From 31st October 2011 the EU Directive 2004/27 requires labelling & information for the partially sighted and blind to be provided with medical products. This is now available in the UK as British Standard BS EN 15823:2010 entitled “Packaging – Braille on Packaging for Medicinal Products”. AJS Labels has worked hard to support customers in the pharmaceutical industry in complying with this new directive and in perfecting the printing of Braille labels.
Braille was devised nearly 200 years ago by the blind Frenchman, Louis Braille, who as a small child was blinded in an accident. The system of raised dots represents letters of the alphabet, numbers and symbols and is used by people who are blind or visually-impaired to read using the sense of touch.
The basic Braille unit is composed of 6 dots spaced around a rectangle. Letters are represented by embossing certain dots while leaving others blank. Braille characters require a fairly large area on the label so descriptions are typically brief.
AJS Labels has carried out extensive trial work with a range of tactile varnishes to achieve these defined dots. The Braille labels are applied to glass bottles that rub together during packing and transit. It is vital that the Braille dots are very robust in order to withstand this and to ensure they reach the customer in perfect condition. We have achieved excellent durability of dot on all types of substrates.
Braille is screen printed under critical machine conditions in terms of speed and lamp settings. Stringent quality checks are vital throughout the whole process. We are now in a very confident position to produce Braille labels of the highest standard and have pushed this technology across a range of labels including the advanced peel & read labels.
To find out more about Braille labels please contact Chris Green.
