Terry-Ann Saurmann – Braillecast

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

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

The Best SD Card for Your Braille Display (Extra 74)

Many braille displays include an SD or Micro SD card slot. However, when it comes to purchasing a suitable card, there are so many options! Which is best, and which work with your braille display?

In this session, we were joined by friend of the Braillists Ben Mustill-Rose to help make sense of them. He covered:

Technical terms – SD, Micro SD, SD HC, SD XC and card classes
How much capacity you need
Card readers and adapters
Avoiding poor quality cards
Unpacking and setting up your new card, including formatting and write protection

00:00 / 57:45

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!

00:00 / 57:33

From Print To Braille: A Deeper Dive Into Duxbury (Extra 69)

This week: The Duxbury Braille Translator is used in braille production facilities all over the world. We will explore how templates can be used to produce braille according to virtually any international standard, and how styles and codes can be used to control the finer points of the braille output. The presenter is James Bowden.

00:00 / 1:02:07

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

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.

00:00 / 1:02:53

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:

Monarch from APH and HumanWare
BT Speak from Blazie Technologies
Orbit Speak, Orbit Reader Q20 and Orbit Reader Q40 from Orbit Research
Cadence from Tactile Engineering
Optima from Orbit Research and Access Mind
BraillePen24 from Harpo
NewHaptics
Paige Connect from Paige Braille
Braille eMotion from Hims
OneCourt
Various accessibility efforts from Procter and Gamble and Sony
Braille guide dog name tags from Elegant Insights

On the panel:

Chancey Fleet ([email protected] on Mastadon) from the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library
J.j. Meddaugh ([email protected] on Mastadon) from A. T. Guys and Blind Bargains, home of the Blind Bargains Qast which is soon to return
Judy Dixon, President of the International Council on English Braille

00:00 / 56:28

Tactile Diagrams at the Open University (Extra 62)

Getting tactile diagrams at University is often not as easy as it should be. However, the Open University has an excellent reputation for accessibility, and has developed robust processes for students to request diagrams and for those diagrams to be designed and produced.

This session was presented jointly by Jeff Bashton, former Visual Impairment Adviser at the Open University; and Andrew Whitehead, Graphics Media Developer within the OU’s Learner and Discovery Services. It briefly outlined what the Open University is, before explaining what gave rise to the tactile diagrams initiative and how it was developed.

Andrew illustrated how diagrams are prioritised, and described the tools and techniques he uses to design and produce them. We learnt how these techniques are applied to standard graphs and charts, as well as more complex images such as a cross-section of part of the brain!

If you are currently studying at University, or thinking of starting a University course soon, this session serves as a case study of how Universities can provide effective support in this area. We gave details of DSA funding models at the end of the presentation.

If you are interested in tactile diagrams in general, this session offered valuable insights into the tools and techniques available and the reasons for choosing them.

Decision Tree: Deciding if a Tactile Diagram is Necessary

Start
Is the information a repeat of the facts?
Yes: go to 5.
No: go to 3.
Would the information be more meaningful in text form?
Yes: go to 6.
No: go to 4.
Return to 2.
Does the graphic require the reader to use visual discrimination or visual perception?
Yes: go to 7.
No: go to 8.
Return to 3.
Do not produce graphic.
Return to 2.
Create a figure description. Do not produce a graphic.
Return to 3.
Modify the graphic.
Return to 4.
Is the actual object unavailable, too small, too large, or too dangerous to examine by touch and perceived details?
Yes: go to 11.
No: go to 9.
Return to 4.
Does the reader need the information from a map, figure or graph to complete an assessment/task or to participate in discussions and/or answer questions?
Yes: go to 11.
No: go to 10.
Return to 8.
Do not produce graphic.
Return to 9.
Produce graphic.
Return to 8.
Return to 9.

Tactile Diagram Transcribers

Sources of Tactile Diagrams

Sources of Swell Paper and Heat Fusers

Braille Into Christmas (Extra 61)

As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, a few people joined us for a cosy fireside chat to round off the year on Tuesday 19 December.

How do you write and address your Christmas cards? How do you know whose Christmas presents are whose? And what part does braille play in all of this?

We were joined by our expert Braille for Beginners team, Mel Pritchard and Chantelle Griffiths, to get the conversation started, and we heard plenty of ideas from the audience too, on a multitude of Christmas-themed topics.