Joining the Dots

It’s 200 years since French youngster Louis Braille developed the revolutionary six-dot tactile writing system.

Called after him in recognition of his groundbreaking work, Braille enables blind and partially sighted people to read independently by touch, freeing ears and eyes to access the people and environment around them.

Braille was also an organist, and he went on to adapt his system into Braille music, allowing blind musicians to access and study scores like never before.

BBC Radio Three will mark the Braille bicentenary with a programme on September 28, Joining the dots - 200 years of Braille Music (7.15pm-8.00pm), when award-winning lutenist Matthew Wadsworth (pictured above) travels to France to learn about the origins of Braille music, and to explore the impact it has had on blind musicians over the last 200 years.

Louis was blinded in one eye at the age of three after an accident with a tool in his father’s harness-making workshop. This led to an infection which also caused him to lose the sight in his other eye.

Despite his disability Louis excelled in his education and won a scholarship at France’s Royal Institute for Blind Youth.

It was there that he began to develop his system for tactile literacy. He spent much of the rest of his life developing and refining his system, but it was only after his death that it would be recognised and widely used.

To find out more about Braille visit https://www.rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss/education-and-learning/braille-tactile-codes/learning-braille/