Resources
Step into the world of braille and non-visual accessibility. Although not exhaustive, these external resources, first-hand perspectives and archives reflect the non-visual methods that blind people continue to develop, adapt and use to access literacy, information, technology and opportunity.
Resources
Blindness and Low Vision Rehabilitation
- Masters in Visual Impairment and Rehabilitation — Université de Montréal
- Myths and Facts About Blindness (CNIB)
- Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Educational Professionals (ACVREP)
- AFB Visual Simulation Video
- Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)
- Association for Vision Rehabilitation Therapists (AVRT)
- Blindness and Low Vision Professions Overview (AERBVI)
- Blindness and Low Vision Professions Video (AERBVI)
- Foundations of Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (Helen Lee and Jennifer Ottowitz)
- National Research and Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision (NRTC)
- Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada (VLRC)
- Vision Rehabilitation Therapist Appreciation Week
- VisionAware Resource and Service Directory
- WHO Blindness and Vision Impairment Fact Sheet
Braille Learning and Literacy
- Braille Zoomers: Virtual Peer-Support Program for Adult Braille Learners in Canada (Braille Literacy Canada)
- A Parents' Guide to the Slate and Stylus
- Accessible Libraries — Library Programming for World Braille Day
- Adult Braille Learning Resources (compiled by the International Council on English Braille)
- Ann Cunningham — Tactile Artwork
- Australian Braille Authority (ABA)
- Becoming a Certified braille transcriber in Canada
- Beginning with Braille: Firsthand Experiences with a Balanced Approach to Literacy (Anna M. Swenson)
- Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust (BANZAT)
- Braille Authority of North America (BANA)
- Braille Bites Videos (PRCVI)
- Braille Bug
- Braille into the Next Millennium (book edited by Judith M. Dixon, Library of Congress)
- Braille Is Beautiful, and Braille Is Literacy (article by Aaron Di Blasi, drkirkadams.com, 2026)
- Braille on Display (book by Jackie Brown)
- Braille Producers and Transcription Services in Canada (BLC)
- Braille Reimagined: eBraille and the Monarch
- BrailleBooks Program - American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
- Brailled It: A Documentary Filmed by the Blind, for the Blind
- Celebrate World Braille Day: Activities and resources (National Network of Equitable Library Service, Canada)
- Early Braille Education Vital by Dr. Ruby Ryles (NFB, Future Reflections special issue article, 2004)
- Explore Dimensions — Tactile Graphics & Objects (NYPL)
- Foundations of Braille Literacy (Diane P. Wormsley and Frances Mary D'Andrea)
- Guidelines and Games for Teaching Efficient Braille Reading (Renae T. Bjorg and Myrna R. Olson)
- How many braille readers are there? (American Foundation for the Blind)
- If Braille Were Print (article from the NFB Braille Monitor, 2016, by Erin Jepsen)
- Instructional Strategies for Braille Literacy (Diane P. Wormsley)
- International Council on English Braille (ICEB)
- Irish National Braille and Alternative Formats Authority (INBAF)
- Louis Braille: A Touch of Genius
- National Braille Association (U.S.)
- National Braille Press (NBP)
- NBP Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation
- Online professional development course: Teaching Braille to Adults (National Research and Training Center for Blindness and Low Vision)
- Paths to Literacy
- RNIB — Reading and braille research
- Safeguarding the Legacy, Investing the Inheritance (Jonathan Mosen Keynote @ 2024 ICEB General Assembly)
- Seedlings Braille Books for Children
- So What About Drawing (Marie Porter)
- Super charge your braille reading for pleasure and productivity (by Judy Dixon, Access World)
- Super Short Stories in Uncontracted Braille for adult learners (National Braille Press store)
- The Braille Superstore
- The Braillists Foundation
- UEB Online
- UK Association for Accessible Formats (UKAAF) — Braille
- United Nations World Braille Day
- World Braille Day: 6 Ways to Become a Supportive Ally to Braille Readers (by Natalie Martiniello)
- World braille Usage, 3rd Edition (Perkins School for the Blind)
Accessibility and Access Technologies
- WHO Global Report on Assistive Technology
- Access Intimacy: The Missing Link (by Mia Mingus)
- Access Technology for Blind and Low Vision Accessibility (Ike Presley and Yue-Ting Siu)
- Access World: An Online Quarterly Publication (AFB)
- Accessible Books Consortium (ABC)
- Accessible Media Inc (AMI)
- ACM SIGACCESS — Computers and Accessibility
- AFB Assistive Technology Products Directory
- Apple — Vision and Braille Accessibility
- AppleVis
- Bookshare
- Braille Blaster (American Printing House for the Blind)
- Bristol Braille Technology
- Canadian Assistive Technologies LTD
- CSUN Assistive Technology Conference
- DAISY Consortium
- Dancing Dots
- Dot Inc.
- Duxbury Systems
- Freedom Scientific
- Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)
- Google Accessibility Help Centre
- HumanWare
- NRTC Access Technology in the Workplace Report
- Orbit Research
- Paths to Technology (Perkins)
- The AI Quagmire (report from the American Foundation for the Blind)
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- WebAIM — Web Accessibility in Mind
Social Inclusion and Participation
- Adaptech Research Network
- AFB Career Connect
- CAST
- CIHR — Accessibility and Anti-Ableism in Health Research
- Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities (World Health Organization)
- How to navigate the academic library: empowering blind scholars on their quest for knowledge (Martiniello and Shaw, presentation for the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians)
- INOVA Toolkit to Design More Accessible Scientific Meetings and Conferences
- Marrakesh Treaty (WIPO)
- Pine Tree Guide Dog Users — What Friends & Family Need to Know
- SSHRC Accessibility
- Touch the Cosmos — NASA Science
- UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines (CAST)
Podcasts and Videos
- A Sense of Texas (TSBVI Podcast)
- Access On Podcast (NFB)
- AT Banter Podcast
- Blind Abilities Podcast
- BrailleCast
- Change Makers: A Podcast from APH
- Included: The Disability Equity Podcast
- Limitless Podcast (Blind Beginnings)
- Living Blindfully
- Planes, Trains and Canes
- RNIB Connect Radio
- The CCB Podcast
- The Triple Vision Podcast
- WBU's Global Voice Podcast
- You've Got Braille
Braille and Blindness Historical Archives
- 200 Years: The Life and Legacy of Louis Braille (Online museum, American Foundation for the Blind)
- A century of braille – New York Times archives (June 23rd, 1952)
- APH Library and M.C. Migel Memorial Collection
- Beyond Braille: A History of Reading By Ear
- Braille codes and characters: History and current use (by Judy Dixon, article for the American Foundation for the Blind)
- Braille History & Resources – Development (Blindness Resource Center, The New York Institute for Special Education)
- Braille History Archives (from the American Printing House for the Blind)
- Celebrating 200 Years of Braille Literacy (Sudbury News archives, 2009)
- Champion of the Blind Says Louis Braille Unlocked a Prison Door When He Invented His Simple Alphabet – New York Times archives (Nov. 17th, 1929)
- Converto-Braille: the innovation that opened up a new world for the visually impaired (Historica Canada)
- Documents of Historical Interest (Braille Authority of North America)
- Edwin A. Baker (Historica Canada Heritage Minute)
- Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field (American Printing House for the Blind)
- Helen Keller Archive
- Helen Keller Honours Louis Braille at the Centenary Celebration in 1952 (AFB archives)
- Heritage: The history of tactile literacy (Braillists Foundation)
- History: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (U.S. Library of Congress)
- La Maison Natale de Louis Braille (Musée Louis Braille, France)
- Morris Frank in His Own Words (The Seeing Eye archives)
- Perkins Oral Histories
- Perkins School for the Blind Archives Digital Collections
- Ray Kurzweil: An Oral History Interview (American Foundation for the Blind)
- Reading – Celebrating the History of Talking Books (Royal National Institute of Blind People, United Kingdom)
- Replay now: making the BBC Radio documentary 'Joining the Dots – 200 Years of Braille Music' (Sound Without Sight)
- Research and Data (Royal National Institute of Blind People, United Kingdom)
- Talking Book Exhibit: How Access to Books and Information Reshaped the Lives of People Who Are Blind (Online museum, American Foundation for the Blind)
- That All May Read: The Story of Reading and Literacy for Blind Canadians (CNIB archives)
- The Blind in French Society from the Middle Ages to the Century of Louis Braille (Zina Weygand and Emily-Jane Cohen)
- The Miracle of a Blind Man and His Dog by Peter Putnam – New York Times archives (April 25th, 1954)
- The Unseen Minority: A Social History of Blindness in the United States (Frances A. Koestler)
- Triumph Over Darkness: The Life of Louis Braille (Lennard Bickel)
- Visual impairment/blindness resources — recommended books (Oxford LibGuides)
- Young Heroes: Louis Braille (Described and Captioned Media Program)
Organizations of and for Blind People
- Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC)
- American Council of the Blind (ACB)
- American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
- American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
- Association Valentin Haüy
- Blind Beginnings
- Blind Low Vision NZ
- Blind SA — Braille Services
- Blind Veterans UK
- Braille Institute of America
- Braille Literacy Canada: The Canadian Braille Authority
- Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB)
- Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA)
- CNIB Foundation
- Deafblind International (DbI)
- European Blind Union
- Guide Dog Users of Canada (GDUC)
- Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI)
- Hadley
- Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille (INLB)
- International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)
- International Society for Low Vision Research and Rehabilitation (ISLRR)
- Lethbridge-Layton-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre (LLMRC)
- National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
- National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS)
- National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS)
- Perkins International
- Perkins School for the Blind
- Pine Tree Guide Dog Users
- Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI)
- Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
- Scottish Sensory Centre
- Service québécois du livre adapté (SQLA)
- Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti (UICI)
- Vision Australia
- Vision Ireland
- World Blind Union (WBU)