A report by the National Federation of the Blind in the US in 2009 found that only 10% of blind children learn to read braille. A study conducted by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in the UK in 2015 found that of the about 350,000 registered blind or vision impaired, 7% use braille. In Australia, it is estimated that 453,000 people are blind or have low vision, but there are no solid statistics on braille literacy here. Lacking braille skills is something he says is easily recognisable to those who are blind, with a noticeable difference in the literacy, spelling and punctuation skills of those who are braille readers. “You get to a point in your career, and if you can’t write notes in braille, and interact with those notes while fully participating in meetings … you just can’t keep progressing,” Innes says. While technology is an aid, he says, recognition of the importance of braille for literacy is taking hold. Innes says the device has been “revolutionary” since becoming mainstream in the mid-2000s.
But I also always carry a braille watch because I don’t want the watch speaking to me, in certain circumstances, such as when I’m asleep.” Displaying the script by raising round-tipped pins up and down on a flat surface, a braille display is about the size of an iPad mini but a bit thicker.
“I have an Apple Watch – now, that speaks to me. “Everything I do is based on braille,” Innes says.
