The effect of hand movements on braille reading accuracy

Abstract

This study investigated types of hand movements of 32 participants who were blind while they were reading braille texts. Hand movements were correlated with: a) errors in reading accuracy, b) content of texts, c) educational level of texts and d) braille reading patterns. The movement ‘return to the line’ was strongly related to omission of phrases and words, whereas “forward scanning” was linked to errors regarding letters or syllables. The text content did not affect the type of hand movements during braille reading, while it was observed that there was a difference between secondary-level texts and primary-level texts. The study concludes with interesting outcomes about preferred braille reading patterns with important, theoretical, developmental and methodological implications in instruction. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd