Blindness, Disability, and Literacy in Britain

This project will examine changing ideas of blindness, disability, and literacy in Britain. Using the resources of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), it will investigate key moments in the history of blindness by focusing on initiatives to enable blind and partially sighted people to read. Since being founded in 1868, RNIB has played an essential role in promoting literacy education among people with visual disabilities; its archive represents a powerful and uniquely intimate historical record of the efforts to improve the lives of people with disabilities. The project will provide a historical perspective on changing conceptions of literacy among people with visual disabilities from the nineteenth century to the present day. It will do so by examining key stages in the development of blind literacy including braille, talking book records, scanning devices, and contemporary assistive technologies designed to help blind people to read independently.