{{Short description|Nonprofit organization}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox organization | name = Braille Institute of America | formation = {{Start date and age|1919}} | logo = Braille Institute 2020 logo.png | logo_class = skin-invert | logo_size = 180px | type = 501(c)(3) | founded = 1919 | founder = J. Robert Atkinson | origins = | key_people = Michael Corley, Chair; Peter Mindnich, President | region_served = Seven locations covering Southern California from Santa Barbara to San Diego | product = | focus = | headquarters = Los Angeles, California | location = United States | method = | revenue = | endowment = | num_volunteers = | num_employees = | num_members = | subsib = | owner = | dissolved = | website = http://brailleinstitute.org/ | footnotes = }}
The '''Braille Institute of America''' ('''BIA''') is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Los Angeles providing programs, seminars and one-on-one instruction for the visually impaired community in Southern California. Funded almost entirely by private donations, all of the institute's services are provided completely free of charge. The organization has seven regional centers: Anaheim, Coachella Valley, Laguna Hills, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Santa Barbara, as well as outreach programs at more than 200 locations throughout Southern California. It is a member of the Braille Authority of North America. thumb|right|250px|Braille Institute, Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles BIA serves children, youth and adults, with the goal of helping its clients adapt to life with low vision and achieving fulfilling, independent lives. The organization offers instruction in adaptive cooking, home skills, mobility training and staying connected through technology. BIA's publishing arm produces "The Braille Special Collection," several series of free children's books in Braille, designed to foster an early love of reading and promote Braille Literacy.
==History== After losing his sight in 1912, J. Robert Atkinson, a cowboy from Montana, learned to read braille and transcribed 250 books dictated to him by his family.<ref>Perl, Erica S. [http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_policy.html#report3 A Report Three: Federal and State Legislation Regarding Accessible Instructional Materials.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802120853/http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_policy.html#report3 |date=August 2, 2009 }} ''Center for Applied Special Technology.''</ref> Impressed by his efforts, philanthropists Mary and John Longyear donated $25,000 to help Atkinson found the Universal Braille Press in 1919 in Los Angeles. By 1924, Atkinson finished printing the 21 volumes of the braille King James Version of the Bible. ''The Braille Mirror'', a braille magazine, was first published in 1926 by the Universal Braille Press.
Atkinson lobbied lawmakers and influenced the passage of the Pratt-Smoot Act in 1931. The legislation provided $100,000 for the printing and distribution of raised-print media through the Library of Congress Services for the Blind. The Universal Braille Press incorporated as the Braille Institute of America.
In 1934, BIA joined the National Library System. BIA printed the first braille ''Webster's Dictionary'' in 1938. In 1971, Braille Institute opened its first regional center in Anaheim, California. In 2000, the first Braille Challenge was held, an annual competition for visually impaired youth that celebrates braille literacy.
== Activities ==
=== Library services === Braille Institute's Library Services is the Southern California branch of the National Library Service of the Library of Congress. The Library freely provides over 1.2 million Braille texts, periodicals, and audio recordings for the public. In 2009, Library Services received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
=== The Braille Challenge === {{main|Braille Challenge}} The Braille Challenge is the Braille Institute's annual braille literacy competition for youth.<ref>[http://www.aahd.us/page.php?pname=publications/newsletters/2006/winter/bestPractices2&PHPSESSID=1783b393e1269b61b73415c74155309b Best Practices: Braille Institute and the Braille Challenge.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802131234/http://www.aahd.us/page.php?pname=publications%2Fnewsletters%2F2006%2Fwinter%2FbestPractices2&PHPSESSID=1783b393e1269b61b73415c74155309b |date=August 2, 2009 }} ''American Association on Health and Disability.''</ref>
=== Atkinson Hyperlegible === {{Main|Atkinson Hyperlegible}} [[File:Atkinson_Hyperlegible_blur.webp|alt=On the top line, the characters "B8 1Iil". On the bottom line, the same characters, very blurred but still readable to most people.|thumb|''Above'': How Atkinson Hyperlegible appears normally.''Below'': A blur effect simulates how the same letters might appear to someone with a low-vision condition.
]] Most of the Braille Institute's clients are not fully blind and do not use braille to read.<ref name="mangan">{{cite news |last1=Mangan |first1=Tom |date=2022-06-09 |orig-date=8 November 2019 |title=New Typeface Boosts Legibility for Low Vision Readers |language=en-us |work=All About Vision |url=https://www.allaboutvision.com/low-vision/atkinson-hyperlegible-typeface/ |access-date=10 November 2022}}</ref> In 2019, in collaboration with Applied Design Works, the Braille Institute released Atkinson Hyperlegible,<ref name="wilson">{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Mark |date=2019-09-19 |title=This typeface hides a secret in plain sight. And that’s the point |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90395836/this-typeface-hides-a-secret-in-plain-sight-and-thats-the-point |access-date=10 November 2022 |website=Fast Company |location=New York City |department=Innovation by Design}}</ref> a free typeface built around a grotesque sans-serif core.<ref name="budrick">{{cite web |last1=Budrick |first1=Callie |date=14 October 2020 |title=The Hyperlegible Typeface Changing How We See Print |url=https://www.printmag.com/design-inspiration/the-hyperlegible-typeface-changing-how-we-see-print/ |access-date=10 November 2022 |website=Print |department=Design Inspiration}}</ref> Named after J. Robert Atkinson,<ref name="crook">{{cite news |last1=Crook |first1=Lizzie |date=11 September 2020 |title=Atkinson Hyperlegible typeface is designed for visually impaired readers |language=en |work=Dezeen |location=London |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2020/09/11/atkinson-hyperlegible-typeface-applied-design-works/ |access-date=10 November 2022}}</ref> the typeface is meant to be optimally legible for people with low vision, who may have difficulty distinguishing similar characters.<ref name="wilson" />
==See also==
* Will H. Kindig, helped establish the institute
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://brailleinstitute.org/ Braille Institute of America]
{{Braille}} {{charity}} {{authority control}}
Category:Blindness organizations in the United States Category:Disability organizations based in California Category:Organizations established in 1919 Category:Organizations based in Los Angeles Category:Braille organizations Category:1919 establishments in California