Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809, and that date is celebrated internationally as World Braille Day each year. Before the development of Braille’s revolutionary raised dot system, people who were blind had virtually no way to access written information independently, effectively cutting them off from a vital form of communication.
Over the years, technological advances have allowed more people than ever to access braille in new and exciting ways, from the Perkins Brailler, which resembles a typewriter, to refreshable braille displays, which connect to computers or other electronic devices and spell out text by raising and lowering dots sequentially.
Meanwhile, other technologies have come along that give people who are blind or low vision other options for accessing information. Those include screen reader and magnification software enabling tech-proficient users to interact with computers. These technologies have been critical additions to the communication toolbox available to people with vision loss.
While the emergence of those tools has resulted in fewer people learning braille, they have not replaced it, and braille is far from obsolete. It remains an incredibly important format, and for many situations there’s really no substitute. For example, you can’t use screen reader software to label the jars in your spice rack, and no amount of magnification will enable a person who is blind to read the numbers on elevator buttons. Braille is more than a link to literacy; it’s a powerful aid for daily living.
The reality is that all these accessible formats, digital and analog, are important. Unfortunately, making crucial written materials accessible remains an afterthought to much of society. Progress is being made on website accessibility, but there is still a long way to go. And the problem is not limited to cyberspace. A lot of business is still conducted on paper, and many companies, institutions and public agencies are still falling short on making their forms, instructions and other key documents available in braille and large-print formats. It’s up to us to continually remind them, politely but firmly, of this responsibility.
There are several organizations operating either nationally or within Wisconsin that do excellent work to produce braille materials. National Braille Press has been creating a wide range of braille publications, including educational material, for nearly a century. The Milwaukee-based nonprofit Audio & Braille Literacy Enhancement (ABLE) transcribes print materials in a variety of accessible formats, both audio and tactile. Braille Library & Transcribing Services in Madison transcribes all sorts of material for education, jobs, leisure and daily living, and maintains a large braille library from which users can borrow books free of charge.
Unfortunately, there are major threats to the future of braille training. The U.S. Department of Education recently eliminated federal support for key university programs and resources for teachers and vision rehab therapists, impacting both children and adults needing braille literacy for independence and employment. It’s critical that we help policymakers understand the importance of braille and communicate to them that this assault on braille training is not acceptable.
Regardless of what happens with federal support for braille, progress toward a fully accessible society will go on. And regardless of new technology and the accompanying decrease in braille users, braille will remain an important part of that accessible future.