Charles Barbier de la Serre (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl baʁbje də la sɛʁ]; 18 May 1767 – 22 April 1841) was the French inventor of several forms of shorthand and alternative means of writing, one of which became the inspiration for Braille.

[3] In this book, Barbier explains that conventional writing is a barrier to universal literacy because it takes too long to learn, and people who must earn their living (farmers, artisans) cannot devote the necessary time to education.

Barbier preferred the phonetic version, arguing that learning the rules of spelling presented a further barrier to literacy for those without formal education.

The dots were not intended to be made with ink, but pressed into thick paper with a blunt punch so that they could be read with the fingers.

Barbier simultaneously invented three tools to make this possible: a grooved board (or tablette) to receive the impressions, the punch itself, and a guide to ensure that the dots lined up.

Before this time, the students at the school had learned to read using books with raised letters that were difficult to decipher and that took up a great deal of space.

Barbier's method allowed the students to take notes in class that they could re-read, and to communicate with other blind people.

But it was a "proof of concept"[6] – blind people could read raised dots that formed a code, and could easily use the tools that Barbier had invented.

As one writer put it in a history of the school written in 1907: "The punch, the ruled tablette, and the guide, were a triple invention from which would come the practical instruction of the blind.

Later writers have embroidered on this story to describe a hostile encounter between Barbier and a very young Braille.