Author: Matthew Horspool

Croydon Vision and RNIB are collaborating to host a Braille Awareness Day at Croydon Vision, Wellesley Road, West Croydon, on Wednesday 1st October 2025.  This will be from1.00pm to 4.00pm.

Blind and partially sighted people to gather at Gateshead Central Library to share how braille has impacted their lives

Blind and partially sighted people who use braille – the system of raised dots which enables people with sight loss to read through touch – will gather at Gateshead Central Library on Wednesday 24 September to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the invention of braille.

The event is organised by leading sight loss charity The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), Gateshead Central Library and Sense Ability Matters and marks the final stop on a year-long RNIB ‘Braille and Beyond’ UK tour of libraries to mark the landmark anniversary. It is made possible by the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Braillists from RNIB, Gateshead and surrounding boroughs have been invited along with children from local schools. They will be able to view a special braille exhibition, try out the very latest in braille technology, hear talks from RNIB and Sense Ability Matters and hear from people for whom braille has transformed their lives. Dave Williams, Chair of The Braillists Foundation will also speak about his lifelong association with braille.

James Bowden, RNIB’s Braille Technical Officer who is blind and a lifelong braille user, said: “Braille is reading designed for our fingers, just like print is designed for our eyes. It’s a vital tool that helps blind and partially sighted people lead fulfilled lives. Braille readers are more likely to be employed than blind people who don’t read braille, and this highlights a critical need to expand braille education, ensuring that more children with vision impairment and adults with sight loss can benefit from this powerful tool.

“Supporting braille education and resources is a crucial step towards an inclusive society. We’re doing the RNIB Braille and Beyond tour to celebrate the story of braille so far, and it will be up to blind and partially sighted people across the UK to write the next chapter.”

Denoise Envy from Gateshead Libraries said: “Gateshead Libraries are delighted to be hosting the finale event of RNIB’s Braille 200 tour. We are looking forward to welcoming a range of exhibitions and speakers, sharing the latest innovations, and inviting local schools to experience braille and technology which helps to better support the blind and partially sighted community.”

Notes to editors

All media enquiries including interview requests to 0207 391 2223 or [email protected]. For urgent enquiries out-of-hours, please call 07968 482812.

For more information about the Braille and Beyond tour contact RNIB’s Library Liaison Officer, Lara Marshall on [email protected].

For more information about the braille courses and resources RNIB offers, please go online to rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss/education-and-learning/braille-tactile-codes/learning-braille.

About Braille 200

Louis Braille was in his teens in the mid-1820s when he began developing the six-dot tactile reading system that enables millions of blind and partially sighted people around the world to access the power of literacy. From September 2024, RNIB is leading a year of celebrations across the UK to recognise the bicentenary of the braille code; braille continues to unlock access to countless opportunities in education, employment and independent living.

Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, RNIB and its partners will highlight braille’s versatility for representing written language and technical subjects, enabling blind and partially sighted people to learn, work and play.

Despite its proven benefits, misconceptions about braille persist. Braille 200 affords us an opportunity to dispel some of those myths. Braille remains crucial in a world increasingly reliant on digital information. It complements audio technology and ensures independent and efficient access to detailed and personal information such as recipes, medication packaging and greetings cards. You do not have to be blind from birth nor super intelligent, braille can be empowering at any age.

About RNIB

We are the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

Every six minutes, someone in the UK begins to lose their sight. RNIB is taking a stand against exclusion, inequality and isolation to create a world without barriers where people with sight loss can lead full lives. A different world where society values blind and partially sighted people not for the disabilities they’ve overcome, but for the people they are.

RNIB. See differently.

Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit rnib.org.uk

Apple recently released the latest versions of its flagship operating systems, including iOS and iPad 26 for the popular iPhone and iPad product lines. Amongst the many new features are a significant number of improvements to VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader.

In this two-part series, Matthew Horspool will lift the lid on what is new and changed for users of braille displays and Braille Screen Input.

In part 1, on Tuesday 23 September, we will cover:

• Braille Keyboard Input
• Item overview
• New cursor and text selection options
• Quick navigation
• Single-hand Braille Screen Input
• Changing gestures in Braille Screen Input Command mode

In part 2, on Tuesday 30 September, we will devote the entire session to Braille Access, a new notetaker-like experience for connected braille displays. We will talk about:

• Launching apps and items
• Taking, reading and managing braille notes
• Reading and transferring BRF files
• The braille clock and calculator
• Live braille captions
• Braille Access settings
• Configuring braille keyboard commands for Braille Access

Both sessions will start at 7:30 PM UK time, and you can register once to attend both sessions.

Register for the Masterclass here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 890 9440 0482
• Passcode: 123456

The story of Braille music and its impact on blind musicians over the last 200 years.

2025 marks 200 years since Louis Braille invented his revolutionary 6-dot tactile writing system for blind people. Braille was also an organist, and he went on to adapt his system into Braille Music, allowing blind musicians to access and study scores like never before.

Award-winning lutenist Matthew Wadsworth travels to France to learn about the origins of Braille Music and explores the impact it’s had on blind musicians over the last 200 years.

Matthew visits the Musée Louis Braille (Braille’s childhood home) in Coupvray, France to learn about Louis Braille’s early life. He also travels to the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (The National Institute for Blind Youth) in Paris – the institute for blind students where Louis Braille was a student and teacher. The school still teaches blind students today and organ teacher Alexandra Bartfeld tells Matthew how the institute trained famed blind organists like Jean Langlais, Louis Vierne and Gaston Litaize.

Philippa Campsie, independent researcher into the history of blindness, explains how Charles Barbier’s Night Writing code using raised dots inspired Louis Braille. And Mireille Duhen, from the Valentin Haüy museum, shows Matthew period tactile music scores from the turn of the 19th century.

Internationally acclaimed concert pianist Ignasi Cambra explains at the piano how he uses Braille Music to memorise a score.

Viola player Takashi Kikuchi is a member of Paraorchestra. He recently learned the music for the Virtuous Circle – an orchestral performance of Mozart’s 40th Symphony with additional music by Oliver Vibrans. He discusses the challenges of memorising contemporary music and how he worked with fellow viola player and Assistant Music Director of Paraorchestra, Siobhan Clough, to access the score.

Recorder player and composer James Risdon talks to Matthew about the ways digital Braille Music scores have benefited his career. And Dr Sarah Morley Wilkins from the Daisy Consortium Braille Music project and Jay Pocknell (Project Manager at Sound Without Sight and Music officer at the Royal National Institute for Blind People) discuss their work with music publishers to improve access to Braille Music scores in the digital age.

Listen on BBC Sounds

Can you guess today’s mystery object? Eric Knowles baffles punters at Stoneleigh antiques fair in Warwickshire with an intriguing brass-hinged item with holes in it – but what was it used for? Matthew Horspool reveals all!

The object is shown from approximately 13 minutes through the programme.

Watch Bargain Hunt Series 72: Stoneleigh 9 on iPlayer

This is a message from Mary Lea. Please contact her directly for more information.

At the moment I am volunteering at the Braille Hub in Belfast, and they can recycle old RNIB books into bound copies. If you have any books you’d like to have bound for your own collection, or if you want to donate them to schools in Africa, let me know. The pamphlets go to Belfast prison where the prisoners get to produce the books while learning useful skills.

Write to me off list for more information.

BoQuest is a gamified braille and assistive technology practice app giving braille students the chance to practice their braille skills anytime and anywhere on their smart devices with any compatible braille display.

BoDesk is a web dashboard for TVIs and vision teachers to help them with lesson planning, assigning personalized assignments and tracking student progress.

Bonocle are running a pilot with the Bonocle braille challenge.

1. Go to www.bonocle.co/pilot
2. Fill the form and get the download instructions
3. Do the challenge and win up to $500.
4. Invite others to join and mention you in the form’s referral section for a chance to win $100.*

*More people will grant you more entries and they must complete one run of the challenge to qualify as an entry.

For more information, email Ramy Abdulzaher

You might be familiar with many functions of the Canute 360 from Bristol Braille Technology, but did you know it can work seamlessly with the widely popular Duxbury Braille Translator? When connected to a Windows machine, the Canute can output Braille text in real-time using Duxbury’s six-key Braille entry, or display any translated text loaded into the application.

This added functionality can significantly enhance the usability of the Canute 360, particularly for those who need to quickly navigate content in a multi-line environment. If you already have Duxbury and the Canute 360, you’re set to go!

Join Bristol Braille Technology’s Ed Rogers and Sight and Sound Technology’s Stuart Lawler to learn not only how to set up this integration but also explore a variety of use cases. Don’t miss this opportunity to maximize your Canute 360 experience!

Register for the Masterclass here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 862 7390 4662
• Passcode: 123456

With thanks to Bristol Braille Technology and Sight and Sound Technology for their sponsorship of this event.

Selvas BLV is proud to announce that BrailleSense 6 firmware version 3.0 is due for release by the end of September!

This major update delivers a redesigned Main Menu and Settings dialog, an enhanced Word Processor, a new Braille Practice app for teaching and learning Braille, the highly anticipated new Web Browser, and more.

They will be holding a webinar to preview this firmware and have a live Q and A session on Tuesday 16 September at 10:00 PM UK time.

Join link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88034816739

Join them to explore how this update advances productivity, learning, and accessibility.

Join Braille Literacy Canada at 6pm UK (1pm EST, 10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12pm Central, 2pm Atlantic) on Friday, September 19th to learn about eBraille!

Presented by Willow Free, Global Innovations Product Manager at the American Printing House for the Blind, this workshop will explore the new eBraille file format, which promises to greatly improve the experience for electronic braille readers. Files distributed in the eBraille format will be able to seamlessly adapt to various braille display line lengths, can incorporate both text and graphics, and can include markup (such as headings and lists) to make navigation and searching easier. Version 1 of the eBraille technical specification was released in August 2025.

“We’re at the beginning of another braille revolution,” says Willow Free, co-chair of the eBraille Working Group. Learn about eBraille, the file type which allows braille and tactile graphics to be read together in one electronic document. Willow will talk about eBraille, how it is implemented and supported, and will also take questions.

Willow Free is a certified transcriber, member of the World Braille Council, a former board member of the National Braille Association, and chair of the eBraille Working Group. Her job fuses technology and braille, both of which fill her with joy. She enjoys spending time with friends, in nature, and complaining about user interfaces.

Click here to Register for eBraille on Braille Literacy Canada’s website.