A British startup* plans to debut a Braille e-reader for blind people this year that should greatly enhance their reading experience and spare them from lugging around hefty print volumes.

Printed Braille text is not exactly convenient or portable. A Braille copy of the Bible can take up about 1.5 meters of shelf space.

British firm Bristol Braille Technology hopes to change this with Canute 360, their new “Kindle for the blind.”

The company says it’s the world’s first multi-line Braille e-reader, displaying nine lines of text at a time, or about a third of a page of regular print.

“This means you only have to press the forward button every 360 characters rather than every 20,” said Stephanie Sergeant, whose company Vision Through Sound provides training for blind people and has been working with Bristol Braille.

Previous reports have suggested that the Canute could cost an upwards of US$700.(SD-Agencies)