In response to his own need for a language in which he could communicate after his vision loss, Louis Braille designed a unique tactile method of reading and writing then named it after himself. Since that time, Braille has become the universal language of the blind and is commonly used to label a wide range of items from canned foods to medications. Composed of six embossed dots (three down and two across), a single Braille cell is the basis for an entire language, including numbers, punctuation, and contractions. From those six dots a world of words opens for those who are without sight.

In learning Braille, clients are taught to see if their fingers can distinguish one dot and array of dots in a cell from another before they begin learning the alphabet and punctuation in uncontracted Braille. They then may progress to contracted Braille in which they learn a variety of "shortcuts" to represent commonly used words. To write in Braille, clients may use a Perkins or other Brailler and/or a slate and stylus.

Those born blind learn Braille in school so have little adjustment to the structure of the Braille cell words. For those who lose vision later in life, learning Braille requires a reorientation to read with their fingers by dot and by character, not viewing the entire word then forming a picture in their minds. The sense of touch must be used to identify the relationships between dots and positions, and hands must be held in such a way as to be able to readily discern each dot. Many clients have to be taught to read with more than one finger and to use one hand to follow the other.

Braille undergoes changes that make it easier to identify each mark represented which is used in the printed language. Braille is different when used with computers, music, and mathematics, and those differences must be learned for each specific application of the language. Similarly, for electronic note takers, Braille comprises 8 dots so that underlining and capitalization can be shown.