It's World Braille Day!

Did you know?

Every year on January 4th we commemorate World Braille Day in honor of Louis Braille’s birthday, 213 years ago. Braille, who was born in France in 1809, invented the tactile writing system for blind or visually impaired individuals after he himself went blind during a childhood accident.

While the braille language has changed and been updated over the years, Braille’s (the inventor) system has largely remained unchanged to this day.

Braille was based on Charles Barbier’s earlier invention of a code of up to 12 dots in two columns. Braille used Barbier’s new reading and writing method to develop his own system and ideas, simplifying and maximizing its efficiency. He completed his system in 1824 when he was merely 15 years old.

Even though we are accustomed to seeing braille on many objects in our daily lives, such as signs, ATMs, elevators, calculators, and more, we are still far from living in a society that levels the accessibility-playing field for all.

World Braille Day is a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness of people with disabilities and the remaining efforts we still have to make before reaching an equal and accessible society for all.

We at EqualWeb have come up with advanced technological solutions so that the blind and visually impaired can access and navigate websites just like everyone else. Our technology provides a simple, seamless browsing experience to those with disabilities.

For example, our Screen Reader Adjustment function enables visually-impaired users to utilize their own screen readers on your website, enhancing their ability to engage with your content. By implementing EqualWeb’s AI ToolBar on your website, the remediation effort perfectly meets the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired. On top of that, the remediation meets the international standards set by WCAG 2.1 Level AA+ Success Criteria.

If you want to learn more, please head over to our web accessibility remediation page, here.