What would you say to Louis Braille today if you got the chance?
Read messages from braille users below or listen to a short piece of audio in which braille users give their messages to Louis.
"I'd tell him what vast advantage braille has given me in my life and where it has helped me and that I couldn't be the same person without braille as I am now."
Madeleine
"I wouldn't just say thank you from me, I'd say a thank you from anyone who's used it."
Alice
"I feel I must confess I take braille very much for granted, it being such a large part of my life. It must be a good idea to reflect upon its French inventor, how he used his adverse circumstances to make life so much better for all kinds of blind people. I like to think that, were he able to come back and find how much a difference to life his invention has made, he might just possibly feel rather pleased by the way things have turned out."
Richard Foster, read his story
Braille literacy changes my way of life.
"Thank you very much for inventing such a brilliant system that has helped so many people over the years. It's hard to imagine what would have happened if you hadn't invented that system"
Gail
"Imagine that inventor reading his first book, how thrilled he must have been. I wonder what he would think about braille today. Would he marvel how braille is produced? I first learnt to write with a style and frame, and then owned a machine called a Perkins Brailler. Now I own my own embosser, which is linked to my computer. That French boy, Louis, had none of these aids. His tools would have been simple but effective."
Ann Earlam, read her story
What braille means to me: my braille book.
"We've now got braille on computers. Any book that's on the internet in text, we've got in braille. So we've got a huge legacy really from Louis Braille. Thanks Louis!"
Colin
Audio messages to Louis