Today we celebrate World Braille Day

Today, January 4 is World Braille Day, celebrated by the UN since 2019, it is observed to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people.

It's an important opportunity to emphasise the significance of 'enlightenment' at a time when so many are being drawn down a path of narrow-minded popularism.

What is Braille?

Braille is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. Braille (named after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font.

The United Nations website site notes that Braille is essential in the context of education, freedom of expression and opinion, as well as social inclusion, as reflected in article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.