World Braille Day 2022: As we continue facing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must also prevent the blind community from falling behind
By Harrish Thirukumaran
January 4, 2022 marked the 212th birth anniversary of Louis Braille. Born on January 4 1809, he was the inventor of the Braille code. After being accidentally blinded at the age of three in his father’s workshop, Braille had developed his famous tactile code by the time he turned 12.
It forever revolutionized how the blind community participated in their wider societies and communities. It is an event that inspired World Braille Day.
Eye conditions are remarkably common. The World Health Organization estimates that globally, at least 1 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed.
Persons with vision impairment are more likely than those without to experience higher rates of poverty and disadvantage. Not meeting their needs, or fulfilling their rights, has wide-reaching consequences: vision loss often represents a lifetime of inequality, poorer health, and barriers to education and employment.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006, has advanced the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. The Convention considers Braille essential for education, freedom of expression and opinion, access to information and social inclusion. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015, further pledges that no one will be left behind in the aim to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives.
In November 2018 (Resolution A/RES/73/161), the General Assembly decided to proclaim January 4th as World Braille Day, recognizing that the full realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms relies on an inclusive written promotion.
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.
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.
In relation to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the visually impaired, life under lockdown has posed several issues in terms of independence and isolation, especially for people who rely on the use of touch to communicate their needs and access information. The pandemic has revealed how critically important it is to produce essential information in accessible formats, including in Braille and audible formats. Without these crucial supports, people with disabilities could face a higher risk to contract and spread COVID.
For example, in Malawi, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has produced more than 4,000 braille materials on awareness and prevention of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, disseminated audio information, as well as education and communication materials, to media professionals, and developed Braille versions of educational messages.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also produced guidance notes in multiple languages and accessible formats, including Braille and ‘easy-to-read’ versions.
Although World Braille Day has passed at the time of this writing, you can still take a moment to raise awareness on the importance of this tool to blind people. Resources on Braille such as the Writing Manual can be found on the UN website. As we continue addressing the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must also prevent the blind community from falling behind.
Written in January 2022
