The Royal National Institute of Blind People held a panel event at The British Library on November 26 in honour of braille’s 200th anniversary of the invention.
Attendees were invited to explore a collection of historical braille items, including a braille teaching guide from 1889, a 1970s copy of the holy Quran and a map of The British Library.
The panellists included RNIB vice president, Lord David Blunkett; 11-year old braille author Betsy Griffin; RNIB’s inclusive design ambassador and chair of The Braillists Foundation, Dave Williams, who also chaired the discussion; BBC journalist and presenter, Emma Tracey; and UNESCO ambassador and Mauritian-born singer, Jane Constance.
Tracey addressed misconceptions about braille, stating: ‘I think there still is a myth that braille is an old thing, an old technology, and the blind braille users among us who use smartphones and computers know that it’s absolutely not, and there’s innovation all the time.’
Anna Tylor, chair of trustees at the RNIB, reflected: ‘This occasion not only offers us the chance to celebrate the inventor of braille, Louis Braille, and his incredible legacy, but also to recognise the enduring impact of braille in the lives of blind and partially sighted people worldwide.’
RNIB has called on the new government to protect and increase budgets for local authority visual impairment services and has urged the NHS and other organisations to commit to providing braille correspondence.
