Grade 1 GS Symbols and Syntax


The WWW is not an ideal medium for providing detailed information about braille. The symbols felt by Braille readers on a refreshable braille display depend on the coding table of the display. For the moment, we are forced to be content with a description that gives the dot numbers for each building block. In technical discussions about six-dot braille, the upper left dot is denoted dot-1, the dot below it is dot-2, and the lower left dot is dot-3. The upper right dot is dot-4, the one below it is dot-5, and the lower right dot is dot-6. For eight-dot braille cells the same convention is used for the uper six dots. The dot on the lower left is denoted dot-7, and the lower right dot is dot-8.

GS notation is modeled on the powerful, well-tested page layout language TeX. It includes all syntactical elements of TeX, most common symbols, and a prescription for adding new exotic symbols and on-line graphic elements as the need arises.

The most common GS building blocks are those that are single cells in GS8 and either single or double cells in GS6. We have grouped these simple building blocks into the following categories and described their dot patterns in the linked pages. The second set, whose meaning is related to the shape of the cell pattern is used for some set theory symbols and some symbols used in basic geometry. They are given at the end of the list.


Go to Braille Index