About BRL

Mission Statement:

To preserve, promote and value braille as an essential mode of communication for people who are blind or have low vision.

Vision Statement:

To return braille to a place of prominence for people who are blind by encouraging the production, teaching and use of braille as a primary medium of literacy for all blind people who are physically and mentally able to make practical use of it.

About Braille Revival League

Forty-two years ago, the Braille Revival League was created to promote the production, teaching and use of braille as the primary medium of literacy for all people who are blind and physically and mentally able to make practical use of it.

Our mission and purposes can be summarized mostly from our Constitution as follows:

To engender a sense of pride in blind people that braille is a method of reading and writing that can make them equally as literate as sighted people;

To create in blind people a keen awareness of the practical uses and importance of braille in their daily lives;

To make braille instruction mandatory in schools and other educational facilities for the blind;

To make the mastering of braille an integral part of the curriculum for training prospective teachers of the blind;

To achieve a significant increase in the production and availability of braille material from our printing houses and libraries with a high degree of excellence and accuracy from our producers of braille;

To encourage the maximum availability of information in braille for consumers by providers of goods and services; and

To encourage all blind people to learn to read and write braille.

Forty years later the need for the Braille Revival League is as urgent as it was when our organization was created. Sadly, there are fewer printing houses producing braille books and magazines in this country. The National Library Service has developed a braille on demand system which may eventually lead to the end of multi-copy braille production of books that are sent to our regional libraries. Fewer adults seem to be learning braille. The number of braille readers served by the National Library Service appears to be declining. It is clear that, in spite of national and state laws, all children who can benefit from learning braille are not getting a chance to become proficient braille users.

We truly do not know enough about the current state of braille because there is woefully little research about braille being done in this country!

Technology has made it possible that, in the near future, we may be able to put a braille reading display into the hands of everyone who can benefit from its use in the United States. However, there is concern that training will not be available for many who could benefit from this program.

Members of the general public in the United States are not as conscious of the value of braille to people who are blind and are being wrongly persuaded that computers with speech provide sufficient access to literacy for people who are blind.

New braille reading devices which are far less expensive than they used to be and the Marrakesh treaty which allows the sharing of braille books by countries around the world offer the prospect that soon we will be at the beginning of a golden age. Virtually any book in any language will be available to people who are blind using appropriate braille codes.

The Braille Revival League knows we must reach out to other organizations and agencies involved in assuring the long-term health of braille. They too play a vital role in ensuring that the golden age of braille will be enjoyed by a growing number of people who are blind.

Together we can expand training. Together we can convince the public of the importance of braille. Together we can assure that all who can learn braille are being given the chance to learn. Together we can create a ground swell of new appreciation of braille by all people in the United States and around the world.