By Kyla Hurt
Photos/Special to The Source
Illinois School for the Visually Impaired hosted the 2026 Illinois Regional Braille Challenge on Wednesday, March 18. The challenge is the premier academic competition for students across Illinois who are blind or visually impaired.
Invented by Louis Braille in 1821, braille is a tactile reading and writing system for the blind and visually impaired, consisting of raised dot patterns that represent letters, numbers and punctuation—enabling access to literacy through touch. The Braille Institute later created the Braille Challenge to motivate students to study and polish their braille literacy skills.
At the competition, students competed in five different braille skills categories: reading comprehension, braille spelling, chart and graph reading, braille speed and accuracy, and proofreading.
ISVI Assistive Technology Educator Sara Roy shared before the event, “We are so excited to be hosting this event again this year where local blind and visually impaired youth (grades 1-12) will furiously type away on their braillers and quickly glide their fingers along braille dots as they showcase their skills and battle it out for a spot at Braille Challenge Finals in Los Angeles later this summer.”
The competition is broken into five categories according to grade level: apprentice (1-2), freshman (3-4), sophomore (5-6), junior varsity (7-9) and varsity (10-12).
Adds Roy, “It’s the only academic competition of its kind. It helps promote the importance of braille literacy … which [is] essential to academic and employment success.”
Congratulations to the winners—and all participants working on their braille skills!
