A cecogramPostal Agency of the Republic of Macedonia
''Rulebook on the General Terms for Provision of the Universal Postal Service''
Skopje, 2008, art 13, p 6. Retrieved 3 October 2019.Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency
''Ordinance on the Provision of Universal Service''
Zagreb, 2013, art 4.6, p 3. Retrieved 4 October 2019. ( ), also known as literature for the blind, (in French) is a

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

or a parcel that contains documents or items intended for visually impaired persons. Cecograms can be sent or received by such persons, as well as by organisations that provide assistance to the visually impaired. Cecograms are either partially or entirely exempt from

postage The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

.International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union
''Convention Manual''
Berne, 2018, vol I, art 16.3.1, p 27. Retrieved 30 September 2019.

Etymology

The word ''cecogram'' derives from the French '' cécogramme''. (in French) Ultimately, the word originates from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

'' caecus'' ( blind) and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

'' grámma'' (γράμμα;

, thing written). In English, other designations exist. The

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...

(UPU) uses the term "items for the blind"International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union
''Convention Manual''
Berne, 2018, vol II, art 17-107.5, pp 145–146. Retrieved 30 September 2019. (formerly, "literature for the blind"Universal Postal Union
''Letter Post Regulations: Final Protocol''
Berne, 2009, art RL 112.1.3, p 17. Retrieved 2 October 2019.),

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

uses "articles for the blind", and the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

uses "free matter for the blind".

Origin

In the 1800s, the advent of tactile writing systems, like

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

and

moon type The Moon System of Embossed Reading (commonly known as the Moon writing, Moon alphabet, Moon script, Moon type, or Moon code) is a writing system for the blind, using embossed symbols mostly derived from the Latin script (but simplified). It is ...

, saw the visually impaired gain greater access to

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. In these writing systems,

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

are represented by embossed symbols, known as tactile characters, that are read by passing one's fingertips over the paper.

Printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

tactile characters requires paper formats larger and heavier than those used in ink printing. Posting books that use tactile characters is therefore more expensive. To offset the burden of this cost from visually impaired persons, many national

postal services The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

have established measures to allow books for the visually impaired to be posted free of charge. In 1898,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

became one of the first nations to implement such measures through

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

.Canada (Dominion of)
''An Act further to amend the Post Office Act''
SC 1898 (61 Vict 1), c 20, s 4
Archived
from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019. In 1952, the UPU moved to exempt post containing documents printed in tactile characters for the visually impaired from postage. Henceforth, all

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

have been bound to honour this exemption. The term ''cécogramme'' (cecogram) has been used by the UPU to designate such post officially since 1964.

Regulation

The Universal Postal Union officially defines what constitutes a cecogram on behalf of the

international community The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. As a rhetorical term Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is ...

. Modern cecograms may contain documents in paper and digital formats. These include texts printed with tactile characters,

tactile graphic Tactile graphics, including tactile pictures, tactile diagrams, tactile maps, and tactile graphs, are images that use raised surfaces so that a visually impaired person can feel them. They are used to convey non-textual information such as maps, pa ...

audio CDs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in October ...

flash drives A flash drive is a portable computer drive that uses flash memory. Flash drives are the larger memory modules consisting of a number of flash chips. A flash chip is used to read the contents of a single cell, but it can write entire block of cel ...

and

hard drives A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magneti ...

. Other items designed to assist persons dealing with challenges inherent to visual impairment, such as

white cane A white cane is a device used by many people who are blind or visually impaired. A white cane primarily allows its user to scan their surroundings for obstacles or orientation marks, but is also helpful for onlookers in identifying the user as b ...

s and

braille watch A braille watch is a portable timepiece used by the blind or visually impaired to tell time. It is used by touching the dial and noticing the embossments. Both analog and digital versions are available. The analog versions have a protective gla ...

es, may also be included in cecograms. Unlike ordinary letters and parcels, cecograms should be easy to open and close. The contents of cecograms are routinely inspected by postal workers in order to ensure that senders are not abusing the cecogram's exemption from postage. Including items in cecograms other than those expressly created for the visually impaired is prohibited. Cecograms may weigh up to .International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union
''Convention Manual''
Berne, 2018, vol I, art 17.2.3, p 30. Retrieved 2 October 2019. The international cecogram symbol, a white-on-black

pictogram A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and ...

depicting a person using a white cane, should be placed on the exterior of any cecogram. It should measure . Furthermore, it should be indicated in writing on the exterior that the letter or parcel is indeed a cecogram.International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union
''Convention Manual''
Berne, 2018, vol I, art 16-002.1.3, p 29. Retrieved 2 October 2019. In order to enable communication between sighted and visually impaired persons, it is now possible to send cecograms online. Through a

web form A webform, web form or HTML form on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for processing. Forms can resemble paper or database forms because web users fill out the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons, or text fields. F ...

, the sender enters the address of the recipient and a message. The message is then printed in braille and posted. This service, like any other cecogram service, is normally free of charge.

References

External links

Braille Post, a Belgian non-profit organisation which sends cecograms for free at the request of its users
(available only in French, Dutch and German)
Canada Post — Literature for the BlindSwiss Post — Items for the blind
{{Authority control Blindness Blindness equipment Braille Braille technology Letters (message) Pictograms Postal history Postal markings Postal systems Universal Postal Union

Etymology

Origin

Regulation

See also

References

External links