Braillecast – Braillecast

Read Aloud With Confidence (Extra 78)

Reading aloud is a skill that is both terrifying and liberating. Adding braille to the mix presents unique challenges that can often get in the way of recognising significant progress. Along with reading speed and fluency, the one question we hear most often is: “How can I improve my ability to read aloud?”

Building on the topics from her popular masterclass, Revitalise Your Braille Reading Technique, Chantelle Griffiths returns to uncover some of the mystery and magic of reading aloud and to share some tips and tricks to help.

In this masterclass we explored:

How a six-year-old Chantelle connected the dots between elephants, cats and reading aloud, and the one word she learned that can help you, too.
What reading aloud is not, and why “not” helps a lot!
The surprising visual analogy that can improve your reading exponentially, if you choose to see it.
The three infuriating words that everyone hates to hear but loves to experience.
How moving on is not giving up, but levelling up.
The capital B mindset that resets your brain and your reading practice every time.
And so much more.

Why not bring along some familiar reading material, electronic or hardcopy, and try some of what you learn with us in real time.

Whether you’re new to reading aloud or you just want a fresh perspective, there’s something here for everyone.

00:00 / 1:12:19

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.

00:00 / 1:09:47

Braille Screen Input: What’s New in iOS and iPad OS 18? (Extra 77)

Braille Screen Input has been overhauled!

iOS and iPad OS 18, released on Monday 16 September, include the biggest refresh of Braille Screen Input since the feature was first introduced in iOS 8. Although you can, for the most part, still use Braille Screen Input as you always have done, the new functionality in Apple’s latest flagship operating systems is a source of much excitement throughout the blind community and will almost certainly take your Braille Screen Input experience to the next level.

Join us in this episode as Matthew Horspool talks us through what’s new.

Summary of New Features

New gestures for entering and exiting: double tap the far edges of the screen with two fingers to enter. To exit, pinch outwards or inwards, or perform a two finger scrub. BSI is also still available in the rotor and if this is enabled, the rotor gesture still works to exit, but it does not work if BSI is removed from the rotor.
You can now braille a for sign.
There are keyboard clicks and haptics during text entry, the same as those for the QWERTY on-screen keyboard.
When searching for apps on the home screen, you can now use grade 2.
You now have access to a Braille Item Chooser from within Braille Screen Input. It works in a similar way to searching for apps on the home screen, but functions within apps.
You can now enter Braille Screen Input automatically when encountering a text field.
Braille Screen Input now uses the Braille Table options in Settings, Accessibility, VoiceOver, Braille to determine whether input is contracted, uncontracted etc. Swipe up with two fingers to change braille table.
There is a new Command Mode, accessible via a three finger swipe left or right from within Braille Screen Input, or a tripple tap with two fingers at the far edges of the screen from elsewhere. Gestures in Command Mode are akin to braille display commands with the space bar held down, e.g. type the letter h in Command Mode to go to the home screen. You can also move the cursor and perform text selection with one finger and two finger swipe gestures.
When using the Braille Item Chooser or searching for apps on the home screen using Braille Screen Input, you can opt to remain in Command Mode when swiping right with two fingers rather than exiting Braille Screen Input altogether.
When in Command Mode, if the setting to enter Braille Screen Input when encountering a text box is enabled, VoiceOver will automatically switch from Command Mode to Braille Entry Mode when a text box is encountered.
There are new sounds for entering and exiting Braille Screen Input, calibrating the dots and changing between Command Mode and Braille Entry Mode.
There is now a setting to determine whether translated text appears on the screen whilst Braille Screen Input is active.
All Braille Screen Input gesture assignments, plus the assignments for entering Braille Screen Input, can be customised.
Braille Screen Input now supports Japanese braille.

N.B. if the master toggle for VoiceOver sounds is switched off in Settings, Accessibility, VoiceOver, Sounds and Haptics, the new Braille Screen Input sounds will not play.

Supported Devices

iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, 2024
iPad Pro (M4), 2024
iPad Air (M2), 2024
iPad Pro 11-inch 5th generation, 2024
iPad Air 6th generation, 2024
iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, 2023
iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, 2022
iPad Pro 12.9-inch 6th generation, 2022
iPad Pro 11-inch 4th generation, 2022
iPad Air 5th generation, 2022
iPad 10th generation, 2022
iPhone SE 3rd generation, 2022
iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, 2021
iPad Pro 12.9-inch 5th generation, 2021
iPad Pro 11-inch 3rd generation, 2021
iPad 9th generation, 2021
iPad mini 6th generation, 2021
iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, 2020
iPad Pro 12.9-inch 4th generation, 2020
iPad Pro 11-inch 2nd generation, 2020
iPad Air 4th generation, 2020
iPad 8th generation, 2020
iPhone SE 2nd generation, 2020
iPad 7th generation, 2019
iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, 2019
iPad Air 3rd generation, 2019
iPad mini 5th generation, 2019
iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation, 2018
iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation, 2018
iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, 2018

Apple Support Articles

00:00 / 1:11:33

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.

00:00 / 42:39

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.

00:00 / 51:57

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.

00:00 / 36:05

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.

00:00 / 41:32

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)

00:00 / 55:17

Beyond Bump-Ons: Creative Approaches to Tactile Marking (Extra 76)

Do you need an easy way to identify your shampoo from your hair removal cream? Do you want to avoid accidentally feeding dog food to your dinner guests—again? Does your granddaughter complain that you’ve covered up the print label on her favourite midnight snack with your “special dots”?

Our sense of touch can give us much more information about our environment than we may think. Naturally, there’s braille, but how else can we use this powerful tactile sense to make things easier at home and further afield?

In this Masterclass, Matthew Horspool and Chantelle Griffiths joined forces to take you on a tactile journey to help you master your sense of touch for the simple, yet powerful purpose of identification and marking.

They covered:

How everyday office stationery can save your sanity when travelling.
How a simple rubber band can turn nightmare neighbours into amicable allies.
How to use braille in fun and creative ways, even if you’re not yet a confident braillist.
Why you need to own hair ties, even if you have no hair to tie.
How texture and orientation work together to create a customisable system for identification that anyone can use.
And so much more!

Whether you’re newer to sight loss or blind since birth, there’s something here for everyone. Join us to learn how to level up your tactile marking skills, and create unforgettable experiences for yourself and others, for all the right reasons.

00:00 / 1:06:30

An Introduction To Arabic Braille (Extra 75)

This session, presented by Saima Akhtar, is designed to give you a Whistlestop tour of the fundamentals of Arabic braille. Rest assured, it’s not nearly as complicated as you think. By the end of the session, you will have more insight into the following areas:

The origins of Arabic braille
Common misconceptions around the structure and layout of Arabic braille
How the Arabic alphabet is constructed (here we will tackle the puzzling conundrum surrounding how to identify consonants and vowels)
Next steps for anybody looking to learn more after the session

Please note, it will be much easier to follow along if you have a grasp of grade one English braille as Saima will refer to similarities between English and Arabic braille throughout the session.

00:00 / 52:27