We are delighted that our next post in this series of posts devoted to the Helen Keller Digitization project is contributed by Susan Pearce, a volunteer transcriber, and a very valued member of our "Captains of Transcription" team.
From Susan Pearce, transcriber:
“At the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), we have worked for nearly a century to break down societal barriers and eliminate discrimination by achieving equal access to the world of copyrighted works. But for all the promise of technology to provide equal access to copyrighted works, the copyright laws that protect those works have sometimes served to impede that technology.”
"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.
“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!
Note: The following is testimony made by Mark Richert, AFB's director of public policy, on how copyright law affects those with vision loss. For a primer on this topic, please see All Rights Reserved—How Copyright Law Can Leave People Who Are Blind Out. Video of this testimony is also available from the U.S. House of Representatives.
Helen Keller was a voracious reader. She describes her love of reading in her second autobiography entitled Midstream, published in 1929.
Saturday, January 4, marks the 205th birthday of Louis Braille, the inventor of his eponymous code for people with vision loss. In celebration of his birthday, as well as National Braille Literacy Month, we’ve assembled a roundup of braille-centric content throughout AFB's family of sites.
