Braille

   BRAILLE - Braille is a system of reading and writing by touch used by the blind. It consists of arrangements of dots which make up letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks. The basic Braille symbol, called the Braille cell, consists of six dots arranged in the formation of a rectangle, three dots high and two across. Other symbols consist of only some of these six dots. The six dots are commonly referred to by number according to their position in the cell. 

In other words braille is a system of touch reading &  writing for blind in which raised dots represent the letters of the alphabet. 

Night of Charles Barbier  : 

The braille's history goes all the way back to the early 1800s . Charles Barbier was the man who served in the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte, he only developed the "night writing". The development of " night writing " helped the soldiers to communicate safely at night. Barbier based his “night writing” system on a raised 12-dot cell; two dots wide and six dots tall. Each dot or combination of dots within the cell represented a letter or a phonetic sound. The problem with the military code was that the human fingertip could not feel all the dots with one touch. This development of "night writing" was a gift to the military by Barbier. 

 

The Story Behind The Inventor, Louis Braille  :

Braille was invented by Louis Braille, a French man who lost his eye sight at a young age and became blind because of an accident. Louis was blinded in both eyes, but went to be a great student. He also received a scholarship. 

He was a student when he started to develop a system which helped blind people to read and write in an easy way. In the year 1824 he presented his system for the first time. Although he was a professor at the institute, but he spent most of his time in further improvement of Braille language. For many years the language of Braille was not utilized but future generations realised how revolutionary this system was. 

• We celebrate World Braille Day every year on January 4th because it’s Louis Braille’s birthday. He’s the inventor of braille! Louis was born in 1809 in France and became blind after a childhood accident. But, he quickly mastered his new way of living. When Louis was only 15 years old, he created a reading and writing system based on Charles Barbier’s night writing system. We know Louis’ system today as braille. Adjusted over time, braille is now easier to read and used all over the world! 

World Braille Day is a reminder of the importance of accessibility and independence for people who are blind or visually impaired. Today’s reality is that many establishments such as restaurants, banks, and hospitals don’t offer braille versions of their print materials like menus, statements, and bills. Because of this, people with blindness or visual impairments often don’t have the freedom to choose a meal on their own or keep their finances private.

This day spreads awareness about braille and other accessible forms of communication. Everyone deserves (and is legally entitled to) the same accommodations and service, regardless of ability. Let’s remember that and do our part to make our workplaces more accessible for everyone.

Celebrate Braille Literacy : 

Braille literacy is also an important factor in equal opportunities for people with blindness. You can learn more about how literacy inequality affects those with a visual disability in our blog, Inequality in Literacy for People with Visual Disabilities.

Unfortunately, Louis Braille didn’t get to see just how helpful his invention became. He died in 1852; two years before his alma mater, France’s Royal Institute for the Blind Youth, adopted a braille curriculum. By 1916, schools around the United States taught braille to their students with blindness.

Today, Rubix cubes, watches, lego-style bricks, and other innovations are constantly changing the way we use braille and help increase braille literacy, too. That’s why you’ll find braille on objects you use every day — signs, ATMs, elevators, calculators, and more. It’s all thanks to Louis Braille and the schools that adopted and taught his reading and writing system.

Thanks giving for Braille:

Thanks Giving is a time for all of us to give thanks for the blessings in our life; even in this difficult year. Thanksgiving is also a time of inclusion. People who have a disability are often excluded from activities simply because those activities aren’t accessible. Let’s change that.

Today,  many people thank Braille for being conscientious of the need for inclusion of people who have varying degrees of abilities. People also thank for understanding the need for inclusion and work for equality for people with disabilities.

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla, and happily SPONSORED BY RRE Studios and SHOWCASE Events.