User Research ・UX Design・Prototyping
Braille Cards
A learning tool to assist those trying to learn braille and those trying to teach braille to the visually impaired.
Softwares:
- Adobe Illustrator
An Introduction to Learning Braille
Prior research of braille had to be done before the start of the design process. The idea of braille cards is to provide an introduction into the basics of braille and help the ease process of understanding and learning braille
Braille Cells
Braille is broken up into 6 cells and a complex system of words. Braille Cards focus is not to teach the whole language but be a stepping stone into learning the basics.
Key Design
Simplicity and imitation. It's important to recognize how braille exists in real life. Imitation of how braille exists in a natural environment is the best way to provide a realistic learning opportunity.
The spikes at the bottom indicate the orientation of the card. This way, people will have a sense of which way they are holding the card.
Prototype
The card is made up of 3 layers. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and limitation of materials, the prototype is made up of layers of paper.
The printer paper is the outer layer with the holes, the translucent paper creates a textural difference so the reader can indicate what letter it is and the card stock adds weight and thickness to complete the card.
The purpose of the card is to achieve a similar experience to real braille. The idea is that (1) the person will feel the difference between the two textures of paper and (2) feel a sense of depth to read the letter.
Obviously, braille projects outward instead of inward, but again, because of limitation of resources, it projects inward. The main idea to get is that there is a depth difference.
Alphabet
Users can learn the alphabet through the cards and mix them up to create simple words in order to understand the basics of reading letters.
Punctuation
Braille Cards also teaches how to read the comma and period with two examples cards. This allows them to apply their skills into simple sentences.
Capitalization
Capital letters are indicated in braille through one or two dots on the 6th cell. Capitalization cards also come with two examples cards.
