Author: Matthew Horspool

The Braille Doodle is a tactile drawing and learning board that lets users create raised-dot images by pressing dots up and then flattening them to start over. Read 10 practical tips to get the most out of it.

If you are on android and use braille screen input, I’d like you to try my fork of Soft Braille Keyboard. Apart from the awesome features from the original version developed by Daniel Dalton, it offers a great set of enhancements including running alongside your screen reader, custom sound themes, auto correct and TalkBack braille gesture compatibility. Seriously, typing on a touch screen cannot get faster than this.

https://github.com/Glowing-Radiant/Soft-Braille-Keyboard/releases/latest

I just published louis-rs 0.3.0 to crates.io. louis-rs is the from-scratch Rust reimplementation of liblouis.

Where it stands

98.6% of the liblouis test suite passes — some 2.2 million assertions, forward and backward combined. Every table under `tables/` compiles.

What works today:

• Translation in both directions, full multi-stage pipeline: `correct` before the main stage, `pass2`–`pass4` after.
• Contractions and the whole word family, `word`, `begword`, `midword`, `endword`, `midendword`, `prfword`, `sufword`, `partword`, `begmidword` with their `before`/`after` class constraints.
• `match` and `context` rules through a purpose-built regexp VM that compiles patterns at table load and matches in linear time.
• Braille indicators: number sign, capitalisation at all three tiers including caps passages, letter sign, `nocontract`, and the generic `begmode`/`endmode` family.
• Emphasis: `begemph`/`endemph` and the word/symbol tiers.
• Computer braille as a full pipeline feature — `comp6`, `compbrl`, `begcomp`/`endcomp`.
• Backward indication for `capsletter`, `begcapsword`/`endcapsword`, `numsign`/`nonumsign` and the no-contract family.
• Position mapping: `inputPos`, `outputPos` and `cursorPos`, composed across every pipeline stage in both directions.
• Hyphenation natively: liblouis `.dic` files parsed directly, no external crate, no conversion step.
• Display tables as a pipeline stage, `–display` on the CLI.
• `Translator::with_search_path` for host applications that manage their own table locations.
• A CLI: `parse`, `translate`, `trace`, `check`, `query`.

Care for a taste test?

`louis trace` shows every rule that fired, in order, with the stage it fired in:

$ export LOUIS_TABLE_PATH=/usr/share/liblouis/tables

$ louis trace en-us-g2.ctb “Mother’s Day”

⠠⠐⠍⠄⠎⠀⠠⠐⠙

┌───┬────────┬────┬──────────────────┬───────┐

│   │ From   │ To │ Rule             │ Stage │

├───┼────────┼────┼──────────────────┼───────┤

│ 1 │        │ ⠠  │ capsletter ⠠     │ Main  │

│ 2 │ mother │ ⠐⠍ │ always mother ⠐⠍ │ Main  │

│ 3 │ ‘s     │ ⠄⠎ │ endword ‘s ⠄⠎    │ Main  │

│ 4 │        │ ⠀  │ space   ⠀        │ Main  │

│ 5 │        │ ⠠  │ capsletter ⠠     │ Main  │

│ 6 │ day    │ ⠐⠙ │ always day ⠐⠙    │ Main  │

└───┴────────┴────┴──────────────────┴───────┘

`louis check` runs your YAML specs, `–summary` gives a per-file table, and `louis query` finds tables by language and grade.

Security

This release fixes three findings from Shielder’s security audit for OSTIF: a stack overflow on a crafted `include` chain, exponential blowup on nested quantifiers in `match`/`context` patterns (the engine is now a linear-time Pike VM), and a panic on double negation. Worth noting that all three are logic bugs — stack depth, algorithmic blowup, an unhandled case — rather than the memory corruption that the C implementation’s CVEs keep coming back to.

Python

Leonard de Ruijter has written PyO3 bindings: https://github.com/liblouis/louis-py

What it isn’t yet

This is not a 100% replacement for liblouis yet. The library API is not stable. No C ABI. `partialTrans` and `compbrlAtCursor`/`compbrlLeftCursor` aren’t implemented. Back-translation returns text but not typeform. Have a look at `doc/Liblouis_Parity.md` for the remaining issues, if you want somewhere to start contributing.

Installation

cargo install louis-rs

Repository: https://github.com/liblouis/louis-rs

Parity report: https://github.com/liblouis/louis-rs/blob/main/doc/Liblouis_Parity.md

License: LGPL-2.1-or-later.

ICEVI’s website now has a dedicated landing page for the braille survey, with the survey link clearly shown.

Go to https://icevi.org/complete-the-global-braille-survey/

International Day for Universal Access to Information: A right that must reach everyone

Today, 28 September, is the International Day for Universal Access to Information. This year’s theme is information integrity in the digital age.

For people with blindness, low vision and deafblindness, information integrity starts with one question: can I read this myself? When public notices, textbooks, health advice, ballots or emergency alerts are only in print, or on screens that don’t work with assistive technology, people depend on others to interpret the information for them. Information we cannot access independently is information we cannot verify, question or act on with confidence.

Article 21 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities commits governments to providing public information in accessible formats, including braille, at no extra cost. The Marrakesh Treaty lets accessible-format books cross borders. The commitments exist. The task now is to act on them.

Braille is central to this. It gives people literacy, the ability to read and write independently, and a direct relationship with the written word. That is why ICEVI and the World Blind Union are leading More Braille: More Empowerment, a global campaign for braille instruction, materials and technology for every person who reads by touch.

Here is how you can take part today:

• Learn about the campaign and add your support: https://icevi.org/icevi-wbu-global-braille-literacy-campaign/
• Take part in the Global Braille Survey and help map how braille is learned, taught and used worldwide: https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/global-braille-survey/
• Share the WBU campaign page: https://wbu.ngo/about/global-braille-literacy-campaign
• Explore ICEVI’s work, including Teaching for All, a free start-up curriculum for teachers of children with blindness, low vision and deafblindness, launching on 29 September at the 2nd ICEVI Africa Conference: https://icevi.org/

Accessible information is not a special favour. It is part of universal access to information.

Braille: A tool for empowerment throughout life

Every year on 1 October, the world observes the International Day of Older Persons, an opportunity to reflect on the importance of building inclusive societies that recognize the dignity, autonomy, and active participation of older persons.

This observance also reminds us that inclusion must be understood through a life-course approach. The rights, opportunities, and support that individuals need are not limited to a particular stage of life; they should be guaranteed from early childhood through older age. In this context, Braille is an essential tool that enables persons with visual impairment to learn, communicate, access information, participate in society, and fully exercise their rights throughout their lives.

Braille is often associated exclusively with childhood and formal education. However, its value extends far beyond the classroom, as today’s children will become tomorrow’s older persons.

For millions of people who are blind or have severe low vision, Braille provides a means to exercise their rights, make independent decisions, and participate fully in family, social, cultural, and community life.

Throughout the life course, Braille supports people in different ways. During childhood, it promotes literacy and cognitive development. In adolescence and adulthood, it facilitates access to higher education, employment, professional development, information, and civic participation. In later life, it remains an indispensable resource for preserving independence, maintaining communication, and continuing to engage actively in community life.

For many older persons, Braille can become a vital tool when vision loss occurs as a result of aging or acquired eye conditions. Learning Braille in adulthood or later life not only restores access to reading and writing but also strengthens self-confidence, preserves privacy, and supports independence in everyday activities.

Reading a recipe, identifying medications, organizing personal documents, taking notes, labelling household items, or simply enjoying the pleasure of reading again are everyday activities that significantly enhance quality of life and promote greater participation in the community.

Access to Braille also contributes to emotional well-being. The ability to read, write, and communicate independently strengthens self-esteem, reduces social isolation, and supports active, healthy aging with greater social participation.

For this reason, it is essential that vision rehabilitation services include Braille instruction whenever appropriate, without imposing age-related barriers. It is never too late to acquire new skills that foster independence and the full enjoyment of human rights.

Governments, educational institutions, rehabilitation services, and organizations of persons with disabilities must also ensure the availability of accessible reading materials for adults, as well as qualified professionals who can support Braille learning at every stage of life.

Through the global campaign More Braille: More Empowerment, ICEVI reaffirms that Braille is much more than a reading and writing system. It is a powerful tool for inclusion, self-determination, and participation that empowers people throughout the entire life course.

On this International Day of Older Persons, we call on governments, service providers, educators, and society as a whole to recognize that the right to Braille has no age limit. Investing in Braille literacy, rehabilitation, and accessibility for older persons not only improves quality of life but also reflects a commitment to societies that value experience, promote autonomy, and ensure equal opportunities for all.

Empowerment does not begin at school, nor does it end with retirement. Braille accompanies people from their earliest learning experiences through older age, opening doors to knowledge, independence, participation, and the full exercise of rights throughout life.

Every girl with a visual impairment has the right to learn, participate and lead

Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, the International Day of the Girl Child is observed each year on 11 October to recognize the rights of girls and to highlight the inequalities they continue to face around the world. It is a call to governments, organizations and society as a whole to eliminate all forms of discrimination and ensure that every girl has the opportunity to reach her full potential.

On this International Day of the Girl Child, ICEVI calls on the global community to recognize the reality faced by millions of girls with visual impairment worldwide.

Far too often, they experience double discrimination: because they are girls and because they have a visual impairment. This combination of barriers limits their access to quality education, reduces their opportunities for participation and increases their risk of social exclusion throughout their lives.

This reality is incompatible with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which promote inclusive, equitable and quality education, gender equality and the commitment to leave no one behind. Girls with visual impairment must be at the centre of these efforts.

Yet when a girl has access to an inclusive school, well-prepared teachers and the support she needs, her future changes.

Braille literacy is much more than learning a reading and writing system. It is a pathway to independence, learning, participation and empowerment. Braille enables girls to reach their full academic potential, build self-confidence and develop the knowledge and skills they will need to pursue higher education, access employment, assume leadership roles and live independently.

Every girl with a visual impairment should have the opportunity to attend school from an early age, learn Braille whenever it is the appropriate literacy medium, and receive an education that believes in her abilities rather than focusing on her limitations.

For millions of girls with visual impairment, Braille does more than open the door to education; it opens the door to participation, independence, equality and the full enjoyment of their rights. More Braille means more empowerment, from childhood and throughout life.

Investing in the education and Braille literacy of girls with visual impairment means building more inclusive, equitable and sustainable societies. Ensuring access to Braille, accessible learning materials and qualified teachers is not an act of charity; it is the fulfilment of a fundamental human right.

On this International Day of the Girl Child, we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that no girl is left behind, and that every girl has the tools, confidence and opportunities she needs to become the author of her own future.

When a girl learns to read, she writes her future. When she learns Braille, she also claims her independence.

We believe our September meeting was very informative and that you enjoyed great presentation from HumanWare.

For those, who did not have a chance to meet with us we offer an article with the links to recordings of our BBQ 1.

You can read the article on livingbraille.eu portal.

We are looking forward to meet with you again on Wednesday 28. of October at 17:00 CET (16:00 UTC). The time remains the same for central europe. UTC time is one hour later than previous meeting due to the changing back from CEST to CET in Europe on 25. of October.

Thank you.

Recordings of the 2026 Braille Symposium from Braille Literacy Canada are now available.

Watch on YouTube

Monarch 2.0 brings new possibilities for learning, access, collaboration, and independence—but what do those updates actually look like in practice? Join Greg Stilson and the APH team for this Passport to Innovation session as we move beyond a simple list of new features and explore practical ways Monarch 2.0 can support students, educators, and other users in everyday situations. Through real-world demonstrations, attendees will see how the redesigned KeyMath graph viewer can support tactile and auditory exploration of graphs, how new Tactile Viewer tools can provide greater access to graphics, and how improvements to math in KeyWord and KeyMath can create a more flexible workflow for mathematical content. We’ll also explore how Exam Mode can support classroom assessments and how KeyDrive can make it easier to share, access, and collaborate on files. Throughout the session, we’ll connect each update to realistic scenarios—from exploring equations and graphs in math class, to accessing tactile graphics, completing assessments, and sharing files with teachers or classmates. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of not just what is new in Monarch 2.0, but how these new capabilities can be put to work to increase access, participation, and independence.

Instructors

• Greg Stilson, Vice President of Digital Transformation, APH
• Christy Moody, Technical Innovations Product Manager, APH

Watch on YouTube