Braille at 200: CTEB offers free book transcription for visually impaired

The Centre de Transcription et d'Edition en Braille (CTEB) in Toulouse is offering visually impaired individuals the opportunity to have any book of their choice printed in Braille throughout April 2026. This is the first initiative of its kind. Only 4% of books are currently available in Braille, and just 15% of visually impaired people read Braille due to a lack of teachers and manuals. The initiative aims to address this gap. Braille was invented in 1825 by Louis Braille (1809–1852), a Frenchman who became blind at age three after an accident in his father's workshop. He developed the tactile writing system at age 15 while at the Institution royale des jeunes aveugles, inspired by a nocturnal communication method by Nicolas-Charles-Marie Barbier de La Serre. Braille's system of six dots in cells allows reading and writing of texts, music, and mathematics. It took nearly 25 years for France to adopt it. Today, Braille is a universal code adapted to different languages. Denis Guérin of CTEB emphasizes that Braille is a code, not a language, requiring prior knowledge of one's native language. In Cameroon, the Club des jeunes aveugles réhabilités du Cameroun (CJARC) in Yaoundé, led by Coco Bertin, provides Braille training and book production, with increasing demand across Africa. Braille may be inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list by the end of 2026.