World Braille Day

Every year, January 4th is World Braille Day. It raises awareness on the importance of braille as a communication tool for people who are visually impaired. It is also celebrated on this day to honor the birth of the Braille inventor “Louis Braille”.

Braille is a tactical writing system used by people who are visually impaired. Braille codes cover over 133 languages and 63 dot patterns. These patterns have rectangular blocks called cells that have tiny bumps called raised dots.

Braille History

Louis Braille was a Frenchman who lost his eyesight at the age of 3 when he accidentally stabbed himself in the eye with his father's awl. Soon infection spread all over his eyes leaving him completely visually impaired.

His invention of reading and writing brought a revolution to the entire world and especially to those who were visually impaired. At the age of 15, he developed a military code “Ecriture Nocture” (night writing) for the French Military and invented special codes for musical scores in braille. He published his first book “The method of writing words, music, and plain songs by the means of Dots” in 1829. Later, he developed a system for Mathematics and Music.

Interesting facts

  • Toys in Braille: The biggest classic family games, such as UNO, LEGO, and Rubik's Cube are available in Braille versions.
  • Braille Tattoos: Most people get flat (ink) braille across tattoos, while others get small surgical beads inserted under their skin to create raised braille dots.
  • Braille Asteroid: there is an Asteroid, that later NASA named it “9969 Braille” in honor of Louis Braille.
  • Military Code “Night Writing”: This special writing was developed by French Army in 1819 to communicate at night without speaking or by using Candles.
  • Accessible Canadian Currency: The Tactical feature is the feature on Canadian banknotes to aid people who are visually impaired to identify the notes, designed by Susan Leaderman, a professor at Queen University.

Did you know that?

Within ESDC, the Information Technology Accessibility Office (ITAO) offers adaptive technology aids such as JAWS, NVDA, and Braille Display. These devices are screen readers, which will either read aloud or display the text on the keyboard with raised dots.

If you require adaptive technology support, please submit a request to the ITAO team.

We encourage you to visit ESD's 3-year Accessibility Plan and see how together we are one step ahead towards making an Accessible Canada.