New Delhi: World Braille Day is observed on January 4 every year to mark the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, the inventor of Braille language.
The first World Braille Day was celebrated on January 4 in 2019 after it got approval from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) via a proclamation in November 2018.
Braille is a tactile writing system, which uses six dots to represent each alphabet and number. The dots also represent musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. The system is used by the visually disabled or the partially sighted people to read and write. Using Braille, they are able to read the books with visual font.
The inventor Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809 in the town of Coupvray in northern France.
Louis Braille had lost both his eyes in an accident at the early age of 3 years. This led him to invent the Braille system, the language of 6 dots.
World Braille Day is observed to spread awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication.
Braille system is important in the context of education, social inclusion, freedom of expression and opinion, as noted in article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
