• Since 2019, the United Nations has been observing January 4 as World Braille Day. The day is observed to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realisation of human rights for blind and partially sighted people.

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. 

• World Braille Day commemorates the birthday of Louis Braille. He was born on January 4, 1809. Having become blind after a childhood accident, at age 15, Louis Braille created the eponymous system we know today.

• It has been tweaked over the years and as early as 1949, the UNESCO took the initiative to promote a survey of problems aimed at establishing Braille uniformity.

• The 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has advanced the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities, considers Braille essential for education, freedom of expression and opinion, access to information and social inclusion.

• According to WHO’s ‘World Report On Vision’, at least 2.2 billion people around the world have a vision impairment, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. This 1 billion people include those with moderate or severe distance vision impairment or blindness due to unaddressed refractive error (123.7 million), cataract (65.2 million), glaucoma (6.9 million), corneal opacities (4.2 million), diabetic retinopathy (3 million), and trachoma (2 million), as well as near vision impairment caused by unaddressed presbyopia (826 million).

COVID-19 and people with disabilities

• Even under normal circumstances, persons with disabilities are less likely to access health care, education, employment and to participate in the community. They are more likely to live in poverty, experience higher rates of violence, neglect and abuse, and are among the most marginalised in any crisis-affected community. 

• For 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. Otherwise, many persons with disabilities could face a higher risk of contamination due to a lack of access of guidelines and precautions to protect and reduce the spreading of a pandemic. COVID-19 has also emphasised the need to intensify all activities related to digital accessibility to ensure digital inclusion of all people.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, many good practices have been implemented by parts of the United Nations system to promote a disability-inclusive response to the COVID-19 and disseminate information in Braille.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store