The Braille edition of the Sphere Handbook has been published by Sphere India, a national coalition of humanitarian organizations, including government and UN agencies, international and national NGOs and networks.
When reproduced in Braille, the 400 pages of the Sphere Handbook occupy some 800 pages in a format twice as big. The version is presented in seven volumes.
The Braille version of the Sphere Handbook is aimed at humanitarian organizations working with visually-impaired people. The master file to print the Sphere Handbook in Braille can be downloaded .
The idea of a Braille version of the Handbook was first suggested by Mr T. D. Dhariyal, a visually-impaired senior official of the agency for persons with disabilities of the Government of India.
“We felt we had to fill a gap in the sector,” says Vikrant Mahajan, Sphere India Chief Operating Officer. “Later on, some forums and interactions with people with disabilities and organizations working on the issue strongly confirmed the need,” he adds.
The book was launched on 29 June 2012 in New Delhi by Major Gen. (Dr.) J. K. Bansal (Retd.), member of the National Disaster Management Authority of India and Prof. V. K. Sharma, Vice-Chairman of the Disaster Management Authority of Sikkim State.