#embossed dots

A French teacher and inventor, Louis created the Braille system — a tactile code of raised dots that unlocked the world of reading and writing for the visually impaired, including himself.

Today, his groundbreaking invention empowers millions to chase their dreams and shape a brighter future.

At just three years old, Louis Braille suffered an eye injury in his father’s workshop. The wound became infected, leading to total blindness.

During his era, blind individuals relied on tracing raised print letters to read — a method that was slow and rarely mastered.

As a student at the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris in 1825, Braille sought a better system.

Outside of class, he experimented with punching holes in paper to create a more efficient reading and writing system.

His breakthrough came after meeting Charles Barbier, a former artillery officer who demonstrated a system of embossed dots representing sounds, designed for soldiers to share messages silently in the dark.

Inspired, Braille adapted and refined the idea, spending three years perfecting a code of embossed dots to represent letters and numbers.

By 1824, Braille had developed his revolutionary system and published "Procedure for Writing Words, Music, and Plainsong in Dots."

Although initially supported at his institute, a new director banned its use in 1840, fearing it might render teachers obsolete.

Despite this, Braille continued teaching subjects like history and algebra until he died in 1852.

Recognition came posthumously, with France officially adopting his system in 1854 and its global spread by the 1870s.

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REFERENCES:

[1] Braille World (n.d.). History of Braille.

Source: brailleworks.com

[2] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2025). Louis Braille. Encyclopedia Britannica.

Source: britannica.com

[3] Musée Louis Braille (n.d.). Braille the inventor.

Source: museelouisbraille.com

[4] Roth, G. A., & Fee, E. (2011). The invention of Braille. American journal of public health, 101(3), 454.