‘Feel and stick!’ Dutch Tactile Braille Stickers

Following on from the first set of tactile stickers I have recently designed a new set in Dutch. The Vereniging Onbeperkt Lezen asked me to design these as a member of their working group Braille Education and Promotion. I developed these reward stickers for primary school children with a visual disability in collaboration with braille teachers and experienced braille readers.

Inclusive design

As with the first set of tactile stickers these ones integrate braille and large type with stylized bright images and as such are appealing to all young children. Some of the illustrations might be quite challenging but by talking about them with friends, teachers and family, children will not only develop language skills but also be encouraged to develop their tactile skills.

I was pleasantly surprised one day to see that my teenage daughter had selected the ‘proud’ sticker for herself after taking part in a running competition.

As with the English stickers the edges are raised to aid navigation. I’ve used a combination of circles and other shapes (heart, hexagon and leaf) in a slightly larger size. The braille is Grade 1 Dutch Braille which differs from UEB: in this case the capital sign and the exclamation mark. The text reads encouraging messages such as, ‘well done’, ‘I can read’, ‘fantastic’, ‘bye bye’ and ‘proud’.

These stickers will be given to children attending special reading activities, organized by the foundation. As such they will focus attention on the importance of literacy skills for children with a visual disability and in particular the importance of braille literacy.

Vereniging Onbeperkt Lezen is a foundation in the Netherlands that provides support and information about literacy for people with a visual or reading disability.

Tactile stickers in different shapes

Nine embossed stickers on a sheet: associations language/illustrations are used as a trigger for discussion.
Red sticker with raised edges in the shape of a heart; ‘braille!’ in large type and braille.
‘Bye, bye’ in large type and braille with embossed illustration of a snail.
‘Happy’ in large type and braille, stylized sun is embossed.
During production I tested the height of the embossing die by making a printing proof.
Embossed illustration of a bee in a honeycomb (hexagon) with ‘well done’ in braille and large print.