Ambrose Cheuk-Wing Li

Exploring perceptions of braille on common everyday objects

Tactile writing sometimes has an advantage over purely visually presented text. As a form of tactile text, braille might be usable for tactile writing. If braille as tactile writing is usable on everyday objects, the amount of braille in the environment would increase and people might be encouraged to learn it, simultaneously addressing the decline in braille literacy. However, sighted individuals might perceive braille nega- tively. A preliminary study was thus conducted to gauge possible negative perceptions. A number of brailled and unbrailled ceramic bowls were fabricated and distributed, with questionnaires, at a public event. The process of fabrication and the question- naire responses suggest adding braille to studio ceramics is not straightforward, but a resistance to the addition of braille to objects is not expected. The study was limited in scope and the exploration of additional techniques, development of specialized tools, and further studies involving different objects and materials are recommended. http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/155/