EBU Focus 'The importance of Braille'

As from March 2019 the EBU Focus newsletters will now be available, as word documents only, in Polish, Serbian and Turkish.

Let me start by confessing, I am a Braille user, a Braille lover and fan and a Braille promoter.

I believe that Braille is liberating and is a key to educational and professional success and independence for persons who are blind or have severely low vision.

For sighted persons, and likewise for those with low vision, text in Braille very seldom pops up in their everyday activities and lives. They see and use printed information, be it in ordinary or enlarged fonts.

However, stemming from an EU directive from 2004, it became mandatory that all medicinal packages and containers should be labelled with Braille, indicating the name of the product and basic indications such as important information about the strength of active substances. This has led to a quite unique exposition of Braille on close to all medicinal products, visible for sighted users and touchable for Braille users.

If we are new in a building, we need information to help us finding our way: Where am I? Where can I find something or someone? Who/what is hidden behind a door? Where does a path lead to?

That UN has now fortified the focus on Braille by recognizing the Birthday of the inventor, Louis Braille, on January 4, should mean that on all levels, trickling from the international level down to national and local level, Braille should be acknowledged, supported and given prime priority.