Disney colours inside the tactile lines

A local company is creating Disney colouring books for those with visual impairments.

Earlier this year Tactile Vision Graphics partnered with Disney in order top help create braille books for several Disney classics. Since opening the shop in April 2015, owners Rebecca and Emmanuel Blaevoet have produced braille greeting cards, calendars, themed colouring books and maps.

The couple approached Disney in October with the idea. The first book is expected to be released by the end of January and feature classic Mickey Mouse characters along with puzzles and mazes. According to the contract, 15 more books are to follow over a three year period.

“My husband has been thinking about it ever since we started this company,” said Rebecca. “He thought wouldn’t it be great to have braille books that would show what the Disney characters look like. Just because vision impaired people miss out on that and it’s a rich part of North American popular culture.” 

Each page of every book has to be printed separately in a process which raises the lines on the page so they can be felt. A colouring book takes weeks to create and costs around USD $15. At the end of each design stage the colouring book has to be sent for approval in order to ensure the image is Disney authorised.

“It requires a lot of concentration on the computer,” said Emmanuel, who designs the books. “I can’t draw to save my life but I design in a meaningful way for blind people… if I took an art class I would get lost in the details and get the blind person lost in the details as well.” 

Fewer than 10 per cent of the 1.3 million people who are legally blind in the United States are braille readers.  In fact, most of the Blaevoets’ customers are located outside of Windsor and the Disney books will be sold across North America.

“For a print reader they’re just Disney colouring books,” said Rebecca. “But for a braille reader they’re a chance to ‘see’ the characters for the first time.”