# Can anyone learn to read Braille by touch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565 "2012-08-05T23:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/21 "2012-08-07T12:24:02Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > But presumably, drive-through ATM’s have Braille keys because **all** ATM’s have Braille keys, and it would be pointless to set up a separate production line to manufacture Braille-less keys. You presume wrong. Braille is used on drive thru ATM’s so that blind people being taken to the bank by taxi or by a friend can enter their own information and make the transaction without fear of being ripped off. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/22 "2012-08-07T14:07:32Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > You presume wrong. Braille is used on drive thru ATM’s so that blind people being taken to the bank by taxi or by a friend can enter their own information and make the transaction without fear of being ripped off. Not likely. How would a blind person in the back seat of a cab know whether the driver is watching when the PIN is pushed? Or anything worse that might happen? I think Braille ATM keys are more for show than practicality. What happens if a notice appears on the screen saying the thing is out of order, out of cash, can only dispense 50s or any of a number of other problems, even eating the bank card? The blind person wouldn’t have a clue as to what was wrong. How does a blind person know that the first button to push — a pattern possibly lasting for years — changed overnight or even one minute before? Suddenly, for instance, the first button to push is to OK or cancel accepting only 50s (as happened twice to me at a busy bank I use) not to choose the language displayed, not chequing or savings, and because the pattern has changed all goes wrong from then on. How would the blind person know? I have never seen a blind person using a bank machine and I have never come across a bank machine with audio, in North America or Europe. “Your 15 hundred dollars await your removal from the slot. Thank you for banking at First Wall Street Robber Baron.” A blind person at an ATM might as well be wearing a target. Braille on ATMs is pure PR, meant for the sighted. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/23 "2012-08-07T16:10:54Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > I have never seen a blind person using a bank machine. I have. In fact, both of the blind people I’ve had a co-workers used ATM machines and were quite happy to have the braille on them. As far as being a target - well, the old lady looked kind of frail, but her seeing eye dog had a mouth like a bear trap and was _very_ protective of his mistress. Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Maybe you should look harder. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/24 "2012-08-07T16:19:45Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > I have never seen a blind person using a bank machine A blind person has never seen you using a bank machine, either. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Freakenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b782af/32.png) [@Freakenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freakenstein)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/25 "2012-08-07T17:38:49Z")
You need to have soft fingertips. I’ve always wondered those blind musicians, especially guitarists. I play bass and My fingertips are sometimes so hard I couldn’t tell a grater from table without sliding My fingers. Maybe they just save a pinkie for reading or perhaps use the side of a finger right beside the nail. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/26 "2012-08-07T18:09:28Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Maybe you should look harder. Next time I use a drive-through I’ll strain my eyes. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > A blind person has never seen you using a bank machine, either. 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/27 "2012-08-07T18:53:51Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Not likely. How would a blind person in the back seat of a cab know whether the driver is watching when the PIN is pushed? Or anything worse that might happen? > > I think Braille ATM keys are more for show than practicality. > > What happens if a notice appears on the screen saying the thing is out of order, out of cash, can only dispense 50s or any of a number of other problems, even eating the bank card? The blind person wouldn’t have a clue as to what was wrong. > > How does a blind person know that the first button to push — a pattern possibly lasting for years — changed overnight or even one minute before? Suddenly, for instance, the first button to push is to OK or cancel accepting only 50s (as happened twice to me at a busy bank I use) not to choose the language displayed, not chequing or savings, and because the pattern has changed all goes wrong from then on. How would the blind person know? > > I have never seen a blind person using a bank machine and I have never come across a bank machine with audio, in North America or Europe. “Your 15 hundred dollars await your removal from the slot. Thank you for banking at First Wall Street Robber Baron.” > > A blind person at an ATM might as well be wearing a target. > > Braille on ATMs is pure PR, meant for the sighted. [Here you go.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQuAGJakHM) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/28 "2012-08-07T19:34:38Z")
[The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/946/why-is-there-braille-on-drive-up-teller-machines) Good reason to have braille on all ATMs. “Because the dog can’t be expected to drive and use the ATM machine!” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/29 "2012-08-07T19:37:30Z")
Didn’t most people who can read braille learn it by touch? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/30 "2012-08-07T20:29:55Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > [Here you go.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQuAGJakHM) That’s the first audio ATM I’ve seen. They must be rare, indeed. I’m not sure whether that video shows the exception that proves the rule or not. Good thing he had earphones, but he had a lot of trouble anyway. If banks are to provide ATMs for the blind, the damn things should be standardized. Why should it take three or four frustrating minutes just to find the hole for the headphones jack? The video illustrates, however, that Braille alone would not provide enough information to use an ATM. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/31 "2012-08-08T18:00:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Didn’t most people who can read braille learn it by touch? Yes, but the question is whether a sighted person can. And the answer is, yes, if they stop trying to think visually. Hence the difficulty–90% of our information is visual, so it’s hard not to think in that manner. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565/32 "2012-08-09T14:20:47Z")
A few years ago I was in Costa Rica and brought back some coins. Somebody noticed that the denominations were written in Braille. The Braille numbers were so small and so flat, I think they were just put there as a joke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-learn-to-read-braille-by-touch/630565.md?page=1)