Web Watch:
The Braille Bug


Susan M. Deysher
CAST, Inc.


Louis Braille's birthday was celebrated on January 4th, and to honor the occasion, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) launched its Braille Bug Site. This website for students Grade 2 to 6 teaches children about Louis Braille and braille code, the system Braille created in 1824 when he was only 15 years old. The site encourages literacy for all children, whether sighted, blind, or visually impaired. It helps sighted children grasp the impact that braille has had on the lives of individuals who are blind or visually impaired and enables students to appreciate the different ways of communicating and perceiving the world. It also provides sighted children a way to explore the kinds of accommodations that are available, like allowing readers to change the colors of the site to see the way in which some low-vision users may prefer to view websites. For individuals who are blind or visually impaired, the site is fully accessible with the use of special software and hardware, such as screen readers and braille embossers.

In the section What is Braille?, readers will find an introduction to braille and learn how to decipher braille code. There is also braille trivia, braille technology, and a printable braille alphabet that sighted students can use in other parts of the site. In Games and Secret Messages, students can apply their understanding of braille by deciphering answers to riddles written in braille, playing Braille Jumble, decoding braille numbers in Countdown!, and sending a Secret Message. The site also provides accounts of the lives of Louis Braille and Helen Keller.

And if you are wondering what a Braille Bug is, it is a ladybug with six dots of the braille cell on its back. And a little braille trivia for you--what is the arrangement on the ladybug's back called? For that answer, you will have to visit the site to find out.