Further Promoting the Publication and Enrichment of Braille Books (New Theory)

　　Providing convenience for disabled people’s reading is an important embodiment of a country’s civilized water level, and it is also the proper meaning of protecting the cultural rights and interests of disabled people. In practice, it is really difficult to protect the reading rights of the blind and visually impaired. The United Nations has designated January 4th as "World Braille Day" every year, which reflects the international community’s special concern for this special group to read books, acquire knowledge and achieve self-reliance.

　　In recent years, China’s braille work has been developing continuously. By 2019, more than 500 government units had completed the construction of information-accessible public service platforms, and 1,174 reading rooms in Braille and Braille audiobooks were set up in provincial, prefecture (city) and county public libraries. At the same time, we should also see that the blind population in China is large, and there is still a long way to go to continue to support and guarantee their reading. For example, in terms of ideological understanding, many blind and visually impaired people lack understanding of the value and significance of reading, and they are not clear about the channels and methods of obtaining books and reading books, so it is urgent to strengthen education and guidance; In terms of the types and contents of books, there are not enough kinds of books published for the blind every year, and the contents and forms of books need to be expanded, enriched and continuously updated; In terms of access channels, it is not convenient enough to rent books, and it is not a small expense to buy them separately … Fill in the shortcomings as soon as possible and continue to do a good job in reading protection for blind people, so that they can cross the visual impairment and gain knowledge and cultural supplies more conveniently.

　　Protecting the reading rights and interests of the blind and visually impaired cannot be separated from the protection of laws and policies. China’s copyright law stipulates that if a published work is published in Braille, it can be published without the permission of the copyright owner, but the name of the author and the name of the work should be indicated. It will further promote the publication and enrichment of Braille books by refining such regulations into operable concrete measures to promote them. At the same time, it is suggested that more financial support should be given to the publication of Braille books and books for the bright and the blind, and the promotion efforts should be strengthened, so that more blind people can obtain new knowledge and new content from the newly published high-quality Braille publications. The enrichment and development of Braille publications can not be separated from the participation and investment of social forces. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a scientific and effective incentive mechanism to attract social capital to invest in audio books and other fields with broad market prospects, to provide high-quality audio books and other products for the blind and visually impaired, and to encourage public donations and other means to help blind people obtain books, so as to further enhance the accessibility of Braille books and related reading products.

　　To protect the reading rights of the blind and visually impaired, it is necessary not only to invest resources in all aspects, but also to strengthen relevant research and education guidance. In this sense, it is particularly necessary to deepen the special research work on reading for the blind and visually impaired. Only by making full use of the scientific research resources in related fields of universities and academic institutions at home and abroad, setting up professional teams, and further promoting and strengthening the special research on reading of blind and visually impaired people can we provide scientific basis and methods for the relevant security work. In particular, it is necessary to give full play to the core role of special education schools, attract social reading promotion agencies to cooperate, vigorously promote a series of activities related to reading for the blind and visually impaired, and carry out high-quality and efficient reading counseling.

　　Nowadays, books, including Braille books and audio books, have attracted more and more attention, especially with the help of new technologies such as speech recognition and artificial intelligence, the blind and visually impaired people have more windows to understand the world, learn knowledge and read books. Whether you touch with your hands or listen with your ears, every word, paragraph and article in the book is connecting a ladder of knowledge to the outside world, paving a bright road to the future, so that the blind and visually impaired groups can perceive a more colorful world and experience a more exciting life.

　　(The author is Deputy Secretary-General Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and full-time vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party)

　　People’s Daily (July 20, 2021, 07 edition)