Louis Braille and its font for the blind and visually impaired

On January 4, 1809, Louis Braille was born, the Creator of a raised-dot font designed for people with serious vision problems. Already at the age of three, Braille had an eye infection that led to blindness. Louis was playing in the workshop of his father, who was a shoemaker, and accidentally injured himself. The infection spread to both eyes, and by the age of five, the boy was completely blind. In 1819, the ten-year-old Louis was sent to a special educational institution in Paris, where he studied literacy, music and simple crafts. After completing his studies, Braille remained to teach as a tutor.

Read Louis Braille using the night alphabet, invented by the French military Charles Barbier. He invented his own Braille at the age of 15, because he found the Barbier method inconvenient. In later years, he refined his invention, and in 1829 showed it to the Council of the Paris Institute for blind people. At first, members of the Council considered this font too inconvenient to read, but eight years later they returned to its consideration. Braille itself showed an aptitude for music, taught it to the blind, and also developed a font for writing and reading sheet music. The book "History of France" was the first publication published under the new system at that time. In 1852, Louis Braille died, and today a Museum is open in his house, where he lived in his early years. Postage stamps and coins were issued in his honor, and one of the asteroids was named after him.