Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Bad Braille (self.Blind)
submitted by sdo2020
My name is Steve Dorsey, I'm a correspondent at CBS News in Washington. I'm working on a story about mislabeled, misspelled, incorrect, or illegible braille on signs in buildings, memorials or other places.
Working with a Braille aide, we've found a few spots in Washington that have Braille issues. But, I'd love to hear about any place elsewhere in the country that folks on this thread have encountered with bad or "dirty" Braille to use in my report.
You can reply to this thread or shoot me an email at $1.
Thanks for your help.
Working with a Braille aide, we've found a few spots in Washington that have Braille issues. But, I'd love to hear about any place elsewhere in the country that folks on this thread have encountered with bad or "dirty" Braille to use in my report.
You can reply to this thread or shoot me an email at $1.
Thanks for your help.
pokersnek 13 points 4y ago
There’s a casino I visited somewhere along the Illinois and Missouri boarder who decided to try to incorporate the Braille labels for their restrooms into the tile work on the walls. The result was illegible to any Braille reader because each letter was over a foot tall.
jrs12 11 points 4y ago
Children's hospital in Pittsburgh had braille, but it was all printed backwards. 'Up', for example, said 'thing'.
BrailleNomad 3 points 4y ago
/facepalm
ENTJ351 1 points 4y ago
That is priceless! That’s so amusing and funny!
afraidofdust 11 points 4y ago
Courtyard Marriott in Beaverton, OR had broken Braille on many of their signs when I was there last year. Basically some of the raised dots had fallen out of their grooves, leaving empty holes. I reported it to management but I doubt they took me seriously.
TwistyTurret 9 points 4y ago
What bugs me is people selling “Braille” crafts on Etsy by just poking holes in stuff or adding various sized dots. Braille letters have a very specific size, height, and spacing. They should not be allowed to label it as Braille unless it fits the standards.
BrailleNomad 4 points 4y ago
Yes! Usually the letters are pushed together- so an A won’t have the rest of the cell spaced out and instead is actually a dot-4 leading to the next letter, for instance. My friend sends people messages to tell them their braille is wrong. They don’t usually respond kindly. Lol.
pokersnek 8 points 4y ago
The worst Braille sin that I experienced was a community college in Illinois that had no Braille signage on any of the classroom doors. I was trying to teach a student of mine how to get to his classes, and that made it nearly impossible for him to do so independently. Luckily, the security and front desk people were kind enough to offer to escort him to his classes daily, but that is not independence.
KillerLag 6 points 4y ago
I've found many places just print off Braille with a regular printer, so it's flat, then put it up as a Braille sign. I've seen it done at a church and an apartment building, but also a multi-million dollar company as well.
Anianna 1 points 4y ago
I commented on a post showing an image of that sort of thing on social media some time ago and was downvoted into oblivion because I said something to the effect of "If the dots aren't raised, it's not really braille" and I got replies arguing that it is braille "look it up". I get that the dots were visually in the right place, but I was surprised that so many people didn't seem to understand that braille needs to be tactile.
KillerLag 1 points 4y ago
It is unfortunately more common than people think. There are all sorts of misconceptions around Braille. One of my client's had an adult grandchild who was getting them Braille books, even though the client didn't learn how to read Braille. When I asked them about the logic, the adult grandchild said "Well, they went blind. They automatically know how to read Braille, right?" It seriously didn't occur to them that people have to learn it.
Anianna 1 points 4y ago
Wow, people get the weirdest notions in their heads.
I'm taking a braille transcriber course now and the contractions are pretty challenging, particularly contractions of words within words, so I can understand why so many people who go blind later in life don't learn it.
I'm taking a braille transcriber course now and the contractions are pretty challenging, particularly contractions of words within words, so I can understand why so many people who go blind later in life don't learn it.
ENTJ351 1 points 4y ago
Hahahaha! Complete fail! Is the sighted suppose to read it or the blind now? Hahaha! Way to funny!
[deleted] 5 points 4y ago
My 7 year old often checks the Braille while we're out and about (he still has some usable vision) to find mistakes. He finds them everywhere, especially misspellings/mis-numberings in elevators or on restroom signs.
sdo2020 [OP] 3 points 4y ago
I really appreciate everyone helping us out. Your responses have been great. Bad braille seems to be a widespread problem. If you're able to post pictures of what you've found--that would be helpful as well.
funkymollusk 1 points 4y ago
A couple years ago when I was in college I walked around a couple dorm buildings checking the braille with the printed signs. I have enough vision to read them up close. In a couple hundred signs, I found a few that were incorrect.
I also have a friend from another college I attended who won a claim against the school for its lacking braille signage. As a result they, rightfully, had to spend $80,000 on new signage for several buildings.
I also have a friend from another college I attended who won a claim against the school for its lacking braille signage. As a result they, rightfully, had to spend $80,000 on new signage for several buildings.
ENTJ351 1 points 4y ago
I think bad braille is very common I think it’s very common in schools and such other places. At a lot of schools kids scratch and play with the braille signs so dots come off, they don’t get fixed or replaced. I think it can happen at a community college as well for instance.
giveitarestbuddy 1 points 4y ago
not "bad Braille" per se, but literally none of the buildings my doctor's offices are in have Braille signage. including my eye doctor, who almost exclusively treats blind/VI patients.
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