Tap, tap, tap ... ding.

The noise is similar to a typewriter, but it's a Perkins Braille writer.

It's what 40 visually impaired students used Friday at the Utah Braille Challenge at the Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Salt Lake.

"It's old-fashioned," says Brittany Southworth, 16, of Cedar Hills, who attends Lone Peak High School.

The front of the Brailler has nine keys. Combinations of six main keys create Braille symbols. There is also one button on either side. The left button makes the paper go up to the next line. The right button is the backspace. A large middle button is the space bar. The impressions made by the Brailler can be "read" with fingers.

Learning Braille isn't easy, said Kristy Yang, 12, of Clinton, who attends Clinton Elementary School. "But once you get used to it, it's not that hard to learn," Yang said. "My fingers get a little numb sometimes, but they don't hurt."

The students type on heavy paper so the Braille letters can be imprinted.

In one competition Friday, contestants converted a tape-recording into Braille. Another had the students find spelling errors in Braille.

Many visually impaired people use a modern tool to write Braille, which has keys similar to the Perkins but is called a note taker and is more like a laptop computer.

Friday's event was sponsored by the Utah Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired, in conjunction with the Braille Institute of America, based in Los Angeles.

Competition categories included spelling, speed, proofreading and best overall. Students won ribbons, as well as medals that read "Braille Challenge" — in Braille, of course, on the back.

Friday's scores will be submitted nationally. Seventy top visually impaired students will compete in the National Braille Challenge in Los Angeles in June.

Parent Marla Palmer, Centerville, has two children who are visually impaired and attend Legacy Preparatory Academy, a charter school in North Salt Lake. Although her children can see well enough to read large print, she believes learning Braille is a worthwhile supplement.

"It's a good literacy tool," Palmer said, adding the annual Braille competition is a good self-esteem boost. "And it motivates them to practice and learn," she said.