Braille system allows visually impaired able to read and write.
(Source: Facebook KL Braille Resources)

In Malaysia alone, according to the Ministry of Health National Eye Survey, blindness accounts for roughly 0.29 percent of the population and another 2.44 percent have low vision. At any given time, this means roughly 95,000 Malaysians are blind while 800,000 are partially blind.

In retrospect, the requirements for Braille materials be it books or magazines are of the utmost importance to supplement the need of this community.

This is where KL Braille Publications comes along. Established by Dato’ Mah Hassan on 15 July 2004 with the sole purpose of increasing literacy rate and providing an education platform for visually impaired people.

Their objective is to aid the visually impaired in having access to reading materials that are not available to the visually impaired community.

Equipment to emboss the Braille dots.
(Source: Facebook KL Braille Resources)

In the beginning, they would receive a small tender to convert educational books into Braille books through the process of Braille printing.

The fairly easy process of making Braille reading materials starts off with scanning the books to be converted into a Portable Document Format (PDF) for usage in computers. These Roman characters are then converted into Braille writing format.

Then we would arrange it into a format suitable for the visually impaired and finalise it with an ‘embossed’ technique to print out the braille dots into the paper,” Liyana said.

Through this method, the visually impaired can read by touching their hands to feel the embossed dots on the paper.

Emerged texture to provide an image of the respiratory system for the visually impaired

(Source: Facebook KL Braille Resources)

The process is monitored closely as the dots need to be spaced out correctly to avoid clusters that could potentially become unreadable.

“Braille has 6 dots for each letter, hence we need to feel the dots through our fingers to determine the letters and it is easier if the letters are spaced out to avoid any confusion and complications while reading.”

Liyana mentioned the process of Braille making is hard as it needs professional and trained workers to ensure the final-product is quality.

The hardest part of the publication process is the editorial process whereby a Braille editor must pass a test for Braille literacy.

“Certificates are then given as proof that they are qualified to work as a Braille editor,” Liyana shared.

She also shared some of the words that can be simplified by using only one letter of the Braille alphabet in order to save space in the books.

“For example, the word for But, we only use B dots in the Braille material, same goes to the word Can only put C dots and many more simplified words that need to be memorised.

“For the English verb, ‘AM’ (in I am), a complex mixture of Braille alphabets are used to resemble the verb for the visually impaired to comprehend.

In the Braille forms, the sizing of it has the standard size that is suitable for everyone including the beginners.

“Every Braille book that has been produced here adheres to the guidelines because we do not want confusion to occur as it is tough to read even for the experiences,” Liyana explained.

A specific set of Braille sizing formats are adhered to by the publishers in order for the finished material to be legible for the blind to read.

The papers are also unique in the process of making Braille materials. It is different from regular papers as they require thickness in order for the dots to ‘pop-out’ from the paper.

“The paper that we use is different from normal ones as we want to make sure the dots appear on the paper and are easy to identify.

“The thickness of the paper was around 140-150 grams per square meter (gsm), which is appropriate and the dots will not easily vanish,” Liyana added.

There is also a special paper that is known as Braillon where it is more premium, durable and long lasting when used as a Braille reading material.

Liyana also shared some of the process on how images of daily items are made for the Braille books.

“For images of objects, a visually literate person will handle the creation of the image first according to their own creativity to make the image as realistic as possible.

Animals visual made by KL Braille Resources by using different textures.

(Source: Facebook KL Braille Resources)

“They will then use different types of texture in separating the parts of the object that they are making, for example, in creating a cat image, they use thread for the body, bead to make the eyes, string for the tail and more,” Liyana added.

This process is clinical and needs accuracy as they want to give a proper vision for the visually impared person because it will be difficult for them to guess the object.

“For those who are partially sighted would know the image of the object without any problems, but for the ones that were born with the condition might not have any idea how the object looks like,” Liyana adds.

Although Braille is not exclusive only to the visually impaired, there are still within the community that lack Braille literacy.

“Not all of us (the visually impaired) are Braille literate from our adolescent years. Some parents couldn’t afford to be separated from their children and send them off to special schools, hence why they could only pick up Braille later on in their lives.” said Liyana.

The need for more adaptations of Braille reading materials also fared well with 21 year-old, Sabina Zhussupova.

“Braille materials should be more in quantity and be more readily accessible to everyone. Although there are instances of audiobooks to help those who are visually impaired to access reading materials, it is just not the same,” she adds.

With the invention of the Braille writing system, it allows the visually impaired community to be on the same footing as everyone else. Although reading is an ordinary activity to the majority, it is as valuable as a gem for the visually impaired community. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.

Malaysia and the rest of the world celebrates International Braille Day on 4 January annually as a symbol of acknowledgement and for educating the masses on the determination of Louis Braille and the whole visually impaired community.

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