Braille and Complementary Reading Media Unit

Core for Braille and Complementary Means of Reading

Updated: 27-05-2025

The Nucleus for Braille and Complementary Means of Reading (Núcleus Braille), was created by the Joint Order No 12966/2009of 2 June (Diário da República, 2nd series, No 106), of the Ministries of Labour and Social Solidarity, Education, Science, Technology and Higher Education and Culture, with the following objectives:

Ensure high quality standards in the design, use, application, production and teaching modalities of the Braille system and complementary means of reading for blind or partially sighted people;
Evaluate and control the braille system and complementary means of reading.

Responsibilities

Ensure the articulation and optimization of the activities of entities dedicated to the production or use of special braille reading materials;
advise on any issues related to the definition and application of braille and other complementary means of reading for blind or partially sighted persons;
Propose measures to harmonise the production of reading materials for visually impaired people, and to standardise the criteria for the use, teaching and learning and production of braille in Portugal;
provide technical support to public and private entities on issues relating to the use of the braille system and other complementary means of reading for blind or partially sighted persons;
Evaluate and adapt the braille symbology in the face of technical-scientific evolution;
Elaborate proposals of different spellings and new braille symbols;
Recommend, on the basis of research, studies, treaties and conventions, procedures involving contents, methodologies and strategies of actions of teaching and learning of the braille system with a specialization character, training and retraining of teachers and technicians, courses aimed at users and the community in general;
Monitor the application of technological resources with a view to their proper use and profitability;
Prepare normative and administrative proposals, as well as recommendations to public and private entities on the harmonization, development, production and teaching of the braille system and complementary means of reading for blind or partially sighted people.

Composition

The Braille Centre operates within the structure of the National Institute for Rehabilitation and consists of the following Members:

A representative appointed by the President of the Board of Directors of the National Institute for Rehabilitation, which he coordinates - Dr. Miguel Ferro;
A representative designated by the Ministry of Education - Mestre Cristina Miguel;
A representative designated by the Ministry of Culture, linked to the special reading area of the National Library of Portugal - Dr. Sílvia Gomes;
A representative of the Association of Blind and Amblyopic People of Portugal (ACAPO) - Dr. João Fernandes;
Three individuals of recognised merit with technical and scientific competence in areas related to braille or complementary means of reading – Dr Fatima Moniz, Engineer Rui Batista and Master Serafim Queirós.

Activity

World Braille Day 2023 commemorative session "Braille on Mobile Devices"

The Braille Center for Braille and Complementary Reading Means (Braille Center) and the National Institute for Rehabilitation, I.P., held the commemorative session of World Braille Day, on the theme "Braille in Mobile Devices", through the Zoom platform, on January 4, 2023, at 15:00-16:30 (Central Portugal time) | 12:00-13:30 (Brasília time) | 16:00-17:30 (Spain time).

This session aimed to celebrate the World Braille Day 2023, with a focus on the dissemination and promotion of the use of Braille Digital in Mobile Devices, at the same time that it was intended to encourage reflection on the usability of these resources with their users.

At a time when there is a massive dissemination and use of portable equipment with multiple functionalities, which are always connected and make us contactable and allow us to access huge amounts of information, at any time and anywhere, blind and low vision people will only be able to follow this trend inclusively and on an equal basis with others, through the use of Braille functionalities that the software of these equipment integrates from the beginning, because Braille is the only system for reading and writing these people.

The event was opened by the Secretary of State for Inclusion, Ana Sofia Antunes and closed by the Director General of the Benjamin Constant Institute, Prof. João Ricardo Figueiredo (Brazil).

The Round Table on “Mobile Devices and Braille-related functionalities“ was moderated by Carlos Ferreira, a member of the Braille Unit, and was informed by María García Garmendia (Spain), entitled “Reading and writing Braille on mobile devices: from physical keyboards to virtual keyboards”, as well as with Testimonies from users from Portugal and Brazil on Braille writing on mobile devices.

Consult the program here.

Watch the session here, on the INR YouTube channel.

Library session | Presentation of the edition "The Didactics of Braille" | 30 November 2022

The Library of the National Institute for Rehabilitation, in collaboration with the Braille Nucleus and Complementary Means of Reading (Braille Nucleus), held a presentation session of the edition ‘The Didactics of Braille’, by the Braille Nucleus and edited by the INR, I.P., on 30 November 2022, between 11 a.m. and 12 noon, via the Zoom platform.

This edition results from the compilation of the communications presented in a seminar, commemorating the World Braille Day, promoted by the Braille and Complementary Means of Reading Center and aims to share teaching strategies and promote the use of this reading and writing system, in the various ages and life contexts of blind and low vision people.

Consult the program here.

Watch the session here, on the INR YouTube channel.

World Braille Day 2022 commemorative session “The Future of Braille Production and Reading”

The National Institute for Rehabilitation (INR, I.P.) and the Braille and Complementary Reading Centre held a Commemorative Session on World Braille Day under the theme ‘The Future of Production and Reading in Braille’ on Tuesday 11 January 2022, between 3.30 p.m. and 5 p.m., via the Zoom platform.

Consult the Event Program.

The video of the event is available on the INR Youtube channel.

Watch the session here!

Seminar "Canvas and Point - The Centrality of Braille in a Changing World"

As part of the national commemoration of World Braille Day 2021, the INR organised, in the afternoon of 19 January 2021, between 2.30 and 4.30 p.m., an online session entitled "Tele and Ponto - The centrality of braille in a changing world", through the Zoom platform and broadcast on the INR YouTube Channel.