Braillewriters

Introduction to Braillewriters

A braillewriter is a machine used to write braille.

Students at a school for the visually impaired in Tanzania working on their Braille Typewriters.

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Digital Resources for the Study of Braillewriters: Instruction Manuals

Braillewriting Dot by Dot: In One Volume

Braillewriting Dot by Dot: In One Volume is an instruction manual in the writing of braille using both slate and stylus and briellewriters. It was written by researchers Eleanor Pester and Fred Otto and tangible materials designer Tom Poppe and published by the American Printing House for the Blind in 1995. The manual is targeted at teachers for students who are visually impaired and includes 10 lessons on the Perkins Braillewriter:

Lesson 1: Introducing the uses of the braillewriter and the numbering of dot positions on the braillewriter

Lesson 2: Anatomy of the braillewriter and the loading and unloading of the braillewriter with paper and line spacing

Lesson 3: Correct fingering on the braillewriter

Lesson 4: Creating spacing between letters

Lesson 5: Typing words and phrases

Lesson 6: Correcting errors by backspacing and adding dots

Lesson 7: Correcting errors by erasing dots

Lesson 8: Creating spacing and columns

Lesson 9: Typing numerals

Lesson 10: Review

Digital Resources for the Study of Braillewriters: Virtual Museums

The Typewriter Museum

The Typewriter Museum is a private Finnish museum collection boasting over 150 calculators and 300 typewriters, which are divided into 102 total collections. All of their collections can be viewed virtually.

The Typewriters for the blind collection features 10 braille typewriters originating from 6 different countries and manufactured between 1821 and 1989. Clicking into it produces a list of the braille typewriters currently on display in the Typewriter Museum. Each type of typewriter is accompanied by a description of its manufacturing company, country of origin, and dates of manufacturing, as well as a brief history, such as how the typewriter may have found its way to Finland or how its design has evolved if it is still being manufactured in the modern day. Images are included of each typewriter and some also contain details to how the typewriter is displayed in the museum.

Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind

The Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind provides both a featured collection and an online catalog of their mechanical braillewriters.

Online Catalog

You can either view by clicking "next record" or view their entire catalog of braille slates, braillewriters, and writing guides by clicking on the contents table.