NCBI has received the AHEAD report, Seeing Ahead: A Study of Factors Affecting Blind & Vision Impaired Students going on to Higher Education.

AHEAD did not verify the facts with NCBI relative to its report on the production of Braille and audio materials for study or recreation. As NCBI has only recently seen a copy of the final report that has been produced we are still digesting the contents. Therefore NCBI is not in a position to comment on its contents at this time.

However, it may be helpful for NCBI to make the following points in relation to our position on Braille in light of the public debate and press coverage following the report.

NCBI strongly considers Braille to be a system which should be promoted and extended. Braille is taught to students attending our Rehabilative Training centre in Dublin and is a system that we invest heavily in throughout the country.

NCBI is promoting a Braille essay competition and is planning to introduce the Braille reading competitions formerly run by the National League of the Blind in 2009 to mark the bi-centenary of the birth of Louis Braille, the inventor of the reading and writing system which bears his name.

Braille is therefore an important medium of reading and writing used by blind people. It is the foundation for language and literacy skills, and a means of teaching spelling and grammar to blind children. Braille can be considered as the most direct contact with the written thoughts of others and can be used to produce books ranging from fiction to mathematics.

The production of Braille for school children is the responsibility of the Department of Education and Science (DES). DES funds the National Braille Production Centre at Saint Joseph’s Centre for the Visually Impaired to provide texts in alternative formats to school children.

For third level students with significant sight impairment, their needs as a student are the responsibility of the Disability Access Officers in the various third level institutions. A variety of supports can be offered at third level. They range from direct reading of material by personal assistants to audio recordings and Braille production of at least critical parts or chapters of the texts.

Leisure reading material in Braille for adults is produced by the NCBI Media Centre which adds upwards of 30 new Irish interest titles per annum in Braille to the NCBI Library stock of some 11,000 titles.

NCBI also produces Braille editions of Government reports which recently included Braille copies of the Referendum Commission’s Lisbon treaty.

NCBI records a substantial amount of talking books and Government material on to tape and disc during the year. Over 4,500 people subscribe to its leisure talking book library which issues by post audio recordings of popular titles free of charge to people living all over the country.

NCBI also borrows Braille, audio and large print books from other libraries for the blind internationally and offers a reciprocal loan service to these libraries.

Read more about our Library and Media Centre services.