Blind Stats

Today (January 4^th is International Braille Day.

Of the 8 Billion People Across the World: 43 Million are Blind.

Of the 335 Million Americans:  32 Million are Hard-Of-Seeing and 7.6 Million Are Blind.

Only 15% of the Blind Population are Employed.

The US Government spends approximately $1.1 Billion annually on programs and services for the Blind.

The Braille Alphabet was created by Louis Braille, who became Blind at the age of 3, in 1824, when he was 15 years old. It is based on the French Alphabet, but has been revised for the Alphabets of 133 Languages.

American Braille was adopted in the US from 1878-1918 and was based on Spoken American English at the time and made it easier and faster to write using a Slate and Stylus, but more difficult to write using a Braille Typewriter – which was created in 1892.

English Braille was adopted in 1902 and Unified English Braille was adopted in 2005.