While you may not realize it, Braille is used much more often than you think, especially in public spaces. If you take the time to observe your surroundings just a little bit more, you´ll notice that those raised dots are found in many places! Take for instance the ATM. Next time you stop by the bank to make a transaction on the ATM machine, take note of how the keypad contains Braille. Most public and some land-line telephones also contain Braille dots. Many products such as electronic appliances or televisions contain Braille writing on the product boxes. This ensures the visually impaired customer that he/she is buying the desired product and not something else. In many public spaces, warning signs or signs containing important information are also written in Braille. This is important if at a subway stop for instance, a sign is in place to warn people of the proper ways to ride the subway. In fact, next time you go to a public bathroom, check out if there is Braille underneath the signs that indicate men’s and women’s bathrooms. It would be terrible for a man to accidentally step into a women’s bathroom simply because the sign did not say anything. Following the same pattern, check out signs in public buildings, it´s very likely that most of them contain Braille. In fact, if you were to look even closer at those signs, you may notice that the writing (numbers or letters) may be raised or indented. This is another way for a blind person to “read” the sign.
I hope that this article has made you a bit more aware of the interesting world of Braille. Next time you are out in public, see if you find Braille, I just know that you will!