Please do not forget Braille

This is my call to anyone who is thinking of either pushing Braille into the background or getting rid of it all together. I know that technology has made it much easier now for blind persons to access information through their computers and mobile devices, but there is still room for Braille.

I learned Braille as a child and when I gained a lot of vision as a teen I learned to read and write using large print. However, I kept Braille as a backup and am I ever lucky that I did. Why? Because when I lost my vision some years ago, I had Braille to fall back on. I was able to keep on labeling my stuff using Braille and I could take notes in Braille whenever a computer was not around.

There are huge advantages to using Braille. Whenever current goes, Braille is there to pick up the slack. Whenever I need to give a presentation, my Braille notes are there at my fingertips and I could deliver my presentation much more smoothly than I could using a computer or other device to hear the points that I want to make.

Braille makes a wonderful addition or backup to a blind person’s life. It is hopefully not going to go away anytime soon and I hope that you can go out there and share my thoughts on this with others.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and hoping that you would take a moment to visit www.nfb.org to learn more.