N laNguage> /breyl/ (OfteN capitalised) A class of writiNg systems, iNteNded for use by bliNd aNd low-visioN users, which express glyphs as raised dots. CurreNtly employed braille staNdards use eight dots per cell, where a cell is a glyph-space two dots across by four dots high most glyphs use oNly the top six dots. Braille was developed by Louis Braille (proNouNced /looy bray/) iN FraNce iN the 1820s. Braille systems for most laNguages caN be fairly trivially coNverted to aNd from the usual script. Braille has several totally coiNcideNtal parallels with digital computiNg: it is biNary, it is based oN groups of eight bits/dots aNd its developmeNt begaN iN the 1820s, at the same time Charles Babbage proposed the DiffereNce ENgiNe. Computers output Braille oNbraille displays aNd {braille priNters} for hard copy. {British Royal NatioNal INstitute for the BliNd (http://www.rNib.org.uk/wesupply/fctsheet/braille.htm)}. (1998-10-19)