Empowering Lives Through Dots: Celebrating World Braille Day

Posted On: 2025-01-04 10:37:54

“ While I may be blind, my vision is clear through the touch of Braille, connecting the dots of knowledge and paving the way for a world where barriers dissolve in the power of literacy.” - Louise Braille

Every year on January 4, the world observes World Braille Day, a global campaign to increase awareness of the vital role braille plays in helping blind people communicate. This remembrance day highlights the importance of braille in helping people with visual impairments realise their full range of human rights

In a proclamation issued in November 2018, the UN General Assembly chose this date to mark the birthday of Louis Braille, who invented the braille writing system. On January 4, 2019, the first World Braille Day celebration was held. The phrase bears the name of its creator, "Braille." Louis Braille lost his vision when he was a small child after accidentally hurting his eye with his father's awl. Beginning when he was ten years old, he worked at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in France, where he created and refined the raised-dot method that would later be known as Braille.

Braille completed his work by developing a code based on six-dot cells that allowed a fingertip to move rapidly between cells while still sensing the entire unit with a single touch. Eventually, braille became widely accepted as the main written information format for blind people worldwide. Regretfully, Braille was unable to see how beneficial his invention was. He died in 1852, two years before Braille instruction began at the Royal Institute.

Braille is a gateway to independence, not just a set of raised dots. It gives millions of people throughout the world access to:

• Education: Students can study and achieve academic success with the help of braille textbooks.
• Employment: Equal opportunities are guaranteed by braille workplace documents.
• Everyday Life: Braille labels, menus, and signage improve accessibility.
• Cultural Enrichment: Braille artwork, music notation, and literature foster creativity.

The significance of fostering an inclusive society where people with visual impairments can flourish is highlighted on World Braille Day. It is an appeal to governments, institutions, and people to:

• Encourage the use of braille.
• Promote infrastructure that is accessible.
• Encourage projects aimed at producing braille materials.
• Increase understanding of the difficulties that people with vision impairments encounter.

Fascinating Insights of Braille

• The French army created braille in 1819 so that troops could converse without using voice or candles at night.
• When NASA's Deep Space 1 passed an asteroid in 1999 while en route to take a picture of Borrelly's Comet, it was christened "9969 Braille" in honour of Louis Braille.
• Almost any language, including Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Spanish, and more, maybe written using the adaptable Braille alphabet, which was developed in 1819.
• While contracted Braille functions as a condensed form of Braille, shortening well-known terms, uncontracted Braille writes out each word.
• The Nemeth Code is a customised form of Braille intended for use in science and mathematics.
• Braille versions of well-known family games like LEGO, Uno, and Monopoly are available.
• Every year, more than 1,400 blind students from the United States and Canada compete in the Braille Institute's Braille Skills competition.
• Although sighted people read 300 words per minute on average, skilled Braille readers can read 400 words per minute.

World Braille Day serves as a reminder of the strength of creativity and the long-lasting effects of a young boy's will to change the world. Let's renew our commitment to creating a society where everyone, regardless of ability, has the resources and chances to lead a happy life as we commemorate this day. Braille is a monument to the human spirit's tenacity, not merely a system of dots.

AUTHOR: ATHIRA PRADEEP NAIR