Braille for Ancient Languages

[Colin Howard]

Greetings,

Thought this may be of use, especially to people such as Chris Biles,
comments from any others, such as Lisa Jones, would of course, be most
welcome.

I only know what is in the messsage.

Sent: Monday, August 24, 2026 2:35 PM


livingbraille.eu - Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 3:33 AM

Braille for Ancient Languages

Studying ancient languages such as Greek, Hebrew, Coptic or even Sumerian
and Akkadian may seem particularly challenging for blind students. The
Braille for Ancient Languages initiative shows that these languages can also
be studied effectively through braille.

The resources were created as part of the Digital Accessibility for Blind
Scholars of Antiquity project at Stanford University. Its aim is to improve
access to ancient languages for blind, visually impaired and print-disabled
students and scholars, particularly through the use of refreshable braille
displays and accessible digital texts.

A key part of the project was the development of high-quality braille
translation tables for LibLouis, the open-source braille translation engine
used by a number of screen readers, including NVDA, JAWS and VoiceOver.

The Braille for Ancient Languages website brings these resources together in
a practical form. It currently provides braille codes, sample texts and
links to accessible digital resources for Sumerian and Akkadian
transliteration, Classical and Biblical Hebrew, Classical and Koine Greek,
and Coptic. It also includes guidance for activating multilingual braille
tables in screen readers and introductory guides for both students and
teachers.

The project also highlights an important principle: audio alone cannot fully
replace braille when learning a language. Braille gives students direct
access to spelling, word structure and other features of written language
that are essential for serious linguistic study.

This is an inspiring example of how braille, digital technology and
open-source collaboration can work together to make even highly specialised
areas of education and scholarship more accessible.

Explore the project Braille for Ancient Languages (external link to Blind
Scholar).


https://www.livingbraille.eu/braille-for-ancient-languages/



David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

http://www.DavidGoldfield.com

Director of Marketing,

Blazie Technologies

http://www.BlazieTech.com

JAWS Certified, 2022

NVDA Certified Expert

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http://www.DavidGoldfield.com


Colin Howard from Southern England.