National braille week - Is braille still relevant in 2012?
Recently I was asked if I thought the art of reading braille would fade out, now that assistive technology has become common place in homes and offices of people with sight loss. I replied that, to me, it still has a very important role to play, both in leisure activities and the working lives of blind and partially sighted people.
Although electronic magnifiers and scanners that read text and convert it to the spoken word have opened doors to visually impaired people, enabling us to compete in employment with our sighted peers and live independent lives, braille also plays an important part in my everyday life.
For example, I can’t see Powerpoint slides so when I give a presentation I have to remember everything on the slide. Following notes in braille provides me with a safety net, just in case I forget something.
Before I lost my sight I was a great book reader. There’s something special about the weight, smell and feel of a book in your hand; you don’t get the same experience from an e-reader or audio. Now I enjoy relaxing on the sofa with a cup of coffee and a good (braille) book.
For me, braille has its place and always will. It would be lovely if braille was offered to everyone as a communications tool.
Linda Bancroft, Business Consultant.
Comments
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I believe that the sooner individuals and organisations like RNIB get together and make a concerted effort to put Braillelearning back in its rightfl place as central to learning to those it is approapriat for, the better. Its time to stop arguing about whether we should adopt United English Braille or not, get behind it, embrace the change, celebrate the fact that Braille is a language and unite for its future survival. If you can't read large print and you are not taught Braille but, forced to listen to a screen reader or other audio information then you are illiterate and we should stop pritending that this all to common current situation is acceptible!
Posted by Paul Hopkins, 6 January 2012 (5 months ago)
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When my son lost his sight at 20 we decided together to learn Braille.We tried evening classes but were told that not enough people were interested so classes had been suspended.He is now nearly 24 and has to rely on his talking phone to contact people but obviously he cant pick up a book or "read anything". If you can advise us of how to learn Braille we would be very grateful.
Posted by Brenda Gilbert, 1 May 2012 (21 days ago)
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braille is excellent for labels, and audio for large volumes of text. It will not die out because deafblind people need it. To Brenda Gilbert, buy an audio braille primer course from RNIB. I can read books for pleasure in braille and was really glad I took the time to learn. - Claire
Posted by Claire Cheskin, 10 May 2012 (12 days ago)
