Braille Teaching and Literacy: A Report for the European Blind Union and European Commission

This 85-page report on Braille Teaching and Literacy was prepared for the European Blind Union and the European Commission.  The introduction states:

“This report discusses findings from a two year project that ran between 2016 and 2017 and investigated the situation in Braille teaching and literacy in nine European countries. The project was led by the Danish Association of the Blind for the European Blind Union and involved Braille users working with the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), service providers and others with an interest in supporting the use of Braille.

“Work focussed on opportunities that children and young people have to learn Braille and to become proficient in its use. Examples of good practice were highlighted, as well as barriers and issues to further development.”

The goals of the project are:

• To map out existing good practices for efficient and high quality braille training.
• To identify how a catalogue of good practice approaches can be developed on how to make blind and severely partially sighted children and young people proficient braille readers, writers and/or users.
• To promote the availability of braille in all relevant situations and environments in society including the educational sector and to enhance accessibility through the presence of labelling, signage, etc.