Our Favorite Stories This Year

Accessibility is at the core of everything we do at Braille Works. It empowers people with disabilities to live with greater independence and dignity. This year, we’ve seen incredible strides in making the world more accessible, thanks to innovators and advocates who are changing lives for people with visual disabilities.

To celebrate these achievements, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite stories from the past year—moments that inspired us and reminded us why accessibility matters. Let’s take a look back together!

Assistive Tech Steps it Up

2024 has been a breakthrough year for assistive technology, with AI-powered innovations transforming how people with disabilities experience the world. From Meta’s upgraded Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, offering real-time object identification and text-to-speech, to Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which integrates advanced accessibility features like voice navigation and gesture control, tech giants are stepping up for inclusivity. App features like Be My AI provide on-demand visual assistance, while devices like AiSee help users with blindness identify objects in their hands. These advancements highlight how cutting-edge AI is making independence more attainable and everyday interactions more seamless for everyone.

Braille Art

In February 2024, artist Clarke Reynolds unveiled his second solo exhibition, ‘Five Degrees of Vision,’ at London’s Grove Gallery. This innovative showcase featured tactile artworks that blend visual appeal with touchable braille. This allows both sighted and visually impaired visitors to experience art through multiple senses. Reynolds’ unique approach bridges the gap between visual and tactile art, promoting inclusivity and accessibility in the art world.

“My braille embossing is a bridge between the visual and the tactile, allowing anyone to have an enriching experience of my art through touch or sight or both.”

Increasing Braille Literacy

In September 2024, the University of Bristol unveiled the Braille-tip pen, a nifty gadget designed to help people learn and read braille more easily. This clever device attaches to a regular pen and uses a tiny sensor to feel the raised braille dots, then turns them into English text. In early tests, it accurately read braille passages 84.5% of the time. This means that folks with visual disabilities can practice reading braille independently, even in public places like bus stations or ATMs. The team plans to make the device even better by testing it with real users and tweaking the design.

Inclusive Apartments

This year, we got a first-of-its-kind apartment building!

In October, a new apartment building designed specifically for residents with blindness and visual impairments opened in Chicago. This state-of-the-art complex includes features like advanced lighting systems, tactile signs, and voice-controlled technology to help residents navigate their homes and live more independently. The project is a shining example of how thoughtful design and accessibility can transform lives, offering a safe and empowering environment for its residents.

Story Time

Simon & Schuster Children’s Books made storytime more inclusive by adapting a popular book for children with blindness and visual impairments. Partnering with the charity Living Paintings, they’ve created special versions of a story featuring tactile, hand-painted illustrations, braille text, and audio descriptions. Families can borrow these accessible editions from Living Paintings’ free postal library, bringing the adventures of Supertato and Evil Pea to life for all children.

Accessible Olympics

We can’t recount the accessible events of 2024 without including the Olympics!

NBCUniversal made the 2024 Paris Olympics more accessible than ever, especially for people with visual disabilities. They provided audio descriptions for all events on NBC, where narrators explained the on-screen action in real time. This service extended to the Gold Zone show on Peacock, which featured live coverage of multiple events. Live streams with commentary across Peacock, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app also included closed captioning. These thoughtful enhancements ensured that more people could fully experience the excitement of the Olympics. NBC’s efforts set a new standard for accessibility in sports broadcasting.

Music Instruction for All

Leon Lu, a PhD student at Carleton University, has created the Tap-Tap. It’s a wearable device that helps musicians with blindness and low vision. Worn around the ankles, it lets teachers and students send vibration signals to each other by tapping their heels, replacing visual cues like a conductor’s baton. This simple, low-cost gadget uses vibrations, similar to Morse code, to communicate instructions during music lessons. Tested at New York’s Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School, the Tap-Tap has made learning music more accessible and enjoyable for students with visual impairments.

Braille Works Helps Santa Deliver Letters

We can’t think of a better way to end our favorite stories of the year than with some Christmas cheer! Our team had the privilege of helping Santa deliver hundreds of braille and large print letters to children across the country.

These are just a few of the incredible stories we’ve shared this year. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) for more articles like these.