System Braille’a – rewolucja medialna czy inkluzja społeczna osób z niepełnosprawnością wzroku?

Objective ‒ The presence of visually impaired people in the information and civil society results in the consideration of Braille system as set between media revolution and social inclusion. Research method – The author, having analyzed published and unpublished literature and conclusions from the participant observation, asks the following questions: Is the development of writing systems for the blind, including the evolution of Braille system, a subject to the phased media revolution? Should not “Braille revolution” be isolated? Does Braille system support social inclusion and full-fledged participation in the social communication or does it rather lead to the exclusion in the civil and information society? The discussion covers a number of issues, that is, attempts to develop a writing system for the blind (L. Braille work and other solutions), Polish modifications of Braille system, Braille system in relations to the psychology of the visually impaired and book studies, Braille system now and in the future. Results and conclusions – Both research and experience show that Braille system prevents secondary illiteracy, offers visually impaired people independence in their everyday life, ensures equal educational and job opportunities, enables the blind to participate in social, scientific, technical and cultural activities. The only condition to be met is the necessity to answer practical and research postulates listed in the conclusion part of the paper.