Technology might save Braille — or eliminate it

Fewer students using writing system for blind

BOSTON — For nearly a century, the National Braille Press has churned out millions of pages of Braille books and magazines a year, providing a window on the world for generations of blind people.

But as it turns 90 this year, the Boston-based printing press and other advocates of the tactile writing system are wrestling with how to address record-low Braille literacy.

Roughly 13 percent of U.S. blind students were considered Braille readers in a 2016 survey by the American Printing House for the Blind, another major Braille publisher. That number has steadily dropped from around 30 percent in 1974.

Brian MacDonald, president of the National Braille Press, says the modern blind community needs easier and more affordable ways to access the writing system developed in the 1800s by French teacher Louis Braille.

For the National Braille Press, that has meant developing and launching its own electronic Braille reader last year — the B2G .

“Think Kindle for the blind,” MacDonald said as he showed off the portable machine — which has an eight-button keyboard for typing in Braille as well as a refreshable, tactile display for reading along in Braille.

The venerable press has also looked beyond printing Braille versions of popular books and magazine titles.

Educational materials like school textbooks and standardized tests, as well as business-related publications like restaurant menus and business cards, comprise an increasingly larger share of revenues, MacDonald said.

“Braille isn’t dead by any means,” he said. “But it needs technology to adapt and evolve.”New technology has allowed people with visual impairments to live more independently than ever, but they’re also playing a role in eroding Braille’s prominence, said Cory Kadlik, a 26-yearold Massachusetts native who lost his sight as an infant.

Kadlik said he is “not the strongest Braille reader,” in large part because of what technology allows him to accomplish.

Computer software reads aloud emails and other digital documents for him, and his smartphone helps him complete everyday tasks like sorting the mail.

“I have an application that can read the print on the envelope to me,” said Kadlik, a technology specialist at the Braille & Talking Book Library in Watertown. “That’s crazy. That’s unheard of.”

But while technology has opened up a new world not dependent on Braille, it also presents its best chance at survival, said Kim Charlson, the library’s director.

Electronic Braille computers allow users to digitally store hundreds of Braille materials that would otherwise be large and unwieldy in print, not to mention access the internet.

Such machines have been around for years, but their average cost of $4,000 to $5,000 has so far kept them out of reach for most, says Charlson.

That is starting to change. The Perkins Library will soon start loaning out 200 devices that normally retail for about $475, and the National Braille Press’ Braille computer costs $2,495.

“Technology is the key to making Braille more relevant by getting it into the hands of more people,” said Charlson.