New forms of media following the rise of technological advances have eclipsed the written word, and Braille literacy among the visually impaired appears to be on a gradual decline.
Before the nineteenth century, the visually impaired read letters using makeshift methods – either carved in wood or wax, formed by wire, or outlined in felt with pins.1Vexed by these arcane restrictions, Louis Braille invented his six-dot system in 1824 by building on the night writing method developed by a French Army officer for soldiers to send messages in the dark.
The system, in varying patterns of domino-like “cells”, provided a total of 63 permutations for different letters and numbers. Musical notes and a 64th permutation, known as the “space” symbol, were later included. 2 Noted for its simplicity, Braille’s method has since been globally adopted.
However, new forms of media following the rise of technological advances have eclipsed the written word, and Braille literacy among the visually impaired appears to be on a gradual decline. Braille books are expensive and unwieldy, requiring reams of thick, oversized paper – the Harry Potter series printed by the National Braille Press totalled 56 volumes, each standing nearly a foot tall.
