Editing Louis Braille (section)

===Origins===
In 1821, Braille learned of a communication system devised by [[Charles Barbier]]. Barbier, aware of its potential for helping the blind to read and write, wrote to the school to introduce his method.<ref name=Marsan/><ref name=RNIB>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rnib.org.uk/braille-and-other-tactile-codes-portal-braille-past-present-and-future/invention-braille |title=Invention of braille |year=2017 |publisher=Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908083302/http://www.rnib.org.uk/braille-and-other-tactile-codes-portal-braille-past-present-and-future/invention-braille |archive-date=8 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Barbier's invention was a code of up to twelve dots in two columns, impressed into thick paper. These impressions could be interpreted entirely by the fingers. Barbier's code of raised dots inspired Braille to develop a system of his own.<ref>Kugelmass (1951), pp. 117–118.</ref><ref>Farrell, pp. 96–97.</ref>

Braille was determined to invent a system of reading and writing that could bridge the gap in communication between the sighted and the blind. In his own words: "Access to communication in the widest sense is access to knowledge, and that is vitally important for us if we [the blind] are not to go on being despised or patronized by condescending sighted people. We do not need pity, nor do we need to be reminded we are vulnerable. We must be treated as equals – and communication is the way this can be brought about."<ref name=Olmstrom/>
[[File:Comparative Lettering Hauy-Barbier-Braille.tif|thumb|right|Three forms of the letters "A" and "Z"|alt=The same two letters printed in different formats]]