Yesterday, I was trying to build a Lego set with my son. He isn’t old enough to read the instructions himself. I was frustrated with the paper instructions, so I tried the Instructions app, this helped a little as I could zoom, but I was still struggling. I knew Lego have sets for learning Braille, so I thought I would tweet them to see if there are accessible Lego instructions for the blind.
I was over the moon to get a reply with a link to a Lego audio instruction library. The library provides limited number of accessible Lego instructions, but this is a good step in the right direction. A little more research uncovered that the Lego audio instructions were inspired by Matthew Shifrin who runs Lego for the blind website.
While this is a great move forward, Lego started the inititive in 2019 and for it to make a real difference they need to be available via the Lego Instruction App. I found out about these instructions by asking, they need to be obvious or people will assume they don’t exist.
Additionally, I suggested to Lego that an app is developed to identify pieces and their colours. Lego are passing the suggestions on to their development teams. I recommend that if accessible Lego instructions for the blind are of use to you or someone you know, that you provide feedback to Lego to show there is demand.
Tell me what you think in the comments below or on X @timdixon82
