In celebration of all things Braille for World Braille Day today (Tuesday 4 January 2022) Connect Radio's Toby Davey chats with Stuart Lawler, Head of Content Creation and Business Development Manager for Sight and Sound Technology Ireland to find out what Braille means to him and how he might be celebrating the life of Louis Braille on World Braille Day.

Stuart began by telling Toby how he was introduced to Braille at an early age at school with the excitement of the arrival of a Perkins Brailler all the way from Dublin to his school in the Irish countryside and how the arrival of the Perkins Brailler brought Braille to life for him.

For Stuart, Braille means access to information, literacy, reading with his hands and not relying on speech and Stuart will even read from Braille paper and not from a refreshable Braille display when delivering a speech or presentation.

As Stuart works for Sight and Sound Technology demonstrating and promoting Braille technology to blind and partially sighted people on a day-to-day basis, he is very excited about the future of multiline Braille displays for use with Braille music, Braille maths, etc.

Stuart feels that blind people are the best ambassadors for Braille and all Braille users should except any form of Braille when it is offered to them us such as Braille menus as one example, to make sure that those producing Braille know that their Braille is being used. 

Stuart will be celebrating World Braille Day by getting out his Perkins Brailler and playing with it to remind him that he has a Perkins which he may only use 3 or four times a year.

The RNIB website and shop have a wide range of information and resources on learning Braille and more details can be found by visiting - 

https://www.rnib.org.uk/practical-help/reading/braille-and-moon-tactile-codes

For more details on Sight and Sound Technology do visit their website - 

https://www.sightandsound.co.uk/

(Image shows RNIB logo. 'RNIB' written in black capital letters over a white background and underlined with a bold pink line, with the words 'See differently' underneath)