World Braille Day

To celebrate the birthday of Louis Braille, the inventor of the reading and writing system used by millions of blind all over the world, the World Braille Day was launched.

Although this day is not a public holiday in any country, World Braille Day is a chance for teachers, charities and non-government organizations to raise awareness about problems with the blind and the importance of continuing to produce works in Braille and help them to access with reading and learning opportunities.

The Origin of World Braille Day

Louis Braille, the inventor of braille, was born on January 4^th, 1809 in France. Althought he was blinded in both eyes in an accident, he still tried his best to managed his disability. He was excellent in his education and received scholarship to France’s Royal Insitute for Blind Youth.

During his study, the military cryptography of Charles Barbier of French Army gave him the inspiration to develop a system of tactile code that allow the blind to read and write quickly and efficiently. When he was 15 years old, he presented the results of his work to his peeks. In 1829, Braille published his first book about the system created by himself, called “Method of Writing Words, Music and Plain Songs by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged for them”.

This system represented the alphabet letters and numbers in a series of 6 dots paired up in 3 rows. He helped the thousands of the blind have chance to read by running their fingertips over the dots.

How to celebrate World Braille Day

Because of restrictive international copyright laws, only 5% of all published materials get produced in accessible formats, which means under 10% of blind children in developing countries go to school due to the shortage of teaching materials.

The Marrakesh Treaty is an internation agreement finalized in June 2013 that allow copyright exceptions for publishing works widely. Since, schools for the blind in wealthier countries would be able to send books to schools in poorer countries. However, this treaty becomes law in all of countries around the world if you share it. So, to celebrate Louis Braille achievements and helps the blind all over the world, let write a letter to your government to make the treaty a reality.