Hello 👋

My name is Harris S. Mowbray and I am a computational linguist from the United States. While getting a degree in International Relations, I started my life project of working with nations around the world to develop Braille for every language that doesn't have it yet, with the goal of allowing visually-impaired people to read and write any language that they want. Since graduating in 2022, I have grown my skills and now work with diverse communities to develop dictionaries, keyboards, teaching resources, and solve other linguistic problems.

I am always looking for more opportunities to put my linguistics and coding skills to good use. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in working together, refer to my contact information below or feel free to reach out on LinkedIn.

Presently I work remotely in New York City.

Portfolio

Ponca Dictionary

The Ponca language has less than a dozen speakers, but this online dictionary I developed with certainly help pass the language on to the next generation. The website has thousands of Ponca words and comes with a built-in keyboard for Ponca letters that don't occur in the English alphabet.

Online Casino

This website is meant to train casino dealers to pay out dozens of different games from Baccarat to Blackjack, including lesser-known games that can be found in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Universal Braille Converter

Nearly 200 years ago, Louis Braille invented an alphabet of raised dots to allow blind people to read with their hands. Converting entire books to Braille used to be very tedious, but my website lets anyone convert any text to Braille instantly. In the present day, Braille is used around the world for over a hundred languages, most of which are included on my multilingual website.

Learn Alphabets

While the text you're reading now is in the familiar Latin alphabet, it's just one of dozens of writing systems used around the world. The quizzes on this website aim to teach you the basics of reading dozens of languages from Arabic to Yiddish.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Braille and how does it work?

Braille is a tactile system of writing designed to allow visually-impaired people to read and write. Cells composed of dots form various patterns which correspond to letters, numbers, or punctuation marks. Braille has been developed for many languages to adapt to the various alphabets and writing systems used around the world.

How do you make Braille for languages around the world?

Braille was invented by Louis Braille in the 19th century to write allow blind people to read the French alphabet, and it was soon adapted to other major languages around the world. Generally, Braille is similar across languages; for example, the Braille symbol ⠙ represents the letter D in Spanish Braille, D in Italian Braille, D in Indonesian Braille, and even the equivalent letter Delta (Δ) in Greek Braille. In 1953 UNESCO established international standards regarding the uniformity of braille alphabets which govern patterns to follow for the creation of new Braille alphabets. I reach out to communities around the world and follow UNESCO's guidelines to develop new Braille alphabets to help visually-impaired people.

What inspired you to make Braille for different languages?

After reading about how Braille works in different languages, I wanted to develop it for smaller languages in order to help aid their revitalization and do my part to help reverse the global trend of language loss.

Are you blind or is anyone in your family blind?

I am not blind and neither was anyone I knew growing up. Through my work, I have become friends with blind people around the world.

What languages do you speak?

While I can speak a bit of Polish, Italian, Greek, and some other languages, the only languages I speak fluently are Spanish and my native language, English.

Where are you from?

I was born in New York City, grew up in the Silicon Valley, and went to university in Washington D.C. where I remained for a couple years after I graduated, before moving back to New York City in June.