World Braille Day is used to honour the Frenchman Louis Braille who invented the system, changing the lives of millions of people who are visually impaired.
Celebrated every year on January 4, the day marks the birth of the inventor and is being celebrated under the 2023 theme ‘The enduring legacy of Louis Braille’.
A braille is a system created for the visually impaired that enables them to read through the use of raised dots that are felt through fingertips. The dots are placed in specific ways that translate into letters, formulating words.
The term ‘braille’ was dubbed after its creator who lost his sight as a child when he accidentally stabbed himself in the eye.
At the age of 10, Braille went to the the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in France, where he created the system of raised dots that eventually became known as braille. Its use eventually became popular and accepted globally as a written language for the visually impaired.
Braille, the inventor, died in 1852. Two years later, the Royal Institute began teaching braille and the system helped to transform the lives of many.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), having recognised the importance of this instrument, declared January 4 as World Braille Day in November 2018. The following year marked the debut of the annual celebration.
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