Q 01/05

How many raised dot positions make up a standard braille cell?

A) Nine

B) Six

C) Four

D) Eight

Answer · why

B) Six

They are arranged in a 3-by-2 matrix, numbered 1 to 3 down the left column and 4 to 6 down the right.

Q 02/05

How many possible patterns can a six-dot braille cell form, counting the empty cell used as a space?

A) 64

B) 16

C) 48

D) 32

Answer · why

A) 64

Because there are only 64, most braille characters carry several meanings depending on context.

Q 03/05

How old was Louis Braille when he developed his code in 1824?

A) Eleven

B) Twelve

C) Fifteen

D) Fourteen

Answer · why

C) Fifteen

He was still a student at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris when he presented it to his peers.

Q 04/05

How did Louis Braille lose his sight?

A) A fireworks explosion on Bastille Day

B) A fall from a horse at a country fair

C) A bout of smallpox as an infant

D) An awl accident in his father's workshop

Answer · why

D) An awl accident in his father's workshop

He was three when the awl glanced off the leather into one eye; the infection spread to the other and he was fully blind by five.

Q 05/05

In which small town about twenty miles east of Paris was Louis Braille born in 1809?

A) Fontainebleau

B) Provins

C) Coupvray

D) Meaux

Answer · why

C) Coupvray

His childhood home there is now a museum, and the town square was renamed Braille Square.