Lego made its Braille Bricks available to purchase for the first time after previously only being distributed for free to organisations specialising in education of children living with vision impairment.
Rasmus Løgstrup, lead designer on Lego Braille Bricks, said: ‘Play has the power to change lives; when children play, they learn vital life-long skills, so we were thrilled by the reception that Lego Braille Bricks received in educational settings. We’ve been inundated with thousands of requests to make them more widely available, so we just knew we had to make it happen.’
The company’s Braille set included 287 bricks in five colours and were fully compatible with other Lego products. Studs on each brick were arranged to correspond to the numbers and letters in the Braille system with the printed version of the symbol positioned below the studs.
Lego will also provide assistance via the Be My Eyes app, which connects blind and partially sighted people with companies to help with everyday tasks.
The set launched on September 1 in English and French with more languages available in 2024, and Braille and audio building instructions have become a permanent offering.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People partnered with Lego to test the bricks during a pilot project in 2019.
