Braille 200; bicentenary of braille code invention

In 1825, a 16-year-old blind boy named Louis Braille, at his school in Paris, invented the braille code for tactile reading. This invention has since spread enhancing literacy, education and employment of millions of blind people around the world. In 2025, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of our beloved braille code.

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Honoring 200 Years of Braille: Join the Celebration of Inclusion

The European Blind Union, through its Braille working group, is launching a project to involve Braille users by sharing creative experiences. We are delighted to invite you to join our celebration. Our goal is to collect contributions inspired by braille from both blind and sighted users all over Europe.

We encourage individuals, groups, or organizations to create artistic or personal pieces, such as videos, podcasts about braille, texts, photos, graphics, or drawings in braille, based on braille signs or shapes. You might also come up with other creative ideas. Here are some:

• Reading braille texts as audio or video.
• Original texts with testimonials, fictional stories, or poems related to braille code, submitted as text or recorded readings.
• Art projects involving braille, such as people standing with umbrellas to form braille characters, filmed or photographed from above.
• Reports from beginner braille courses.
• Works of art, such as graphics or pictures made of braille characters, which are visually interesting. A monthly calendar for 2026 will feature 12 outstanding graphics, for which a separate invitation will be sent.
• Songs, sketches, radio plays, etc. related to braille.
• Games, learning methods, software and materials on braille.
• Advice for other braille users.
• And any other creative ideas you come up with.

We hope to receive 365 contributions, one for each day of 2025. Every month, the EBU will award a prize of €100 to the best contribution of the month. All pieces will be published on our European Braille forum Braille 200 on Livingbraille, and will be shared through various channels such as email newsletters and social media.

We are eagerly looking forward to receiving your fantastic and original pieces. Please send your contributions, questions, or remarks via email to braille200@livingbraille.eu.

Requirements for your contributions:

1. Send us one or more files of your contribution. Or if you have already published it yourself, send a link to the public resource.
2. If you know a good sample created by someone else, please advise us and send a link to this and contact details for the person.
3. Include your full name, country, age, and whether you are blind or sighted.
4. Young persons under 18 should include a declaration from their parents agreeing to the publication.
5. Provide a text of up to 1,000 characters in English, explaining the content of your sample.
6. If submitting text only, please include a full translation in English if possible.
7. Photos and videos should be in landscape format.
8. Include a short description of what can be seen in any photos or videos.
9. Along with this text send us also your agreement as follows: By sending this contribution to European Blind Union Braille 200 initiative, I hereby agree on granting full and exclusive copyright ownership to EBU.

Copyright Transfer Agreement

Along with your contribution, please, add also this copiright transfer agreement as follows:
By sending this contribution to European Blind Union Braille 200 initiative, I hereby agree on granting full and exclusive copyright ownership to EBU in terms of following statement.

By submitting your work to European Blind Union (EBU), you hereby grant EBU full and exclusive copyright ownership of the submitted material. This transfer includes all rights to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works in any format or medium, globally and in perpetuity. You also agree with the EBU Braille Working Group or delegated people to consider the contributions and choose the winner according to their considerations of the contribution to be a example for braille advocacy in EU.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation, involvement, and commitment.