BBC In Touch Explores the Future of Braille With Students and Longtime Users

The BBC radio program In Touch has turned its attention to a question that matters deeply to the blind and low vision community: where does braille go from here?

The episode looks at how braille adapts alongside the growing range of assistive technologies now available for reading, writing, and consuming information. As screen readers, refreshable braille displays, and voice assistants become more common, the program asks how braille itself continues to hold its place.

Voices From St Vincent's School

The episode features young braillists from St Vincent's School in Liverpool, giving a look at how the next generation is learning and using braille today. Their perspective sits alongside that of three seasoned braille users who bring decades of lived experience to the conversation.

Longtime Braille Users Weigh In

Joining the students are Jackie Brown, Ian Macrae, and Dave Williams, three experienced braille readers whose insight anchors the discussion. Their combined experience offers a bridge between how braille has been used for generations and how it continues to evolve now.

According to the Braillists Foundation, which shared details of the broadcast, the full episode is available to stream on the BBC website.

Why This Conversation Matters

Braille remains central to literacy, independence, and employment for many blind and deaf-blind people, even as technology offers new ways to access text. Conversations like this one, pairing the voices of students just starting out with those who have used braille for a lifetime, help keep that conversation grounded in real experience rather than assumption.

Listeners can find the full In Touch episode on the BBC website.