Author: Matthew Horspool

Where: Adult Learning Lewisham, 2 Brockley Rise, SE23 1PR

Tel: 0208 314 3300

When: Mondays, term time, 10.30 am to 1 pm

Website: https://lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/adult/find-a-course/physical-and-sensory-impairments

Details: we are a friendly and supportive Braille class who meet on Monday mornings. People learn at their own pace and we like to include fun things such as card games and group discussions. No prior knowledge of Braille is needed for this course. Learners can also have tuition by telephone if they are unwell or have difficulty accessing transport. Many of our learners qualify for a free place, depending on the benefits they are entitled to and others, for example if they are not in the Lewisham borough, pay a subsidised fee for the class. Our next term starts on the 18th of September and we are now taking registrations which involve a brief pre course assessment that can now be booked.

On World Braille Day (4 January 2023) Disability Equality Scotland, Oban and District Access Panel and Sight Scotland launched a campaign calling on the Scottish Government to introduce new requirements on retailers to provide braille labelling on food products.

We are asking for a statutory duty to be placed on businesses and retailers to provide braille labels on food products detailing the name of the item and the use by/sell by dates. This is an essential requirement for blind and partially sighted people, which would allow visually impaired individuals to safely identify, buy and use food items in both retailers and when at home.

As part of the campaign, a Scottish Parliament petition was created which currently has a total of 1,290 signatures. In the latest response to the petition, Food Standards Scotland stated that legal food labelling requirements need to be considered on a UK-basis. However, due to work arising from the UK Government’s Retained EU Law Bill, progress on braille labelling work is unlikely to be possible in the short term.

As a campaign group, we are determined to highlight why a review of food labelling should be considered as a priority. Therefore, responses to this week’s poll will contribute to developing the braille campaign further. If you would like to share your experiences and contribute to a case study, please leave your contact details below.

The Scottish Parliament petition remains under consideration by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. You can sign and share our petition using the following link: https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE1997

Our question this week: Do you think food package labels are available in formats that meet your accessibility requirements? Yes/No

Please share any comments you have on the accessibility of food packaging, for example the size of text, colour contrast, the use of QR codes.

We are also keen to hear directly from braille users. Please share your contact details if you wish to contribute to a case study to help further promote our braille labelling campaign.

You can respond to our poll online: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AccessibleFoodLabelling

or contact:

email [email protected] or call us on 0141 370 0968

Please note the poll will remain open for a further three weeks, it will close on Friday 4th of August, your support will be very much appreciated.

I love braille! Everything braille–that’s what I say!

My website offers free patterns for drawing pictures using braille. I write the patterns so that those who are learning braille can draw, too, and most are small enough to be drawn with a slate and stylus. I also welcome pattern submissions from those who want to share. They can send me their instructions via email.

You are warmly invited to join TAVIP (the Technology Association of Visually Impaired People) and the Braillists Foundation for a lively discussion about the latest braille, technology and accessibility solutions. Everyone is welcome.

Monday 17 July 2023

4:00 PM-7:00PM

Meet in the bar at the Eastside Rooms, the same venue as Sight Village

Contact details on the evening:

• Mike Townsend (TAVIP): 07967 658028
• Matthew Horspool (Braillists Foundation): 07429 171736

A message from Chris Norman:

Hi,

My name is Chris Norman, and I am the Service Development Officer at Coventry Resource Centre for the Blind (CRCB).

At CRCB, we run a couple of braille classes on a Friday, from 10:0, until 13:00 or so. Unfortunately, one of our teachers recently passed away, leaving a bit of a space to be filled. I would be extremely appreciative if you would share this message with your members in case anyone is interested at helping in a friendly and informal class for aspiring braillists, of all ages and abilities.

Ideally, we’d like a couple of braillists to help at our classes. We teach everyone from absolute beginners to more advanced braillists, so there’s no pressure to be an expert. Classes are in person, and our address is 33-35 Earlsdon Avenue South, Coventry, CV5 6TH. We are a friendly and accepting bunch, and I hear rumours of cake at the braille classes!

If anyone is interested, I would love to hear from them. My details – and those of the centre can be found in my email signature.

Thank you so much in advance, and I hope this email finds you well.

Take care and have a great day.

Chris Norman

Service Development Officer

Coventry Resource Centre For The Blind

T: 024 7671 7522

E: [email protected]

A message from James Bowden, Braille Technical Officer at RNIB:
m: +44 (0) 7710 069 232
e: [email protected]

Some while ago we spoke about an updated SD card of braille books from the RNIB library, and you asked me to let you know when this was available.

I am delighted to tell you, the new card is now ready and you can order it either through the RNIB website or by calling our Helpline. The new card costs £20. Sadly, there is no direct download option, but books can also be downloaded for free from readingservices.rnib.org.uk

To order:
Go to: rnib.org.uk/shop (and search for SD card)
or telephone: 0303 123 9999

The full, card for adults is product code SDA22 and contains over 6,000 braille books.

Below are a few details about the card, if you need any further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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This SD card contains a wide range of over 6,000 braille books selected from the RNIB braille Library for reading on a refreshable braille display.

The collection is contained on a single convenient SD card, suitable for use with any compatible braille display.

As well as novels, biographies, recipes and titles for children and teens, this collection includes a dictionary in the languages section, a small selection of braille music, a braille code reference section and some information about services offered by RNIB.

Books are arranged in folders according to category; an Index by author listing all books is also provided.

The books came from a variety of sources and dates and some are in different braille codes. Several books have versions in both uncontracted (grade 1) braille and contracted (grade 2) braille. The filename indicates the braille code used.

A version of the collection only containing books for children and a version for children and teens is also available.

For those in the UK and interested in Humanware products including their braille displays, they are doing a Summer Sale until 31 August. For more information, please see the Summer Sale page on the HumanWare Website.

Beginning on Monday 17 July, grab yourself the following discounts:

• 10% off the Hable One
• 20% off the BrailleSense 6, BrailleSense 6 Mini, QBraille XL and Taptilo
• 10% off ViewPlus braille embossers

For more information, please see the Sight and Sound Newsletter.

Those of us who are going to the NFB Convention are all gearing up and getting excited for the trip to Houston. Dave Williams, Steph Sergeant and Ed Rogers are holding a local Braillists meet-up in person. Steph and Ed are bringing Canute Consoles for demonstrations and we would be very interested in getting your feedback.

The meeting will be at 6:30 PM US Central Daylight Time on Wednesday 5 July at The Hilton Americas-Houston hotel, 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, Texas, 77010.

Our agenda will be:

• Introductions. 10 minutes.
• Discuss new Braille news from the Convention. 30 minutes.
• Simultaneous. 40 minutes.
  • Demos of the Canute Console from Bristol Braille Technology CIC, the world’s first multiline Braille workstation; including maps of Houston, star maps, floor plans, bar graphs and full page tactile video games.
  • Catch up with people you know from our online events and forum.
• Many of us will be going on to get some supper in a nearby restaurant once the meeting is done and all are welcome.

We will meet in the lobby bar of the Hilton and go from there to the meeting room, which is currently still to be confirmed. If you can’t find us immediately, please go to the bar and ask for the Braillists Foundation. Alternatively you can ring us at the event on +16179367064, WhatsApp +447473625387, or email [email protected].

We’re very much looking forward to catching up with old friends and meeting new faces.

Whether you’re new to braille or an experienced braillist, reading is an important and fundamental process. To fully appreciate the brilliance of braille for use in daily life, reading is something you should enjoy and feel comfortable with. But what can you do to improve your reading skills once you have learned all the letters and perhaps some contractions as well? How can you enhance your reading speed and accuracy even if you’ve been doing braille for a while?

In this masterclass, Chantelle Griffiths, Co-Founder and CEO of New Zealand’s Tactile and Technology Literacy Centre, will share some practical tips and tricks to get you on the right track with your reading, no matter how much braille you’ve done or where you are on your braille journey. There will be something here for everyone.

You will learn:

• What actually happens when we read and how reading by touch is different — or not — from reading visually.
• How to press the “reset button” for your fingers and brain when you’re just not feeling it. Literally.
• The fundamental braille technique you didn’t know you knew and how it enhances your reading.
• The three C’s of braille reading; what they are and how they work together to help you connect the dots between your brain and fingers.
• How playing the viola relates to reading in a straight line and how you can experience something similar yourself, even if you’re not a musician.
• How to start from exactly where you are and enjoy the process.
• Lots more practical tips, ideas and experiments you can try on your own.

We would like to make this a very practical session. If you’d like to follow along with us, please have some hardcopy or electronic braille handy and a couple of random objects that feel nothing like braille.

Register for the Masterclass here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 824 7645 2710
• Passcode: 123456