Braille On Display Launch Event (Episode 63)

We are excited to announce the launch of a new eBook!

Whether you’re new to braille or you’ve been using braille technology for decades, choosing your braille display can be daunting. They’re so expensive, there’s so much to consider, and just when you thought you’d investigated all your options, you come across another one you hadn’t heard of before!

Braille On Display has been helping prospective users choose the braille display which best meets their individual needs since 2016, and to celebrate National Braille Week and World Sight Day, we are delighted to unveil the third edition of this comprehensive compendium.

At a special launch event on Thursday 10 October, we heard first hand from its author, Jackie Brown, about what this publication has to offer and what has been added in this brand new edition. Jackie was joined by Jonathan Mosen, an esteemed ambassador from the assistive technology industry, who added his own commentary on the book, and we heard from Braillists Chairman Dave Williams and Trustee Stuart Lawler.

We also revealed details of how you can obtain your own copy of the book, and there was a meet and greet session with Jackie towards the end of the event.

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The Tactile and Technology Literacy Centre (TTLC), the Aotearoa Braille Music Initiative (ABMI) and Braille Music for Us (BMU) (Episode 62)

The Braillists Foundation prides itself on being a grass roots organisation; led by braille users, for braille users and, by extension, by blind people, for blind people.

The Tactile and Technology Literacy Centre, based in Auckland, New Zealand, has a similar mission to the Braillists, and we find out more about them in this episode.

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The Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust and the BANZAT Braille Transcription Course (Episode 61)

We start this episode in conversation with Maria Stevens, Chair of the Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust. We find out more about the work of BANZAT, the standards it has created and how it is helping to promote braille across New Zealand. We also discover more about the relationship between BANZAT and the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities.

Afterwards, we catch up with Chantelle Griffiths, a familiar voice to many Braillecast listeners. She is also a BANZAT trustee and responsible for a new and exciting course to train blind people to become braille transcribers.

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Ari Hazelman on Braille in Samoa (Episode 60)

Last time on Braillecast, we heard from Ben Clare about the challenges facing Pacific Island countries in terms of access to braille, and Ben’s experiences of visiting those countries to deliver training.

One of the larger Pacific Island countries is Samoa, and thanks to a substantial fundraising effort, the Samoa Blind Persons Association were able to send three observers to the eighth General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille, which took place in neighbouring New Zealand at the end of May.

One of those observers was Ari Hazelman, who works as the Disability Inclusive Coordinator at the Association. He spent a few extra days in New Zealand after the General Assembly to find out more about blindness services there, and during a rare break in his busy schedule, he generously agreed to be interviewed for Braillecast.

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Ben Clare on Braille in the Pacific Islands (Episode 59)

Australia and New Zealand are the two most well-known countries in the Pacific Region, the area between Australia and Hawaii. The region also includes many other countries including Fiji and Samoa. Many of these countries are on small, remote islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are difficult and expensive to reach, with total populations often of 100,000 or fewer, and ensuring access to braille is very difficult.

Over the next two episodes of Braillecast, we will be finding out more about braille provision in Pacific Island countries. This episode will discuss the challenges they face and the international intervention which is assisting them, and in the next episode, we will hear from a representative from the Samoa Blind Persons Association about the work they are doing to overcome these challenges.

Ben Clare, from Australia, has had a career delivering blindness education in Pacific Island countries for over twenty years. He is President of the Pacific Region of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), where he also represents South Pacific Educators in Visual Impairment (SPEVI). Prior to this, he spent two years in the Solomon Islands delivering braille training and establishing a Solomon Islands Government Blind Service through The Australian Volunteers Program. His first visit to the Pacific Islands, in 2004, was to deliver screen reader training at a school in Papua New Guinea, through a partnership with the School for the Blind in Sydney. He set off with just a couple of laptops and demo versions of JAWS.

This interview was recorded during the Annual Conference of the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities.

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The Braille You Need, When You Need It: A Special Event for World Braille Day (Episode 58)

Braille isn’t just for books! It can also be found on household products and signs; in restaurants, museums and theatres; and your personal and confidential documents can also be sent to you in braille. So how do you find it? Who do you ask? And if you think the braille you’ve found could be improved, how do you make your case without upsetting people?

In this special event for World Braille Day, we were joined by a panel of braille advocates to explore these questions and more. We examined when companies are legally required to provide braille, discussed how to encourage the provision of braille and considered how best to respond when braille is not available.

On the panel:

  • Connor Scott-Gardner (@catchthesewords)
  • Paul Hopkins (@vipodcasting)
  • Siobhan Meade (@blindgirlvlogs)
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From Print To Braille: Reading the Finished Product (Episode 57)

For many years now, Sight Scotland have championed National Braille Week, an opportunity to celebrate braille usage and raise awareness of the importance and value of braille. It runs in the second week of October, to coincide with World Sight Day.

In 2023, we celebrated National Braille Week at the Braillists by running five Masterclasses, one each day, following the journey “From Print to Braille”. These episodes are the recordings of these Masterclasses.

This week: The final stage of the transcription journey is for someone to read the braille! Usually, this is either done by embossing the document on paper or transferring it to a braille display. Which is most suitable? How easy is it to do? Join Matthew Horspool and Jackie Brown to find out!

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From Print To Braille: Choosing the Right Braille Translator for the Job (Episode 56)

For many years now, Sight Scotland have championed National Braille Week, an opportunity to celebrate braille usage and raise awareness of the importance and value of braille. It runs in the second week of October, to coincide with World Sight Day.

In 2023, we celebrated National Braille Week at the Braillists by running five Masterclasses, one each day, following the journey “From Print to Braille”. These episodes are the recordings of these Masterclasses.

This week: Microsoft Word knows about typography and layout, but it doesn’t know about braille contractions. That’s why we need a braille translation package. There are a number of packages on the market to suit a variety of budgets and complexities, and we’ll help you decide which one is the right one for you, in conversation with Christo de Klerk.

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From Print To Braille: What Should Our Braille Look Like? (episode 55)

For many years now, Sight Scotland have championed National Braille Week, an opportunity to celebrate braille usage and raise awareness of the importance and value of braille. It runs in the second week of October, to coincide with World Sight Day.

In 2023, we celebrated National Braille Week at the Braillists by running five Masterclasses, one each day, following the journey “From Print to Braille”. These episodes are the recordings of these Masterclasses.

This week, we unpack the rules and conventions of braille layout in different parts of the world. Are headings always centred? What happens if a table is too wide for the braille page? Find out the answers to these questions and so much more!

Our panel of braille transcribers was comprised of:

  • Jen Goulden from Canada
  • Anja Gibbs from New Zealand
  • Craig Morgan from Wales
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CSUN Round-Up 2024 (Episode 54)

The 39th CSUN Assistive Technology Conference took place from 18 to 22 March in Anaheim, California, hosted by the Centre on Disabilities, Division of Student Affairs at California State University, Northridge. There were many exciting braille product announcements at the conference, and the latest prototypes of previously announced braille products were also exhibited.

In this episode, we are joined by a panel of braille experts who attended the conference. They will help us unpack the announcements and share their thoughts on the products they saw.

If you are planning to attend any of the Sight Village exhibitions in the UK, this episode will help you decide which products you might like to see for yourself.

Products discussed in this episode:

On the panel:

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