We hear from Kristina Salceanu, founder of Advent Of Change about their braille advent calendar. It’s available for £29.95 online via both Advent of Change and John Lewis and it’s also available at John Lewis’s Oxford Street store.
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Archives: Episode
Braille News Roundup (Episode 10)
We’re back! And we start our new series with an overview of the braille landscape, including:
- Royal Blind’s resources for National Braille Week (7 to 13 October 2019)
- The seventh General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille, 11 to 15 May 2020 at the Google Academy in central London, in particular the call for papers.
- Braille On Display updated for 2020
- Lego Braille Bricks and accessible instructions
- Mattel Braille Uno (also available from RNIB)
- Advent Of Change braille advent calendar
- Sight Village Southeast, 5 and 6 November 2019
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Holly Scott-Gardner (Episode 9)
In this episode, we talk with Holly Scott-Gardner about studying Spanish, living abroad and the impact of braille on these pursuits.
we also discuss:
- RNIB released the Orbit Reader 20 in the UK (product code HT358) on 8 August for £449, or £399 for Connect members.
- AFB Accessworld Review of the Brailliant BI-14: HumanWare’s Latest Step Toward Smart Braille Displays
- Apple iOS 12 introduces quick navigation in braille in web pages. To assign keys, go to
- Settings
- General
- Accessibility
- VoiceOver
- Braille
- (the name of your braille display) / More Info
- Braille Command
- Navigation
- Borivali has become the first railway station in mumbai with braille-friendly platform indicators
- Paper presented at the 4th General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille entitled “Considerations for Embosser Produced Tactile Graphics”: MS Word and Duxbury Braille
- National Braille Week is organised by Royal Blind and runs in the second week of October, coinciding with World Sight Day.
- Sight Village South East, London, Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th November 2018
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ICEB Mid-Term Executive Meeting (Episode 8)
Where do new Braille signs come from? Who decides? Do we need a new Braille file format?
We hear from James Bowden, a highly regarded Braille Specialist with RNIB. James is a member of the UK Association for Accessible Formats (UKAAF) and represents the UK on the International Council on English Braille (ICEB), which met at ChildVision, the National Education Centre for Blind Children in Ireland, this April for its mid-term executive meeting. We discuss the new sign for a tick, requirements for reading electronic braille files and the 2018 Braille Essay Writing Contest.
- Braille resources from RNIB (Call 0303 123 9999)
- BrailleMe
- Canute Braille eReader
- Orbit Reader 20
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CSUN Special (Episode 7)
California State University of Northridge held their 33rd International Conference on Technology and Disability in San Diego this March. Braillecast made a whistle stop tour of the exhibit hall to discover what new braille and tactile reading products could be making waves in 2018.
We’ll hear about the tactile graphics Display that enabled blind students to touch a total solar eclipse, we learn about a metric braille caliper, we hear about the latest low cost braille tech from India, and we get hands on with a paperless braille slate from South Korea.
We’ll also learn about Spanish product Braibook, hear about improvements to the Mountbatten Brailler, discover a new 20 cell braille notetaker from HIMS, play Braille music with HandyTech and, following mixed response to the Dot Watch, what’s next for the Dot Corporation?
In Other Braille News from CSUN:
- VFO has refreshed their Focus line of refreshable braille displays.
- Brailliant BI14 from Humanware is now released.
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Scott Davert (Episode 6)
In this episode we hear from Scott Davert from the US. Scott is a braille advocate and deafblind specialist and sits on the Disability Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission. As well as this, he actively promotes braille in the Applevis community, and has recently written a series of braille display reviews which have been published by Accessworld from the American Foundation for the Blind. In the UK, his expertise are shared through the RNIB Connect website. The conversation covers a wide range of braille issues including the state of braille, quality control issues faced by blind students, and a round-up of some recent braille products.
Links of Interest
- Reach out and Touch the new Braille Features in iOS 11 Podcast on AppleVis
- New iOS 11 accessibility features for people with sight loss on RNIB Connect
- Feel This: Current State of Braille in Narratorfrom Access World magazine
- VarioUltra User Group on Free Lists
- Subscribe to the Orbit Reader 20 email list by sending a blank email to [email protected]
- FCC Disability Advisory Committee
- Help on installing and enabling BrailleBack from Android Accessibility
- Help on pairing a braille display with your Fire Tablet from Amazon
- Dot Watch
- APH product page for Orbit Reader 20
- Braille Me
- Blitab
- Canute from Bristol Braille Technology CIC
- Actalino from Help Tech
- New Focus braille displays from Freedom Scientific
- New Brailliant braille display from Humanware
- Recent posts by Scott on AppleVis
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Perk up your Perkins (Episode 5)
Paul Sullivan of the Bristol Braillists speaks with Alan Thorpe from EYECAN about manual braille writing equipment. Alan shares tips on caring for your Perkins Brailler and how the design has endured for over half a century.
We also discover other historic Braille Writing machines including Pike Glouser, a British machine from the first half of the 20th century.
EyeCan http://www.eyecan.org.uk/
History of the Perkins Brailler http://www.perkins.org/assets/downloads/research/history-of-brailler-11-17-09.pdf
Braillists Foundation http://www.Braillists.org
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Orbit Reader (Episode 4)
In this episode, we have a detailed chat about the Orbit Reader 20, the long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated low-cost Braille electronic reading device.
In Braille News:
- a variety of discounts and pricing information due to site village:
- Sight and Sound Technology have announced discounted pricing for VFO products for the duration of the exhibition season.
- Humanware have set the UK price for the Brailliant BI14 at £845.00
- The price of the Duxbury Braille Translator is to increase as of August 1st, for the first time in over 20 years.
- Sporting Lisbon (the Portuguese football team) have unveiled a shirt with the club motto in Braille
- The European Parliament approved a new Copyright motion on July 7, eliminating the need for permission from publishers to be sought before making accessible copies of their written works.
- Paul Sullivan of the Braillists Foundation is hosting a small exhibition of historical Braille devices alongside a chance to get your Perkins Brailler cleaned and serviced. Perk up your Perkins takes place on 28th and 29th September in Bristol.
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UKAAF AGM (Episode 3)
Dave Williams and guests catch up with all the latest news from last month’s UKAAF AGM, explore issues facing blind students needing Braille in higher education, and we debate the value of the survey from the International Council on English Braille.
In Braille News
- CNIB has begun shipping the Orbit Reader. APH and RNIB are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks.
- Another affordable Braille display is in the works – InnoVision have released the Braille Me refreshable Braille display.
- The Braille Institute in Los Angeles recently hosted the Braille Challenge Finals.
- Apple have released the first public beta of iOS 11 with some welcome enhancements for Braille users. CoolBlindTech have been finding out what’s new. iOS 11 is expected to be officially released in the autumn.
- A Harvord graduate has invented a new device to help teach Braille to children. The Read Read by Alex Tavares uses tactile and speech feedback with movable Braille “tiles”.
- July is the height of exhibition season in North America and Europe with 3 major conferences offering manufacturers the chance to showcase their developments. Please email us at [email protected] with anything you’ve seen, want to see or heard about.
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BrailleNote Touch (Episode 2)
This is Episode2 of Braillecast. Thank you for listening!
Our host Dave Williams discusses the BrailleNote Touch, interviewing several teaching assistants at schools in the UK where the Touch is used. He talks to Greg Stilson from Humanware about the product.
In Braille News
- As of the Windows 10 Creators Update, Braille support is now built directly into Microsoft Windows. See using Narrator with Braille in the user guide
- The UEB Code maintenance committee (part of the International Council on English Braille/ICEB) are seeking input from as many people as possible on changes to single quotation marks and apostrophe marks in Braille.
- Humanware have announced the Brailliant BI14, scheduled for release at the end of June.
- The UK Association for accessible Formats/UKAAF will be holding its conference and AGM on Wednesday, 15th June. This year, The entire day is open to anyone with an interest in accessible formats.
- Lisa Salinger of Mystic access has produced an audio tutorial for the Baum VarioUltra smart Braille displays.
- A new guide has been produced which enables blind people to learn more about the upcoming 2017 total solar Eclipse over North America.
- The US price has been announced for the Orbit reader 20.
- The Braille Legacy musical highlighted last month has divided opinion amongst theatre critics. Contact us on twitter @braillecast, or by email on news at braillecast.com if you have seen it, or just have an opinion of your own to share.
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