World Braille Day 2024

Every year on January 4th, we celebrate World Braille Day globally to pay tribute to Louis Braille, the visionary behind the Braille system. This day aims to create awareness about the importance of braille literacy. Born in France in 1809, Louis Braille lost his ability to see following a childhood accident. However, he overcame his setbacks by inventing the revolutionary braille system. 

At the age of 15, Louis Braille was inspired by Charles Barbier’s system of night writing. He created a new writing and reading system based on night writing and named it the Braille system. In this system, raised dots are used to form patterns. These patterns represent different alphabets, numbers and signs. Readers use their fingertips to touch the raised dots and recognise the pattern. The system was invented in 1824, and with time, it has evolved into a finer version of itself.  

In 2018, the United Nations announced January 4th as World Braille Day. This day raises awareness about the difficulties faced by the Visually impaired and the need to fight for their rights. Today, this system is used in many public places, restaurants and educational facilities to make sure that people without eyesight can experience the world without setbacks.