On the occasion of World Braille Day 2023, EBU is proud to release a new video emphasizing the ongoing importance of Braille for our community.
In recent years, we are finding ourselves facing the rapid blossoming of technologies allowing blind and partially sighted people the access to the information. Something that was unthinkable just a few decades ago. We can enjoy all kinds of information accessible through computers, smart phones, smart speakers or even wearable glasses with cameras. Is this sufficient for daily life though? For sure, it is not the only path for every blind and partially sighted person to choose. It is very important to develop the skills to master any possible channel for working effectively with the information and then use them to their maximum potential.
One braille please!
Braille code is an almost 200 years old tool we have been given by its inventor. Unfortunately, in the last years along with the revolution in the field of technology development, braille had been pushed to the margin of our interest. But braille is never going to stop being a form of security for blind and partially sighted people in a world of constant and instant information. In the world, where the letters of names, streets, products, shops, ATMs, vending machines flashes at us with some important information as soon as we take a walk on the street. Braille is an alphabet. Therefore, it can represent important information as well as ink-print. Of course, it is not always the most effective way to communicate some information, for example if it is not physically possible to install in some places, or it is too long to be represented and read in a short period of time. It does however count as an equal partner to digital technologies supplying information to a blind person in many situations. All we want to do is give the braille a chance to show its full potential.
Video presentation
The Braille working group of EBU created a video about the importance of braille in our lives. This video does not just sum up the situations where braille is used. It also focuses on stressing the importance of broadening its existence in public spaces and product packaging.
Through the roles played by the Braille workgroup members the video offers a modern presentation of braille itself, encouraging anybody with a blind relative or student to bring more braille to the environment they live in, to their communication and interaction. It clearly shows that braille doesn't need to be only about expensive books difficult to buy or get your hands on. From early childhood it can be introduced by simple games or postcards. But mainly, it can be produced cheaply and quite easily even for a non-braillist.
The video was co-funded by EBU and the European Union. Come and see the few minutes of the braille in the subway station, restaurant menu, playing cards, cosmetic products, birthday wish, but also in the digital world of information. All the important devices and techniques to create braille are closely explained in the article on livingbraille.eu.