Editing Louis Braille (section)

===Design===
Braille reworked Barbier's system by simplifying its form and maximizing its efficiency. He made uniform columns for each letter, and reduced the maximum of twelve raised dots to six. [[1829 braille|His first version]] used both dots and dashes. He published this version in 1829, but by the second edition in 1837 discarded the dashes because they were too difficult to read. Crucially, Braille's smaller cells were capable of being recognized as letters with a single touch of a finger.<ref name=Farrell98/>

Braille created his own raised-dot system using Barbier's [[slate and stylus]] tools. Barbier had donated many sets of these tools to the school. By soldering metal strips across the slate, Braille created a secure area for the stylus which would keep the lines straight and readable.<ref name=Farrell98/>

By these modest means, Braille constructed a robust communication system. "It bears the stamp of genius," wrote Dr. Richard Slating French, former director of the [[California School for the Blind]], "like the Roman alphabet itself".<ref>Bickel, p. 185.</ref>