the Royal Normal College for the Blind, and first editor of the American quarterly "Outlook for the Blind". Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind and who rarely intervened in such controversies, sent a letter to the secretary of the New York Board of Education giving detailed reasons with examples to show her preference for American braille (report of the second hearing held before of the Board of Education of the City of New York, 18th May, 1909, pp.85-86). The decision went in favour of American (modified) braille.

In the following year it was agreed that "forty per cent of the federal appropriation went for American braille books until revised braille completely supplanted both of the contending systems" (ibid., pp.20-21).

## 10. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF WORKERS FOR THE BLIND

While members of the AAIB, many of whom were sighted directors of institutions, were wrangling over which code should be best, the Association of Workers for the Blind (AAWB) decided upon a more practical approach. Many of these workers had little or no sight so would have been more aware of perceptual factors, and their aims included the encouragement of reading and training of blind people for work. In addition it was decided "that a committee be appointed to investigate the various forms of tactile print and to labor for the adoption of some one universal system" (Nolan, E.J., 1907, pp.17-18). A uniform type committee was set up and throughout 1907-1913 testing was carried out concerning legibility of the characters in New York point, the current British braille, and American braille respectively. These investigations involved dot density and position of dots within the cell, equivocal and unequivocal wordsigns and part-wordsigns, capitalisation and also the use of hands and fingers.

At the 1911 convention it was realised that with insufficient funds available no conclusive decisions could be made concerning the relative merits of the three codes. A successful appeal was made and two ladies, one blind and one sighted, travelled many miles conducting tests in thirty-six states (Irwin, 1955, p.32). Twelve hundred American readers were tested eventually, showing that neither New York point nor American braille was superior. To help resolve the matter, "several scores of pupils" were tested (ibid., p.33) at the Halifax school where British braille was taught, and by comparison with other codes was found to give the best results. This result was unexpected and would no doubt have caused consternation amongst the various claimants for the best code.

In an attempt to resolve the situation a new code to be called "Standard Dot" was invented, which synthesised what were claimed to be the best elements of the three previous codes, as follows:

French braille: alphabet letters;

American braille: contractions formed on the principle of the most frequently occurring letter groups having symbols with fewest dots;

New York point: moveable base.

This new code seems to have been compiled without any field testing and may have been a panic measure because of probable pressure to make a quick settlement. This seems an unfortunate decision when compared with the previous pioneer years of detailed research. By trying to combine the best features of three codes little consideration seems to have been taken of resulting defects.

Representatives visited Britain to gain further knowledge concerning British braille and were present at the international conference concerning the blind which was held at Edinburgh in 1914. Standard Dot was then presented to the combined meeting of the AAIB and AAWB at a convention held in 1915. The AAWB accepted the new code but the AAIB only did so on condition that the British authorities would do likewise (ibid., p.37). At the same convention the Uniform Type Committee of the AAWB was discharged, to be replaced by a joint Commission on Type for the Blind.

## 11. COMMISSION ON TYPE FOR THE BLIND

The last minuted meeting of the British Braille Committee was held on 25th March, 1905, and the British Uniform Type Committee was not convened until 19th May, 1916. Meanwhile, to those interested in uniformity, it was important to take quick action to reject the American suggestion of the use of Standard Dot. Mr. Stone, headmaster of the Edinburgh school, wrote to Mr. Latimer, secretary of the American Commission, expressing this view (17th December, 1915) and an open letter to the same effect appeared in "The Teacher" (January, 1916).

The Commission must have realised that there was little chance of Standard Dot receiving universal approval, so even before its rejection by the British, they abandoned the long search for the chimera of a near perfect code and decided to look for a politico-economic solution instead. They hoped to dissuade advocates from their chosen preferences and to unite in considering a version of the braille code which was already in use in parts of Europe. Such a decision would incur a loss of plates, machinery and books for a code which might seem inferior in some respects. It was much to ask in the name of uniformity and credit should be given for this radical decision.

By July, 1915, "Changes in 'Revised Braille for Reading and Writing'" had been drafted, and on 30th March, 1916, in reply to a request from Mr. Stainsby, Secretary General of the RNIB and Registrar of the College of Teachers of the Blind, several copies were sent to Britain for consideration. The British Uniform Type Committee was speedily convened as a result.

It is an interesting paper because the contents show how much code knowledge had been acquired as a result of the previous years of research, and as each point is made it is immediately followed by an explanation of the ground on which it is made. The emphasis seems to have been on ease of reading.

The first suggestion was that British braille should become "as completely capitalised as in literature for the seeing". This difference between American and British braille has continued up to the present day with only the Americans consistently showing capitalization. Other suggestions included the suppression of the poetry sign, the suppression of lower contractions in the interests of legibility, sequencing to be discontinued, and 17 wordsigns left out on the ground that they placed a burden on memory.

It became obvious that the rules of British braille were regarded as settled so once more the reply from Britain was negative (Irwin, 1955, 43-44). The Americans therefore felt free to make their own decisions. They wanted a code which could be understood by those who read both Grade 1 and Grade 2 so the choice was Grade 1½ (Commission on Uniform Type, 1918). Grade 1 was to be almost identical with the British version except that it was to include capitalisation. For Grade 1½ the number of contractions was limited, though the 44 shortforms included were identical with British characters. Contractions occupying more than one cell were not permitted.

At last the New World had a code which could be understood by other English-speaking peoples, and immediately a large scale publication of books in the new code took place. By 1923 a permanent commission on uniform type was recognised by both the AAIB and the AAWB (Latimer, 1930, 468-472).