A tactile Bible story book for blind children highlights a gap in Christian publishing around sensory, not just textual, accessibility.
A German church organisation for the blind, DeBeSS, has produced a tactile picture book telling the story of Jonah, aimed at blind and visually impaired children. Developed with special education researchers and blind theologians, the book lets children remove a Jonah figure and place it inside a cloth whale, and feel a latex sea. Initially 200 copies were made available through the organisation. The project points to a gap in Christian publishing: braille alone does not give blind children the sensory reference points that shape how they understand a story or a world, according to one of the project’s blind theologians. It suggests that accessibility in Christian media can mean more than adapted text, extending to physical and sensory design.