What Are The Different Braille Grades?

Grade-one Braille makes use only of the signs representing the alphabet and punctuation, numbers and a few special composition signs that are unique to Braille. It corresponds letter for letter with the visual print of the material. This grade is the easiest to learn, there being fewer signs to memorize than in other grades. On the other hand, grade-one Braille is the slowest to transcribe and read, and the end product is the bulkiest. Since most of the Braille produced today is transcribed and produced by volunteer workers in non-profit organizations, grade-one Braille rarely is used.

Grade-two is a somewhat abbreviated form of Braille. For example, each of the twenty-six signs representing the English alphabet has a double meaning. If it is used in combination with other Braille cells within a word, it represents only a letter; but if it stands alone, it represents a common word. Thus the sign for b standing by itself represents the word but, the c sign standing alone means can, the d sign alone means do, and so on through the alphabet. Exceptions, of course, are the letters a, i and o, since they already are words when they stand by themselves. Other signs are employed to represent common prefixes such as dis and com, common suffixes such as ed, er and ing, common letter combinations such as ow, ou, in and en and some common words such as the, and, for and of.

The use of contractions and short-forms greatly reduces the time involved in transcribing and reading the material, as well as the bulkiness of the finished volume. Today, therefore, this is the most commonly used grade of Braille. However, it is more difficult to learn grade-two Braille. Not only must one memorize all sixty-three different signs (most of which have more than one meaning, depending on how they are used), but also it is necessary to learn an involved set of rules governing when each sign can or cannot be used.

Grade-three is a highly abbreviated form of Braille, approaching true shorthand. There are a great number of contractions and short-forms to memorize and the rules governing their use are correspondingly difficult. Grade-three Braille often is employed in scientific notation or other highly technical material. Since very few blind persons are able to read this grade of Braille, it is not commonly used.