James Bowden – Page 3

Introducing Git (Extra 50)

According to Wikipedia, Git is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in any set of computer files, usually used for coordinating work among programmers collaboratively developing source code during software development. Luckily for us it’s far more interesting than it sounds on paper as it was the topic of the third in our series of computer science masterclasses.

We started off by cutting through some of the technobabble typically associated with tools such as this and then got hands on with some simple examples using the popular Liblouis project. We built on our Linux skills from the previous class along the way and even did a little bit of programming before ending the session with questions.

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Braille in the Technology Industry (Episode 43)

On Tuesday 15 November 2022, we hosted an incredibly informative panel discussion around writing software and working in the technology industry in general when using a braille display.

We heard from people in a variety of different IT rolls about the techniques they use, when they use braille and when they use speech, and left plenty of time for audience questions.

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Battle of the Braille Keyboards (Extra 46)

There are two well-known braille keyboards on the market today, the Orbit Writer and the Hable One. What are the similarities? What are the differences? Which one would suit your needs best?

On Tuesday 4 October 2022, we were joined by a user of each keyboard. They told us more about how their preferred keyboard works and why they like it, and we learnt how they compare against each other.

For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

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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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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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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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Drawing Pictures With Your Perkins (Extra 35)

We were delighted to be joined by Kim Charlson, Executive Director of the Perkins Library (part of Perkins School for the Blind). Kim is author of the book “Drawing with your Perkins Brailler”, which includes step-by-step directions for creating 36 different drawings including shapes, animals and subjects with holiday and transportation themes.

In this session, she used a drawing of a Christmas tree to explain the concepts behind using braille cells to create pictures. Bring a Perkins and some paper and follow along and, by the end of the session, you will have your very own frilly Christmas tree made entirely of braille dots!

This session was recorded on Tuesday 7 December 2021. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

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Improving Reading Speed and Building Braille Mastery with Kit Aronoff (Episode 32)

It’s a question we get asked all the time – how can I read braille more quickly? To answer it, we were delighted to be joined on Tuesday 19 October by Kit Aronoff of Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and founder of Main Line Accessibility Consulting. Kit has a background in elementary education and, using principals of teaching literacy to emerging readers and articles from the National Federation of the Blind, she has developed a series of strategies which are sure to benefit even the most competent of braillists.

Our Chairman Dave Williams led the discussion, and he started by asking Kit to describe her braille learning journey.

Resources

Braille Together Mingle is organised by the American Council of the Blind. For more information, email [email protected]

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