Despite new technologies,
Braille remains as essential as ever for the blind
– Canadian Press

TORONTO — It’s been 200 years since the birth of Louis Braille, but the Frenchman who helped make reading and writing reality for people with vision loss is still making his mark.

The raised dot code bearing his name that Braille developed at age 15 continues to be used by millions. Since that time, a spate of evolving technologies from audio recordings to computer software has helped further expand ways for the blind to communicate.

Despite advancements, those who rely on Braille say it remains as essential as ever as a means of communication.

While his office is equipped with now-standard technological must-haves like a computer, even one of Jim Sanders’s most modern gadgets incorporates Braille.

His personal digital assistant features a row of Braille cells lining the bottom of the device with pins that pop up depending on the keys he pushes. Material downloaded to his handheld is automatically translated into Braille code.

Braille is integral to his life outside of work, like creating labels for his homemade wines.

“You would never think to say, ‘Gosh, I’m going to turn the computer monitor off; I’m going (to) no longer use a pencil and a paper,”‘ said Sanders, 61, president and CEO of CNIB, who was diagnosed with severe glaucoma as an infant and lost his sight at age 36.

“It just wouldn’t occur to you that you would no longer read print because you can hear the computers and you can read with talking books.”

“Using Braille for me is the exact same as using print for you.”

This year, CNIB and Braille200, the Canadian banner under which 200th anniversary celebrations are being planned and organized by the World Braille Foundation, are among organizations around the globe commemorating the bicentennial of Braille’s birth Jan. 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France.

Canadian festivities will kick off Friday in Toronto with a birthday party bash in Braille’s honour, marking the start of a year of celebrations, including Braille exhibits at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa and La Grande Bibliotheque in Montreal as well as educational and awareness programs. It will also include a special international essay competition around the theme “Technology as a Bridge to Braille Literacy.”

“Celebrating Braille: A Canadian Approach” will be unveiled as well. It’s the first Canadian textbook produced in nearly a half-century for new users learning Braille.

Halifax singer-songwriter Terry Kelly, best known for his Remembrance Day ballad “A Pittance of Time,” will debut “Merci Louis,” a song he wrote for the event.

Kelly, chair of the Canadian Braille Literacy Foundation, said that while he’s a lifetime Braille user, he didn’t know the whole story behind its creation.

When Braille was three, he accidentally punctured his eye with an awl, a sharp tool used to punch holes in leather. Infection eventually set in, which spread to his other eye, rendering him blind.

He later used that same device to punch dots that would come to form the coded system, Kelly said.

“What blinded him saved him,” he said. “That’s quite a story in and of itself.”

While technology has been beneficial, there are cases where it has created new obstacles for the blind, said John Rae of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians.

Depending on how a file like a .pdf document is created, Rae said he may not be able to access it. An increasing number of appliances, such as stereos, stoves and washing machines, are operated by flat-screen menus without buttons that the blind can’t use. Same goes for information touch screens on airplanes.

“The Internet has helped a lot, but as new ways of presenting information is developed, a lot of times, adaptive technology that we use is developed after mainstream technology is developed, so sometimes there is a lag between the time you can have access.”

Sanders said there are those in the field of education for the blind and students with vision loss who are concerned about misconceptions Braille isn’t needed.

What’s more, there is a particular challenge in Canada within isolated communities, where there likely won’t be an itinerant teacher who can teach Braille to youngsters, he said.

The solution to tackling the problem stems from recognition by both parents and policymakers that Braille is equivalent to print, particularly for young children.

“If you’re young and you do not know Braille and you cannot read print efficiently with your eyes, then you are essentially close to being illiterate.”