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Show Seeks Standard Braille Script Blind Blaze Trail To One Alphabet Washington, D. C. Blind men, walking where those who see have stumbled, are leading the world toward its first universal system of writing. Under the auspices of UNESCO, Braille an alphabet in raised dots is rapidly being standardized across the globe to serve seven million sightless men, women, and children who use some 85 different languages. The latest step toward world Braille was taken early this year at a conference at Beirut, Lebanon. Experts, gathered from the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and Africa, agreed on an enlarged and unified Braille script to replace 20-odd 20-odd local versions in use across these regions. The next step will be a meeting, soon to be scheduled, to iron out differences in Braille scripts used by Spanish - speaking countries. Blind readers ' in English-speaking nations have used a uniform script since ' 1932 when the United States adopted the simpler British Grade 2 system, which offered more contractions con-tractions than the U.S. form. |