World Braille Day 2024: History & Significance

World Braille Day is observed annually on January 4, to mark the celebration of the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, who was the inventor of Braille. He was born on January 04, 1809, in France. This day aims to raise the importance of Braille. Braille is the medium of communication for blind and partially sighted people. In this article, we will learn about World Braille Day 2024: History & Significance.

World Braille Day 2024: History

This day is observed to mark the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, who was born on January 4, 1809. He lost his vision due to an accident at an early age. His writing system used six tactile dots to represent numerical, alphabetic, musical, mathematical, and scientific symbols. Later, he received a scholarship to the National Institute for Blind Children. To mark his birth anniversary, the United Nations General Assembly, initiated this day in 2019.

World Braille Day 2024: Significance

According to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Vision Atlas, over 253 million people had some form of visual impairment in 2015. Out of these, a vast majority suffered from moderate to severe visual impairment (MSVI). As many as 36 million people were considered blind.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), around 2.2 billion individuals are affected globally, with a growing number of individuals who suffer from various visual impairments, there is a growing need to ensure that these individuals can still participate in society and communicate in accessible formats, like Braille and audio.

What is Braille?

Braille is a tactile writing and reading system that uses a series of raised dots to represent letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other symbols. It was developed by Louis Braille, a French educator who himself was blind. The system is primarily used by individuals with visual impairments to read and write.

Braille characters are created using a six-dot cell, arranged in two vertical columns with three dots each. The dots are numbered from top to bottom, and each dot or combination of dots represents a specific letter or symbol.

The Braille system includes representations of the entire alphabet, numbers, and some common punctuation marks. Each letter is formed by a unique combination of dots within the six-dot cell.

Facts:

• The first Braille system was published in 1829 - and was adopted by the National Institute for Blind Youth.
• Louis Braille developed the Braille system by modifying Charles Barbie’s Night Write system.

FAQs:

1. World Braille Day is observed every year on which date?

Ans: January 4

2. World Braille Day is observed on January 4 to mark the birth anniversary of which personality?

Ans: Louis Braille