World Braille Day 2022: History Significance and More Facts
World Braille Day is celebrated on January 4th, every year, to honor Lord Braille who invented Braille codes, which created a new medium of communication for people who are visually impaired. The central idea of World Braille Day is to raise awareness and the importance of Braille literacy.
World Braille Day History
Louis Braille, was 3 years old when he accidently punched his eyes using an awl (a leather piercing tool) which later led to a severe infection in his eyes. He lost vision in his eyes. Louis Braille invented a system of codes at the age of 15, in 1824, that helped in bridging the gap between the people who could see and people who could not. He developed Braille codes that could be easily interpreted by people who were blind and it became a medium of communication. He was quick enough to invent a new system of communication for all. The Braille codes were used to read and write and helped in educating the visually impaired. His invention transformed many lives and was converted into different languages to include people from different regions. Presently, Braille codes for over 133 languages are in use.
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World Braille Day Significance
How has Braille become a relevant medium of communication?
- Braille codes are used in almost every country as a medium of communication. Braille codes have also been developed in different languages to include people from different regional backgrounds.
- There are different ways to type Braille codes, one can emboss braille on special paper using a Braille typewriter or special kind of printers.
- Braille codes have been picked up by popular culture, famous brands like LEGO, UNO and Rubik’s Cube have introduced their toys with Braille codes to give representation to visually impaired people.
- The typewriter used for Braille codes is slightly different from a normal typewriter. It has six keys that are related to the six dots, along with a space key, backspace key and enter key.
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Why should we celebrate World Braille Day?
Braille literacy is an important topic, and people who are privileged with the power of sight, should take a step further and raise awareness about it. At least 2.2 billion people across the world have a near or distance vision impairment. Not everybody is privileged enough to learn Braille codes, hence, the language should be made accessible to everybody who is visually impaired. On World Braille Day, we should work on providing more representation to blind people, which means more blind people in academia, or workplaces. They should not be restricted because of the power of sight. One should remember that there is more to accomplish in life and a hurdle or obstacle should never come in the way.
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