What Happened at ICEB? (Episode 39)

The International Council on English Braille held its Mid-Term Executive Committee Meeting from 5-9 June 2022. As well as transacting various items of business, there were lively discussions around the history of braille, braille music, braille technology and the braille code itself.

In this episode of Braillecast, we were joined by ICEB President Judy Dixon to discover the highlights of the Mid-Term and look ahead to how the discussions that took place will influence the future of braille around the world.

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Getting to Know RNIB Reading Services (Extra 45)

Connor Scott-Gardner is an avid reader, and on Tuesday 6 September 2022 he demonstrated how to download books from RNIB Reading Services, transfer them to a braille display and read them. He also explained how Reading Services differs from other offerings from RNIB and elsewhere.

For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

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Formatting Your Braille (Extra 43)

It’s often said in the industry that garbage in = garbage out, but what does this mean in practice?

On 17 May 2022, our Chairman Dave Williams held a conversation with Kawal Gucukoglu, who worked for many years as a braille transcriber at RNIB. They discussed the principals of effective braille layout – headings, paragraphs, lists, tables and so on – and how to implement them in electronic file formats to achieve optimum quality.

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What Happened at CSUN? (Episode 38)

The annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference took place in March in California, and there were lots of exciting braille and tactile graphics announcements.

We assembled a line-up of braille-using panellists who attended the conference who talked us through what was announced and gave their first impressions of the new products they saw.

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Braille Around the World (Episode 37)

We know about braille in the UK, of course, and we regularly hear about braille in other developed English-speaking countries – the US, Australia, New Zealand and so on. But there are many other countries in the world about which we hear much less. How is braille taught? How is it produced? How easy is it to obtain? What braille technology is in use?

On Tuesday 4 January, to mark World Braille Day, we explored these issues in detail with three panellists:

  • Adrijana Prokopenko is a teacher of English and English braille in a school for the blind in Macedonia.
  • Yanan Yu from China has a Master’s degree in Disability Studies and is currently an intern at Bristol Braille Technology. Prior to this, she worked for a year as an Editor at China Braille Press.
  • Christo de Klerk is a founding member of Braille SA, the first President of the South African Braille Authority and the Immediate Past President of the International Council on English Braille. He is a former student of the Pioneer School for the Visually Impaired (formerly the School for the Blind in Worcester), where he later returned as a staff member, teaching law and braille and establishing computerised braille production. He qualified in law and practised as a lawyer before retraining as a computer programmer, and has developed braille tables for ten South African languages in Duxbury, eight in Liblouis, and one for Afrikaans for the Embraille iOS app. His last job before retirement was as an IT Specialist in one of South Africa’s banks.
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Care and Usage of your Perkins Brailler (Extra 41)

The Perkins Brailler has been a staple in the lives of braille users ever since the first one was manufactured in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1951. To this day, the Perkins is widely considered to be the most durable braille device on the market, with machines over 50 years old still going strong.

They are so popular, in fact, that it is easy to forget that we need to teach new braillists how to use them! Furthermore, even established braillists do not always know how to diagnose faults when they arise, or how to take the best care of their machines so as to minimise the risks of faults arising in the first place.

On 15 March, we were joined by Alan Thorpe of Eyecan, a certified Perkins Brailler Repair Centre. Alan took us on a tour of the Perkins Brailler, introducing us to the proper names of all of the parts! He explained how to insert paper and write braille, and described some common faults and how to overcome them. He also explained when a professional service or repair may be required and briefly explained the differences between the different models of Perkins Brailler available.

For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

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Braille on iOS, Part 3 (Extra 40)

We were delighted to be joined by Scott Davert, one of the most well-known authorities on the use of iOS with a braille display, for the third and final part of his exploration of this winning combination. Scott is the Coordinator at the Technology, Research and Innovation Center, part of the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults, and serves on the editorial team at AppleVis.

In this session, he explained how to re-assign braille display commands and demonstrated web browsing with a braille display in Safari.

This session was recorded on Tuesday 1 March 2022. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

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Braille on iOS, Part 2 (Extra 39)

Following the first successful Masterclass, we were delighted to have been joined once again by Scott Davert, one of the most well-known authorities on the use of iOS with a braille display, to continue his exploration of this winning combination. Scott is the Coordinator at the Technology, Research and Innovation Center, part of the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults, and serves on the editorial team at AppleVis.

In this Masterclass, he introduced some more advanced navigation commands, including using the rotor, and then discussed and demonstrated text editing.

This session was recorded on Tuesday 15 February 2022. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

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Braille on iOS, Part 1 (Extra 38)

Following our brief introduction to Braille on iOS last year, we’re delighted this year to have been joined by Scott Davert, one of the most well-known authorities on the topic, to explore this winning combination in more detail. Scott is the Coordinator at the Technology, Research and Innovation Center, part of the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults, and serves on the editorial team at AppleVis.

In a series of three Masterclasses, he discussed and demonstrated how to make the most of using your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch with a braille display, from basic exploration to text editing, web browsing and much more.

In the first Masterclass, he covered:

  • Supported braille displays and how to connect them
  • Braille settings in Voiceover
  • Exploring the home screen
  • Some useful braille display commands

This session was recorded on Tuesday 1 February 2022. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

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Drawing Stars with your Perkins (Extra 36)

Happy Christmas! In this special episode, James Bowden talks us through drawing some stars. The instructions are provided in written form below:

Star 1

  • Line 1: ow sign (Dots 246); comma (dot 2)

Star 2

  • Line 1: o (dots 135; k (dots 13)

Star 3

  • Line 1: capital sign (dot 6); ar sign (dots 345); gh sign (dots 126); apostrophe (dot 3)
  • Line 2: dot 4; wh sign (dots 156); s (dots 234); a (dot 1)

Star 4

  • Line 1: space three times; letter sign or grade 1 indicator (dots 56); semicolon (dots 23)
  • Line 2: space three times; ar sign (dots 345); gh sign (dots 126)
  • Line 3: space twice; ar sign (dots 345); space twice; gh sign (dots 126)
  • Line 4: x (dots 1346) twice; space four times; x (dots 1346) twice
  • Line 5: space twice; wh sign (dots 156); space twice; s (dots 234)
  • Line 6: space four times; wh sign (dots 156); s (dots 234)
  • Line 7: space four times; dots 45; b (dots 12)

A Box

  • Line 1: p (dots 1234); c (dots 14); l (dots 123)
  • Line 1.5: l (dots 123); space; l (dots 123)
  • Line 2: c (dots 14) twice; a (dot 1)

Star 5

  • Line 1: space twice; capital sign (dot 6); i (dots 24); en sign (dots 26)
  • Line 1.5: space twice; comma (dot 2); space twice; comma (dot 2)
  • Line 2: dot 4; ed sign (dots 1245); space three times; dots 46; f (dots 124)
  • Line 2.5: space twice; semicolon (dots 23); dot 5; space; semicolon (dots 23)
  • Line 3: space twice; r (dots 1235); a (dot 1); e (dots 15); l (dots 123)
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