World Braille Day 2022: Meaning, History, Importance; 5 Facts about Louis Braille who invented Braille System

Jan 4, 2022, 13:30 IST

Braille Day: World Braille Day is observed annually on January 4 to highlight the significance of Braille as a means of communication for blind people and those who are partially sighted. World Braille Day 2022 also celebrates the birth anniversary of Louis Braille. He was a French educator who invented the Braille System after being blinded at a very young age.

World Braille Day 2022
World Braille Day 2022

World Braille Day 2022: World Braille Day is observed annually on January 4 to highlight the significance of Braille as a means of communication for blind people and those who are partially sighted. World Braille Day 2022 has been marked by the United Nations since 2019. World Braille Day is also celebrated globally to mark the birth anniversary of Louis Braille. He was a French educator who invented the Braille System after being blinded at a very young age.

Braille Day provides an opportunity to facilitate discussions on the subject of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, Prevention, Identification as well as the rehabilitation of the eyes disease. World Braille Day also brings to attention the difficulties faced by blind and partially sighted people in their day-to-day life. Braille Day also highlights the negligence practiced by the authorities towards blind people.

On World Braille Day 2022, know more about the day and why is it significant internationally. Also, find interesting facts about Louis Braille who invented the Braille System.

World Braille Day is observed globally by the national and international organisations on January 4. 

World Braille Day 2022 History

World Braille Day was first initiated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2019. Braille Day is dedicated to Louis Braille, a French educator who invented the Braille System. Louis Braille went blind at a very young age because of a car accident. 

Before the Barille system, the blind and visually impaired people used the Hauy System which was a Latin system designed on thick paper or leather. 

However, Hauy System allowed the people to read but not write. The lack of technicality of the Hauy System led Louis Braille to develop a user-friendly Braille System. 

World Braille Day 2022 Significance

World Braille Day 2022 is observed to raise awareness of the significance of Braille as a means of communication with a full realization of the human rights for partially sighted or blind people. 

As per the report by the World Health Organisation, visually impaired people have been experiencing higher poverty rates and end up with a lifetime of inequality. The problem has particularly increased during the pandemic. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has also revealed that how significant it is to produce essential information in an accessible format, including in audible and Braille format. The absence of such provisions can lead to a higher risk of contamination for visually impaired people because of a lack of access to the precautions and guidelines.

World Braille Day 2022: 5 Facts about Louis Braille

1. Louis Braille was a French education who invented the worldwide known Braille System which still remains one of the widely used mediums of reading for visually impaired people all over the world.

2. Louis Braille was blinded at the young age of 3 in one eye after an accident which a stitching awl in a harness-making shop of his father. As Braille was working with one eye closed, the awl went through the leather and stabbed in one of the eyes.

3. The accident further resulted in total blindness after an infection was set in and had spread to both eyes. 

4. Louis Braille invented Braille which used an awl-like stylus to punch marks in the paper that could be felt and interpreted by blind people.

5. Louis Braille in adulthood had served as a professor and also had an avocation as a musician, however, he largely spent the remainder of his life extending and refining his Braille System.

 

Shailaja Tripathi is an educational content writer with 2 years of experience. She is a Masters in Political Science from Delhi University and also holds a Bachelors in Education. At jagranjosh.com, she creates content for school students and college audiences. You can reach her at shailaja.tripathi@jagrannewmedia.com
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