In a world racing ahead with screens, speed and instant access to information, visually impaired people are still struggling to gain knowledge. While learning has become easier for many, for those who cannot see, the journey often stops before it begins. The lack of accessible reading materials turns curiosity into frustration and dreams into distant possibilities.
This issue deeply shaped the life of Md Jahangir Alam, one of Bangladesh’s pioneering braille book publishers. His connection to braille began at home. Growing up with a visually impaired uncle, he witnessed the daily struggle of wanting to learn but having almost nothing to read. That helplessness stayed with him and quietly planted the seed for his life’s work.
After completing his graduation in 1981, Jahangir began working as a librarian and later as a library assistant at a Braille book library run by Jatiyo Ondho Shongstha in Dhaka. Surrounded by blind readers once again, he decided to learn braille himself.
“Learning braille was a very interesting part of my life. Then I joined as a braille teacher in a school for the blind people. It felt so good to teach them braille.”
Usually, in our country, a blind school is administered by the Department of Social Services. Also, there’s a braille book press in Tongi directed by this department. They used to publish a few books at first. Then the government took the responsibility – NCTB was ordered to publish braille for visually impaired people so that they can get free books as well.
Jahangir shared, “When NCTB contacted people like me for braille book publication, I started to work for them. From 2016 till now, the government has provided text braille books to all visually impaired students for free.”
“There are almost 16/17 institutions that are working on braille. I work for an NGO named VIEW (Visually Impaired Education and Welfare) Foundation. We provide services to the visually impaired and various disabled persons”, he added.
VIEW Foundation not only provides braille books but also creates accessible books and education materials in audio and makes them available online. They work for advocacy to remove policy barriers for equal opportunity and full participation of visually impaired and disabled persons in society. They also turn the Quran into braille.
The braille publisher, Jahangir, informed, “I was the first person in Bangladesh who formed Al-Quran in braille. In madrasas, we supply braille Al-Quran and other Arabic braille books as well.”
Turning a regular textbook into Braille, however, is no simple task. Jahangir explained the process. “First, we scan the textbook and convert it into Unicode. Then, specialised software translates the text into braille, which is printed using 3D embossing. It’s technical, but once you learn it properly, it becomes manageable.”
Despite technological progress, challenges remain. Producing Braille books is far more expensive than printing standard textbooks. While government support has ensured free textbooks for visually impaired students, access to other forms of reading literature, fiction, non-fiction and leisure books remains extremely limited.
The good news is that braille publishers are planning to make more braille books besides textbooks. Jahangir said, “It’s a bit hard to turn other books into braille. But it’s not impossible. If we could get more funds and more technicians, we can say, there’s a hope.”
That hope keeps Jahangir and others like him going. Despite financial, technical and policy hurdles, braille publishers continue their quiet work.
They dream of a future where blindness does not mean being cut off from knowledge, where every visually impaired child can read, imagine and learn independently. Maybe one day, touching dots will no longer be a struggle but a pathway to chasing dreams.
