Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Introduced in 1951 by the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, the Perkins Brailler is one of the most successful machines for typing raised Braille text for the visually impaired, with hundreds of thousands in use in over 170 countries. However, the history of Braille, other tactile alphabets, and the mechanical means of producing them go back over 200 years.

Stenotype video: youtu.be/OPZW8prlEYE
Simplex Typewriters video: youtu.be/KniIDE1iX1Y
Gescha Typewriter video: youtu.be/htttLK63CY8

0:00 Introduction
1:00 Louis Braille
1:40 Haüy Raised Writing
2:52 Barbier Night Writing
5:39 Braille Overview
7:54 Moon Type
8:36 Slate and Stylus
9:01 Hall Braille Writer
10:29 New York Point
10:40 Stainsby Brailler
10:59 Perkins Brailler Origins
11:41 Perkins Brailler Operation
14:12 Perkins Brailler Mechanism
16:12 Modern Braille Embossers
17:01 Outro

SOURCES
antiquetypewriters.com/typewriter/kleidograph-a
antiquetypewriters.com/typewriter/hall-braille-writer-1
http://inbaf.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/the-perkins-operating-instruct.pdf
dsq-sds.org/article/id/790
perkins.org/perkins-brailler
web.archive.org/web/20121028034532/http://www.perkins.org/assets/downloads/research/history-of-brailler-11-17-09.pdf
web.archive.org/web/20111020192455/http://www.perkins.org/about-us/history/historical-timeline.html
typewriter.be/hallbraille.htm