braille book, open wide

"Braille is knowledge, and knowledge is power."
- Louis Braille

Louis Braille, the inventor of braille, was born two hundred and seven years ago on January 4, 1809. In his honor, we've gathered 16 braille resources in celebration of World Braille Day 2016!

Two hundred and seven years ago, on January 4th, 1809, Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France. His invention of a system of raised dots representing letters, numbers and punctuation revolutionized the way blind people read and write and opened a wealth of knowledge to visually impaired audiences. In 1952, one hundred years after his death, Braille's body — with the exception of his hands — was removed from his home town to the Pantheon in Paris. Helen Keller was asked to give the speech on that occasion.

A teacher and her student, who is practicing reading braille

We asked, you answered. Here are a collection of teacher comments made on the AFB Press Facebook page in response to the question, "What is your best advice or success about teaching reading skills to children who are blind or visually impaired?"

BLINK Act on Fast Track for Congressional Action!

In a surprise move early this morning, key leaders in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have reached bipartisan agreement on brand new landmark legislation requiring all sighted students across America to exclusively learn and use braille. The bill, entitled the Braille Literacy Is Necessary Knowledge (BLINK) Act, was only introduced late last evening in an attempt by the bill’s champions to thwart mobilized opposition by proponents of vision dependency.

Closeup of student's hands checking the braille she is embossing

“O the delicious taste of independence that comes with an embossed book, and a Braille tablet!”
- Helen Keller

To celebrate World Braille Day 2015, marked annually on January 4th in honor of Louis Braille, the inventor of braille who was born on this day in 1809, we've gathered 10 braille resources and articles you'll want to bookmark and share. Happy World Braille Day!

Color photograph of Helen Keller seated in front of a window. She is reading a book in braille, 1960.

Helen Keller was a voracious reader. She describes her love of reading in her second autobiography entitled Midstream, published in 1929.