World Braille Day

The 4th of January commemorates the birthday of Louis Braille (1809-1852) who invented "Braille" in 1821. Braille was blinded in an accident when he was three years old. By the age of fifteen he had developed the Braille system of reading and writing (via). The Braille code is one means to ensure inclusion and equal opportunities for a great many people worldwide (via).

Rubik's Cube Braille Version via



Braille Stamps by Dutch Design Award winner René Put via



Braille Graffiti via



According to the World Health Organization, about 285 million people are visually impaired, 39 million are blind and 246 million people have low vision. 90% of people of the world's visually impaired live in developing countries, 80% of all visual impairment can be avoided or cured (via).

Judges doing their job

By now, there was the criticism that no single blind judge could be found in Austria (by contrast with its neighbouring country Germany that has 70 judges with visual impairment). People with completed education and training in law were rejected due to their vision disability (see). Now, finally, people have decided differently and two blind Austrian judges will start working in January 2014.

 

Britta Evans-Fenton's Hearing Braille: "A small microphone is placed behind the paper with braille script. As the viewer runs his or her fingers across the page to feel the braille, they hear their touch on the paper. It makes the viewer extremely aware of their touch, almost heightening that sense on the sheet." (photo via)