At the Sustainable Brands conference in Paris this year, the and announced their new project to help blind and visually impaired children learn braille through custom LEGO Braille Bricks. The idea, first proposed by the in 2011, was brought up again in 2017 by in Brazil, and later developed in collaboration with blind associations in Denmark, Brazil, the UK, and Norway.
“We strongly believe LEGO Braille Bricks can help boost the level of interest in learning braille,” he continued. In the United States, only 10% of blind children are learning to read braille, even though according to Chazal, “Braille users often are more independent, have a higher level of education, and better employment opportunities.”
Philippe Chazal, Treasurer of the ,
The LEGO Braille Bricks will be fully compatible with the LEGO System in Play and use the same number of studs for individual letters and numbers in the braille alphabet. The bricks aren’t just meant for braille learners. For teachers and sighted children, these bricks also feature a printed letter or character, so everyone can join in the fun.
The set contains about 250 Braille Bricks covering the full alphabet, numbers 0-9, and math symbols. The final LEGO Braille Bricks kit is expected to launch in 2020 and will be distributed free of charge to institutions in LEGO’s partner networks.
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