Braille Standards
The best known communication system for blind people is Braille which was developed by Louis Braille. A combination of six dots can only have 64 different configurations. This gives a problem in that many more than 64 different characters are often needed. For computer use it is common to use an eight dot Braille system which can represent 256 characters using only a single cell.
Use the links below to navigate to:
- International braille standards
- National braille standards in Europe (alphabetical by country)
- Other national braille standards (alphabetical by country)
International Standards
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)
1, Ch. de la Voie-Creuse, Case postale 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.
Tel: +41 22 749 0111; Fax: +41 22 733 3430
Web www.iso.ch
Committees and Working Groups:
ISO/TC 159/SC 4/WG 10 - Accessible Design for Consumer Products
- ISO/AWI 24503 Ergonomics - Marking tactile dots on consumer products - Guidelines for all people, including elderly persons and persons with disabilities
National Standards in Europe
Austria
Osterreichisches Normungsinstitut
Heinestrasse 38, AT-1020 Wien, Austria.
Tel: +431 213 000; Fax: +431 213 00 818
Email: office@on-norm.at; Web: www.on-norm.at
Committees and Working Groups:
TC 196 - Technical Systems and Aids for Disabled or Handicapped Persons
Contact: Andrea Redelsteiner
Austrian mirror group for CEN/TC 178, CEN/TC 293, ISO/TC 168 and ISO/TC 173
- ONORM ISO 11548 (2003) Communication aids for blind persons - Identifiers, names and assignation to coded character sets for 8-dot Braille characters
Denmark
Dansk Standards
Kollegievej 6, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark.
Tel: +45 39 96 61 01; Fax: +45 39 96 61 02
Email: dansk.standard@ds.dk; Web: www.ds.dk
Committees and Working Groups:
DS/S-199 - Tekniske Hjælpemidler til Handicappede
Danish mirror group for CEN/TC 293
- DS/ISO/TR 11548 (2002) Communication aides for blind persons - Identities, names and assignation to coded character sets for 8 dot Braille characters
Germany
Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardization)
Burggrafenstrasse 6, 10787 Berlin,
Germany.
Tel: +49 30 2601 0; Fax: +49 30 2601 1231
Email: postmaster@din.de; Web: www2.din.de
- DIN 32976 (2007) Braille - Requirements and dimensions
- DIN 32982 (1994) Information processing 8-dot-Braille graphic characters - Identifiers, names and assignation to 8-bit codetables
Other National Standards
Japan
Japanese Industrial Standards Committee
1-3-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8901, Japan.
Email: jisc@meti.go.jp; Web: www.jisc.go.jp
Committees and Working Groups:
S - Domestic Wares
- JIS S 0011 (2000) Guidelines for all people including elderly and people with disabilities - Marking tactile dots on consumer products