We celebrate 200 years of Braille by remembering its inventor, Louis Braille. It was his brilliant mind which thought up and created this tactile code by which blind people are enabled to read and write. He was just 15 years old when he began to show his work to his peers in 1824.

What is now the Royal National Institute of Blind people was founded in 1868 by Dr Thomas Rhodes Armitage and started life as the British and Foreign Society for Improving Embossed Literature for the Blind. Queen Victoria took a great interest in the society and sometimes used its scribes to take down dictation. The Royal Charter was granted in 1949 although not included in its title until 1953. RNIB has evolved over the years and now campaigns for full accessibility for those with sight loss across all walks of life. 

Once upon a time the way to write braille would be to use a wooden board and stylus and prick out each dot individually. Then “upward” writers were invented, by which a whole letter or contraction could be written at once. Now there are electronic note-takers and these are advancing all the time. As writing has advanced, so has reading. We have moved from huge and heavy tomes to lighter hard copy books and to electronic reading.

Braille enables blind people to pursue education, employment and interests. It enables people to take care of their own correspondence such as reading bank statements or bills. A basic knowledge of braille can enable people to read pharmaceutical and other product packaging and signage or to make labels for home use – and so much more.

Literature – such as textbooks and magazines – used to be produced on zinc plates and then embossed onto paper by means of presses. Library books were produced mostly by hand with people working in their own homes and there would likely be only one copy of such books in the whole country. Now there are computer programs and embossers that are used to produce braille easily, plus electronic innovations.

Being able to read – as opposed to listening – enables people to learn spelling, nuance and rules for punctuation. It enables learning about expression and quickens the imagination to invent one’s own voices for the characters in a book, or “paint” one’s own picture of a scene. It enables presentation skills and teaches general document structure.

The excellence of the Braille code has empowered it to remain stable through all sorts of changes, especially the rise and rise of audible technologies. It has defied the scoffers who have said that surely there is no further use for braille and has lasted these 200 years. Its campaigners are stronger than ever and braille technology is advancing all the time to make more and more of the world available by touch to blind people. Let’s raise a glass to the next 200 years and beyond. Long live Braille.