                         ABSTRACT
                             
  Part 1 is an evaluative history of the various embossed codes evolved
  so that blind people could become literate, from 1786 when the first
  embossed book was produced.  The early codes used in France, Britain,
  and America are described, reasons given for the need to review the
  code from time to time and the on-going need for co-operation between
  English speaking peoples to maintain uniformity in the use of braille. 
  Evaluation has taken account not only of the conditions of the times
  during which the codes were used, but also of the findings of research
  carried out during the present century.
  
  Part 2 includes evaluations of some of the major works included in the
  mass of research that has been carried out on braille reading.  An
  introduction to the psychophysical aspects of the tactile system is
  followed by an account of the effect of elements of the braille code on
  accuracy, comprehension and rate of reading and attempts to increase
  the slow rate of braille reading.  The final chapter gives information
  concerning on-going research, and reasons are given for the continuing
  value of the use of braille which is now being helped and challenged by
  technological invention.
  
                                                   DEDICATION
                             
  
                        To John
                            
                                                ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
                             
  My late husband, John, who was visually impaired, was a braille
  enthusiast who spent much of his life as a teacher and researcher of the
  braille code, and was also Vice-chairman of the Braille Authority of the
  United Kingdom.  I worked for many years as his colleague, so my first
  appreciation must be for all that we learned together.
  
  Dr M.J. Tobin, Director of the Research Centre for the Education of the
  Visually Handicapped, Birmingham University, first made the suggestion
  that this thesis should be written.  I have much appreciated his
  enthusiasm for the subject, his high standard, and ready encouragement
  as my supervisor.
  
  My study has, by its nature, involved extensive reading, and I have
  received willing help from librarians at the School of Education,
  Birmingham University; the Reference Library at the Royal National
  Institute for the Blind, London; the National Library of Scotland,
  Edinburgh; la Bibliothque Valentin Hay, Paris; and the Reference
  Library at Perkins School for the Blind, Massachusetts.  In addition, I
  thank the curators of le Muse Historique de l'Institut National des
  Jeunes Aveugles, Paris; le Muse Valentin Hay, Paris; and the
  birthplace of Louis Braille at Coupvray.
  
  Mr. W. Poole (Chairman) and members of the Braille Authority of the
  United Kingdom have generously lent me their archive collection of
  minutes of meetings and other papers dating from 1902, and I have also
  been receiving current copies of minutes of their committee meetings
  during the past four years.  This privilege has enabled me to gain much
  added interest and insight into the contents of official publications that
  cover the period.
  
  I am grateful for permission given by the Association Valentin Hay pour
  le Bien des Aveugles for the reproductions of photographs which occur
  in pages 14, 17, 39, and 47, and by Mr. James Stratton, Phillips, Son
  and Neale, auctioneers, London, for the reproduction of a photograph
  on page 56.  The very clear diagrams which occur on pages 31, 57, and
  71 were made by Mrs. Jennifer Whittaker.
  
  I am indebted to Birmingham University and the Royal National Institute
  for the Blind for grants to subsidise some of the expenses incurred
  during the project, and to the charity, Blindness: Research for Learning,
  Work, and Leisure, which gave donations towards the cost of travel to
  mainland Europe and America.
  
  My thanks go to the braillists who readily gave up their time to describe
  the various ways in which the use of the code helps with communication,
  organisation, and leisure reading.
  
  Finally, I wish to thank Mrs. Jennifer Whittaker for the long hours spent
  at her computer providing the interim and final drafts of my work.
  
                                               TABLE OF CONTENTS
                            
                             ABSTRACT                       i
  DEDICATION                                                ii
  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS                                          iii
  TABLE OF CONTENTS                                         v
  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS                                     xvii
  LIST OF TABLES                                            xix
  LIST OF ACRONYMS                                          xx
  
  INTRODUCTION                                              1
  1. PARAMETERS OF THE STUDY                                2
  2. SOURCES, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO PART 1           3
  3. THE BRAILLE CODE                                       4
  4. TERMINOLOGY                                            5
  
                         PART 1
                             CHAPTER 1.  VALENTIN HAUY (1745-1822)    6
  1. ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE BLIND                            8
  2. THE INFLUENCE OF DIDEROT (1713-1784)                   9
  3. VALENTIN HAUY 1745-1822                                10
  4. LA FOIRE ST. OVIDE                                     11
  5. AIMS                                                   11
  6. THE FIRST PUPIL                                        12
  7. FIRST ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE A MEANS OF READING           13
  8. THE INSPIRATION                                        14
  9. THE FIRST SCHOOL                                       15
  10.                                                       PUBLICITY 16
  11.                                                       HAUY TYPE 17
  12.                                                       PRINTING  18
  13.                                                       WRITING   18
  14.                                                       FOUR CRITICISMS ANSWERED 19
  15.                                                       1791-1801 22
  16.                                                       NAPOLEON AND L'INSTITUT DES JEUNES AVEUGLES  23
  17.                                                       THE YEARS IN RUSSIA      24
  18.                                                       HAUY'S LAST YEARS        24
  19.                                                       CONCLUSION               25
  
  CHAPTER 2.  LOUIS BRAILLE (1809-1852)                     26
  1. COUPVRAY                                               27
  2. L'INSTITUTION ROYALE DES JEUNES AVEUGLES               27
  3. CHARLES BARBIER                                        28
  4. BARBIER AND BRAILLE CODES COMPARED                     33
  5. 1928 PROCEDE                                           35
  6. WRITING                                                38
  7. 1829-1837                                              40
  8. 1837 PROCEDE                                           41
  9. NOUVEAU PROCEDE                                        44
  10.                                                       THE PLANCHE A PISTONS, LATER KNOWN AS
     THE RAPHIGRAPHE                                        47
  11.                                                       EPILOGUE  49
     Printing                                               49
     The Diffusion of the Braille Code                      49
  12.                                                       CONCLUSION               51
  
  CHAPTER 3.  EARLY BRITISH CODES                           53
  1. INSTITUTIONS AND ASYLUMS FOR THE BLIND AND THE
     FIRST TACTILE MODES OF COMMUNICATION IN BRITAIN        55
  2. A COMPETITION                                          60
  3. ROMAN ALPHABET CODES                                   61
     Gall Type                                              61
     Alston Type                                            64
     Littledale Type                                        65
     Roman Upper and Lower Case Type                        65
  4. ARBITRARY CODES                                        65
     Hughes Type                                            65
     Lucas Type                                             66
     Frere Type                                             68
  5. MIXED ROMAN AND ARBITRARY TYPE                         69
     Moon Type                                              69
  6. WRITING                                                72
  7. COMPARISONS                                            73
     Size and Shape of Configurations                       74
     Line Type                                              74
     Punctiform Type                                        75
     Presentation                                           76
     Stenographic, Phonetic, and Full Orthographic Systems  77
  8. CONCLUSION                                             78
  
  CHAPTER 4.  UNIFORMITY: FIRST ATTEMPTS                    80
  1. INTRODUCTION                                           82
  2. THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BLIND ASSOCIATION              82
  3. THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL                                  83
  4. DECISIONS                                              84
  5. SOURCES SHOWING THE EARLY STAGES OF THE
     DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITERARY BRAILLE CODE IN
  BRITAIN                                                   85
  6. ADAPTATION OF THE BRAILLE CODE                         86
  7. APPARATUS USED FOR HAND WRITING AND PRINTING           87
  8. THE FIRST INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BLIND IN AMERICA        89
  9. WHICH TYPE FOR THE NEW WORLD?                          91
  10.                                                       HOWE TYPE 92
  11.                                                       FURTHER TYPE INVESTIGATIONS                  94
  12.                                                       NEW YORK POINT TYPE      98
  13.                                                       COMPARISON OF ENGLISH BRAILLE AND NEW YORK
     POINT SYSTEMS                                          100
     Space Saving                                           100
     Legibility                                             101
     Rapidity of Writing                                    102
     Facility of Correction                                 102
     Facility of Learning                                   102
     Universality                                           102
  14.                                                       CONCLUSION               103
  
  CHAPTER 5.  DISSENSIONS                                   105
  1. ROMAN TYPE AGAIN                                       107
  2. OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION                            108
  3. THE ARMITAGE DIARIES                                   109
  4. GROWING DISSATISFACTION WITH THE BRAILLE CODE          111
  5. "REVISED BRAILLE" 1905                                 113
  6. CODES IN USE IN AMERICA FROM 1871                      115
  7. MODIFIED, LATER KNOWN AS AMERICAN, BRAILLE             116
     Labour of Writing                                      116
     Calculation of Space Saved                             117
     The New Code                                           118
  8. PRINTING                                               120
  9. MORE COMPARISONS                                       121
  10.                                                       AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF WORKERS FOR THE BLIND     122
  11.                                                       COMMISSION ON TYPE FOR THE BLIND             124
  
  CHAPTER 6.  A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING                       127
  1. BRITAIN - A PERIOD OF CONSOLIDATION                    130
  2. AMERICAN - THE USE OF GRADE 1                         131
  3. 1929 - 1932                                            134
  4. A SURVEY OF THE FREQUENCY AND SPACE-SAVING
     OF THE CONTRACTIONS OF GRADE 2                         136
  5. THE 1956 BRAILLE WORKING PARTY                         137
  6. "A STUDY OF BRAILLE CONTRACTIONS", 1982                138
  (A)                                                  Literature Survey (Pt.2, 115pp.)   139
       (B)                                             Questionnaire (Pt.2, Vol.2, pp.1-4)     139
       (C)                                             Surveys of Space-saving and Frequency of Contractions
                                                       (Pt.1, Vol.2, pp.5-80)             140
       (D)                                             Experiments with Modified Grade 2 Braille Codes to
                                                       Determine Their Effect on Reading Speed
                                                       (Pt.1, Vol.4, p.39; Material Used, Pt.1, Vol.3, pp.1-58)    141
       (E)                                             "The Limitations of Braille as a Medium for Communication
                                                       and the Possibility of Improving Reading Standards"
                                                       (Lorimer, J., 1978) (Pt.1, Vol.4A, pp.1-21)                 142
       (F)                                             Analysis of Symbols, Meanings and Rules of Standard
                                                       English Braille (Pt.1, Vol.4B, pp.1-16) 142
       (G)                                             Analysis of Errors (Pt.1, Vol.1, pp.31-34)                  143
       (H)                                             Outlines of a Short Course to Improve Braille Reading
                                                       Efficiency (Pt.1, Vol.4C, pp.1-47) 143
         7.   THE WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
     ENGLISH BRAILLE GRADE 2 (1982)                         144
  8. POST WASHINGTON                                        145
     Capital Letters                                        145
     Code Revisions                                         146
     The BAUK Questionnaire                                 146
  9. THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
     ENGLISH BRAILLE GRADE 2 (1988)                         147
  10.                                                       OBSERVATIONS ON CODE DESIGN AND CHANGES IN
     ENGLISH BRAILLE FROM C1870 TO 1960                     147
     Circa 1870                                             151
     1895                                                   151
     1905 Revised Braille                                   151
     1932 Standard English Braille                          152
     1960                                                   152
  
                         PART 2
                             CHAPTER 7.  PSYCHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF TOUCH
     PERCEPTION                                             153
  1. INTRODUCTION                                           155
  2. PASSIVE TOUCH, STUDIES OF SEPARATE TOUCH
  SENSATIONS                                                157
  3. ORGANISATION OF THE HAPTIC SYSTEM                      158
     The Skeletal System                                    158
     The Neural System                                      159
  4. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PASSIVE AND ACTIVE TOUCH           160
  5. THE THEORIES OF J.J. GIBSON                            161
     Perceptual Meaning                                     161
     Information Pickup                                     162
     Verbal Meaning                                         163
     Evaluation of Gibson's Contribution                    163
  6. SOME EARLY INVESTIGATIONS INTO BRAILLE READING
     BEHAVIOUR                                              164
  7. PERHIPHERAL MECHANISMS                                 168
     Structure of the Glabrous Skin of the Human Hand       168
     Receptive Fields                                       169
  8. PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF PERIPHERAL MECHANISMS         170
     Roughness Discrimination                               170
     Pressure, Vibration, and Shear                         171
  9. CENTRAL MECHANISMS                                     173
     Parts of the Brain Involved in Touch Perception        173
  10.                                                       PSYCHOPHYSICAL STUDIES OF CENTRAL MECHANISMS 174
     Hemisphere Asymmetry                                   174
     Convergence                                            176
     Memory                                                 178
  11.                                                       THE INTERLOCKING STRUCTURE OF VARIABLES      180
  
    CHAPTER 8.  TOUCH PERCEPTION WITH REFERENCE TO 
  SPECIFIC PROBLEMS PRESENTED BY READING IN THE 
       MEDIUM OF BRAILLE                               183
       1.                                              COMPARISON OF VISUAL AND TACTUAL METHODS
                                                       OF READING     185
  2.                                                   QUALITY PROVISION   186
                                                       Quality of Materials     187
                                                       Size and Shape of Dots   188
                                                       Spacing Variables   189
                                                       Layout    190
  3.                                                   TECHNIQUES OF READING    190
                                                       Use of Hands and Fingers 190
                                                       Types of Hand Movement   191
                                                       Characteristics of Movement by the Fingers   192
                                                       Can the Use of Hands and Fingers be Taught?  194
  4.                                                   PERCEPTUAL FACTORS  196
                                                       Analysis of Errors Within Words              196
                                                       The Word Method of Learning to Read          200
                                                       Recognition of Single-cell Braille Characters     201
                                                       The Effect of the Number of Dots in a Cell   201
                                                       Position of Dots Within a Cell               202
                                                       The Effect of the Use of Contractions        203
                                                       The Effect of Word Length, Familiarity, and Orthography on
                                                       Recognition Thresholds for Braille Words     205
                                                       Unit of Recognition 206
  5.                                                   DEVELOPMENTAL FACTORS AND THEIR EFFECT ON
  BRAILLE
                                                       READING   208
                                                       General Development and Its Effect on Braille Reading  208
                                                       Short-term Memory   209
                                                       Strategy Choices by Young Braille Readers    210
                                                       Strategy Choices by Fluent Braillists        212
  6.                                                   STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE RATE OF
  READING                                              214
                                                       Changing the Code   214
                                                       Diagnostic Tests    214
                                                       Training in Rapid Reading                    216
  7.                                                   SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH              219
  8.                                                   CONCLUSION     221
  
  CHAPTER 9.  BRAILLE TODAY AND TOMORROW               223
  1.                                                   THE BRAILLE CODE; EVENTS SINCE THE LONDON
                                                       CONFERENCE (1988)   224
                                                       International Council on English Braille     224
                                                       Capitalization 225
  2.                                                   SOME ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECT                228
                                                       The Longitudinal Study of Blind and Partially Sighted
                                                       Children in Special Schools in England and Wales  228
                                                       The Development of a New Test of Children's Braille
                                                       Reading Ability     229
                                                       Braille Software Developed at the RCEVH      229
  3.                                                   OTHER EMBOSSED CODES     230
                                                       The Moon Code  230
                                                       The Fishburne Alphabet (1979)                232
  4.                                                   TECHNOLOGY AND THE BRAILLE CODE              233
                                                       Aspirations of the 60's and 70's             233
                                                       Increase in Variety and Purpose of New Inventions 233
  5.                                                   ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF BRAILLE         234
                                                       Reasons for Disinclination to Learn Braille  234
                                                       Examples of Braille in Use Today             235
  
  REFERENCES                                           240
  
  APPENDIX 1.  THE INTRODUCTION OF GRADE 2 CONTRACTIONS
                                                       AND SHORTFORMS INTO THE BRITISH LITERARY BRAILLE
                                                       CODE DURING THE YEARS CIRCA 1870 AND 1990    267
                                                       INTRODUCTION   268
                                                       Sources   268
                                                       Key       270
                                                       SIMPLE UPPER WORDSIGNS   271
                                                       SIMPLE UPPER GROUPSIGNS  273
                                                       LOWER CONTRACTIONS  274
                                                       Wordsigns 274
                                                       Initial Groupsigns  274
                                                       Medial Groupsigns   275
                                                       Initial, Medial and Terminal Groupsigns      275
                                                       COMPOSITE WORDSIGNS 276
                                                       COMPOSITE GROUPSIGNS     278
                                                       SHORTFORMS (ABBREVIATED WORDS)               279
                                                       SUMMARY   283
  
  APPENDIX 2.  EMBOSSED MATERIAL (BEFORE 1870)         284
                                                       FRANCE    285
                                                       Hay Type 285
                                                       Guillie Type   286
                                                       Barbier Type   286
                                                       Braille Type   287
                                                       Decapointe     289
                                                       BRITAIN   289
                                                       Gall Type 289
                                                       Alston Type    290
                                                       Lucas Type     290
                                                       AMERICA   291
                                                       Boston Line Type    291
  
    
                 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
                             
  
  1.
  Embossed tiles used by Hay to teach
  reading and mathematics.
  14
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2.
  Capital letters in Hay type.
  17
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3.
  Diagram of Barbier writing board.
  31
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4.
  Braille's own writing frame showing
  grooves all down the page.
  39
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  5.
  Raphigraphe.
  47
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  6.
  Mr. Casson's Panogram - open position
  (reproduction of photograph).
  56
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7.
  Mr. Casson's Panogram - diagram
  showing six surfaces of the cubes with
  corresponding letters.
  57
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  8.
  Mr. Casson's Panogram - diagram of
  letters I and U with pegs in position.
  57
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  9.
  Knotted String Alphabet.
  59
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10.
  Gall type.
  62
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  11.
  Alston type.
  64
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  12.
  Lucas type.
  67
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  13.
  Frere type.
  69
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  14.
  Moon type.
  71
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  15.
  The Fishburne Alphabet.
  232
  
  
    
                     LIST OF TABLES
                             
  
  TABLE
  1.
  Table to show the number of signs
  contained in the British Literary Braille
  Code in 1895 and 1905 respectively.
  114
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  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.
  119
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  TABLE
  3.
  Table to show the number of new
  contractions introduced into the British
  literary braille code between  C1870 and
  1960, which saved at least one space
  over Grade 1 per million words.
  150
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  TABLE
  4
  Table to show distribution of eight braille
  error-type groups.
  199
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  TABLE
  5
  Table to show recognition times of
  characters grouped according to number
  of dots.
  202
  
  
  
  
  
                                                LIST OF ACRONYMS
                            
                            
                          AAIB
    American Association of Instructors of the Blind
                            
                            
                          AAWB
     American  Association of Workers for the Blind
                            
                            
                          BANA
           Braille Authority of North America
                            
                            
                          BAUK
        Braille Authority of the United Kingdom
                            
                            
                          BFBA
               British and Foreign Blind
                       Association
                            
                            
                          BFBS
           British and Foreign Bible Society
                            
                            
                          ICEB
       International Committee on English Braille
                            
                            
                          NUTC
            National Uniform Type Committee
                            
                            
                         RCEVH
   Research Centre for the Education of the Visually
                      Handicapped
                            
                            
                          UBC
               Uniform Braille Committee
                            
                            
                             
  
  
  