History
Moon type was developed by Dr. William Moon (1818–1894), a blind Englishman living in Brighton, East Sussex. After a bout of scarlet fever, Moon lost his sight at age twenty-one and became a teacher of blind children. He discovered that his pupils had great difficulty learning to read the existing styles of embossed reading codes, and devised his own system that would be "open and clear to the touch."
Moon first formulated his ideas in 1843 and published the scheme in 1845. Moon is not as well known as Braille, but it is a valuable alternative touch reading scheme for blind or partially sighted people of any age.
Rather than the dots of braille type, Moon type is made up of raised curves, angles, and lines. As the characters are quite large and over half the letters bear a strong resemblance to the print equivalent, Moon has been found particularly suitable for those who lose their sight later in life or for people who may have a less keen sense of touch. It has also proved successful as a mode of literacy for children with additional physical and/or learning difficulties.
Moon books for fluent readers can be borrowed from the RNIB National Library Service and books for children from Clearvision Project.
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