National Braille Week gets the X Factor
X Factor winner, Joe McElderry has launched the first ever Braille CD booklet as part of a pioneering new initiative by the charity Royal Blind.
Braille copies of the X Factor lyrics and CD notes for the single, ‘The Climb’, will now be available for the first time to blind and visually impaired fans ahead of National Braille Week 2010.
The CDs packages are designed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille and promote awareness of the vital role that Braille plays today.
Blind fans will now be given access to information accompanying the single that most sighted listeners take for granted. They will be able to order the special copies for free from the famous Scottish Braille Press in Edinburgh.
Speaking at the launch, Joe McElderry, said: “It means a lot to me that people enjoy the single as much as possible and this is a great way to make sure it reaches visually impaired fans too. I’m really glad to support this especially as it hasn’t been done before and its an honour to be the one to launch the first Braille copies.”
‘The Climb’ is expected to reach number one in the UK charts over the coveted Christmas period and Royal Blind chose the song as perfect vehicle to raise the profile of Braille and the importance of its preservation.
Chief Executive of Royal Blind, Richard Hellewell, said: “I am very excited about this initiative as it is a totally new way to allow blind and visually impaired people greater access to the kind of information most music fans take for granted.
“X Factor is immensely popular with people from all walks of life and it is fantastic that blind people will now feel a greater sense of inclusion in this phenomenon.
“I would like to thank Joe and everyone at X Factor for making this possible. Braille is a vital means of communication and I can’t think of a better way to show this and to kick-start National Braille Week.”
Braille copies of ‘The Climb’ are now available to order from the Scottish Braille Press, on 0131 662 4445. The Royal Blind National Braille Week will run from the 4 to the 10 of January 2010. For further details, please see: www.nationalbrailleweek.org.
