~ Henry Robyn, Profssor and Inventor, "...Braille system for the Reading and Writing of Music"
Braille in Practice
Uniformity reformed publishing and educational instruction, supporting blind participation in the professional world.
Publishing
"Much credit is due the publishers of braille magazines for American readers, and particularly to the American Braille Press, for their co-operation in this undertaking, for by gradually introducing grade two signs into their publications during the past year they familiarized their readers with the grade two system in advance of the Conference."
~ Robert Benjamin Irwin, "Uniform Braille for the English-Speaking World Achieved," Journal of Visual Impairments & Blindness, September, 1932
By replacing multiple systems with a single standard, Braille became cheaper to print, easier to distribute, and more widely available. For the first time, students could share textbooks internationally, reforming access to knowledge through consistent print materials and strengthened educational opportunities.
Newspaper headline from the Waterbury Democrat, June 29, 1933, Library of Congress Archives: Chronicling America
"Mr. [Robert B.] Irwin (executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind) states that the use of the standard code will mean an annual saving, in both Great Britain and the United States, of thousands of dollars, which may be spent for the embossing of additional titles."
~ "A. L. A. NEWS," JSTOR, 1932
"Printing Office for the Blind, DeWitt Clinton H.S., Manhattan"
"I should like nothing better on my tombstone than 'She Brailled a Book.'"
~ Volunteer of Braille Transcribing, "Language of the Fingers," Frances A. Koestler
"The adoption of this code makes possible the interchange of books and stereotype plates between British and American printing houses for the blind. It will put an end to the wasteful duplication of editions of the same book in Great Britain and the United States. It will broaden the market for all books embossed in the English language, thus reducing the unit cost."
Robert B. Irwin, "Uniform Braille for the English-Speaking World Achieved," Sage Journals, 1932
"Braille books are a great blessing to the blind people."
~ Imperial Valley Press, Jan. 14, 1932, Library of Congress Archives: Chronicling America
"Workers making books at the Universal Braille Press," 1933
Blind students reading Braille-embossed textbooks, "Making..." Sylvester Prem
Educational Instruction
Standardized Braille training reformed literacy, allowing educators to expand curricula by prioritizing content over codes.
Braille-embossed diagram of the eye, "Making learning real fun for blind children," UNESCO Courier, UNESCO Digital Archives, 1971
Braille-embossed tactile globe, "Educational Globe for the Blind," ProQuest eLibrary
"...Elementary School for blind children receiving their first Braille World Book Encyclopedias," Digital Public Library of America
This shift transformed blind education from basic skill instruction toward advanced academic study.
"Blind School in Hebron," Library of Congress Archives, 1940
"Betty Rinsem, a student...deafblindness, seated at a desk reading Braille..." 1939
"Little Comrades," National Archives
"The blind and seeing children study the same lessons."
"Little Comrades," National Archives
Professional Opportunity
Headline from the Boston Herald, "Tells How Blind Escape Being Beggars," Perkins School for the Blind Archives
Printing houses could now produce specialized materials that supported the growth of previously underserved technical and professional fields for blind workers.
~ Interview with George Shearing by Felix Grant, JSTOR
Newspaper headline from the Morning Star, Washington D.C., "Attorney Defies Blindness in Successful Law Practice," Library of Congress Archives: Chronicling America
"The Impact of Braille Reading Skills on Employment, Income, Education, and Reading Habits," Ruby Ryles, National Foundation for the Blind Archives
"...Grady Price, a blind journalism student at the University of Texas in Austin," Digital Public Library of America, 1953
Alongside advancing professional access, these educational reforms better prepared blind learners for work, facilitating their emergence from centuries of beggary and marginalization toward greater independence.
"In our small way we the blind are as indebted to Louis Braille as mankind is to Gutenberg...the raised letters under our fingers are precious pods from which has sprouted our intellectual wealth. Without a dot system what a chaotic, inadequate affair our education would be!...But Louis Braille’s magic wand of six dots has conjured up for us schools where embossed books bear us as on ships to the ports of education, libraries and all facilities of writing that assure our independence."
~ Helen Keller, "Speech to the Faculty and Students of the Sorbonne," Helen Keller Archive, American Foundation for the Blind Archives, June 21, 1952
Newspaper clipping from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, "Braille, Their Labor Of Love," 1971
← Previous
Tactile Uniformity
Next →
Modern Accessibility