World Braille Awareness Day: January 4

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 18:47:54 -0500
accessibility, blind, braille, deafblind, impairment, louis, low, sensory, vision

Louis Braille was born on January 4th - more than one hundred years ago in 1809, and January 4th has been designated as World Braille Day by the United Nations (UN)., and the Braille System is included within their book Writing Peace. January is also Braille Awareness Month.

Test your knowledge on 10 Braille Facts

Check out the Maryland Regional Braille Challenge - which supports Braille literacy and is hosted by the Maryland School for the Blind - their students have visited UMBC in the before-COVID-times, and we anticipate more collaboration.

NFB/The National Federation of the Blind has a free Slate and Stylus program.

As we return from Winter Break, take a moment to notice Braille throughout UMBC's facilities. Student Disability Services works with graduate and undergraduate students with visual and other disabilities all year - including the winter semester. Accessibility & Disability Services provides supports for faculty, staff and student employees with visual or other disabilities that affect their work. Reach out to these essential resources to explore options when any health condition (which includes mental health) is challenging academic or work performance.

"Access to communication in the widest sense is access to knowledge" Louis Braille

"Braille is knowledge. Knowledge is Power." Louis Braille

"Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory." Ray Charles

This post is accompanied by a photo of a bronze bas relief of a head in profile with long hair in a bun above braille text - a close-up from a panel within the FDR memorial in Washington DC.