Braille Bricks

Background

At Brazilian schools, any educational material is welcome, especially if it contains information in braille. Educational tools that evoke the playful and tactile aspects in visually impaired children are very important, since they supplement the use of books and handouts in learning to read.

Idea

With that in mind, Braille Bricks - a braille alphabet developed using classic toy building bricks - was created. The project, used by the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, was made into a mini documentary.

For Eliana Cunha, Inclusion Support Services Advisor at the Nowill Foundation, Braille Bricks are the outcome of a creative idea, emerging to contribute to the world of education. “The braille system of reading and writing is essential to the process of making blind children literate, and combining it with pieces, known and enjoyed by all the children (and adults too!), makes Braille Bricks a fun resource that will contribute to this learning, promoting interactivity among all the children, as well as constituting an assistive technology in the area of education”.

The purpose of the video is to mobilize society, since Braille Bricks is not accessible yet to children with visual impairments in Brazil and around the world. In order for the bricks to be produced on a global scale, the project will be available for free on the Creative Commons website, and any manufacturer who takes interest can use the idea and carry it out. In order for the project's initiative to reach manufacturers, the hashtag #BrailleBricksForAll was launched on the social networks. Society can make it known and convince toy brands to produce Braille Bricks for children around the world.

"We saw the potential to use toys in braille education in schools, and also for inclusion of children with visual impairment in society. Seeing impaired and non-impaired children brought together around this product – playing and learning – made us very happy. But the goal is to make this product a global one, by inviting people to pressure the manufacturers with the hashtag #BrailleBricksForAll. The product registration is available through Creative Commons", says Felipe Luchi, CCO of Lew'Lara\TBWA, agency that designed  the project.

"Learning by playing has always been a very important way to develop and educate children. Being able to bring the inclusion of blind children into this learning process is wonderful," says Marcio Oliveira, CEO of Lew'Lara\TBWA.

The idea was conceived from an insight upon first observing the braille alphabet, which is similar to plastic building bricks that follow the 3x2 post pattern. From this reference, Leandro Pinheiro and Ulisses Razaboni, the project's creators, had the challenge of finding original pieces with the brand's classic colors. The entire initiative, from the idea to the manufacture, took approximately a year.

With the project completed, the agency gave the adapted toy to blind children of ages 7 to 10 years old. The use of the Braille Bricks was filmed and made into a mini documentary, which shows the real reactions of the children, the functionality of the new resource, and the results produced for the students. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/qV79fzEVr_s.

To learn more about the project, visit www.braillebricks.com.br.

The site includes testimonials and more videos about the project, as well as interactivity for people to create their own message in braille and their avatar.

Results

124 million impacts on social networks (The number of times that the campaign was exposed on social networks)

229,00 interactions with the campaign (Combined number of likes, shares, comments, views, and interactions on the website and on instagram.)

National portals and blogs: More than 6.000 articles and interactions on digital (many well-know portals and blogs in Brazil disseminated the idea in their platforms and social networks. Counting interactions on the articles and posts, we had more than 6.000 interactions) 

International portals and blogs: More than 26.000 international articles and interactions on digital (The idea also reached international media outlets, and many of them published it on their digital platforms and social networks. All the interactions totaled more than 26.000)

Number of sites (national and international) that disclose: 166 sites