PRIZE GUIDELINES

National Braille Press is pleased to announce the Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation as announced in the Louis Braille: A Touch of Genius biography. Louis Braille was an innovator - and this award seeks to identify and inspire future innovation. Potentially, the award process could inspire new strategic directions for National Braille Press and its mission.

The Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation will be awarded to an individual or group of individuals who contribute to innovation in the field of tactile literacy for blind people. The Prize can be granted for a new educational method; a new tactile literacy product; or a new technological advance. In any of these areas, the innovation must demonstrate some aspect of tactile literacy. Tactile literacy refers to any product, method, or service that has the effect of increasing access to information through the sense of touch. Braille itself is an example of tactile literacy but eligible innovations are not limited to braille. They may include the creation of tactile graphics, other tactile reading codes, and any other tactile innovation that promotes literacy. Individuals, or groups of individuals, are encouraged to apply. The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation may be awarded for a completed project or proposed ingenuity, which, in the opinion of the judges, may have the potential for achieving the following criteria.

Download the application here.

CRITERIA

A priority for awarding the Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation is to foster and reward innovation in the field of literacy for blind people. Other criteria to be considered:

• Discoveries that eliminate barriers to information access
• Applications that improve educational opportunities for people who are blind
• Innovations that independent and user-friendly access to information
• Creative outcomes that can be applied globally