New Events System Test

We’re starting on page 12 of Fingerprint volume 5 this week: contractions beginning with dots 4-5, the EA sign, and signs for double letters. Upon my word, whose are these and those?

You might have spent the past few days wilting under the extreme heat we’ve all been experiencing, but we’ll be asking you to spare a thought for the broccoli florets that have also been wilting away forgotten in your fridge.

That’s part of today’s Clever Cooking session, where we’ll be talking about left-overs. What can you make with them, how should you store them and how as blind people can we tell if it’s time for something to go in the bin instead of the bowl?

Join us to hear our top tips, learn from others and share your own experiences.

This Friday we are joined by our very own Stuart Lawler from INBAF and Sight and Sound to talk Braille displays.

Stuart Lawler has co-hosted many a Dublin Braillists meeting since 2015. He is Specialist Lead for Braille product portfolio for Sight and Sound technology and has over 20 years’ experience working in the Assistive Technology industry, including as a member of the Irish National Braille and Alternative Formats Association.

This session will explain how various levels of Braille tech, for example a note taker or display, might be advantageous for you in different situations. It will also cover how mainstream tech has embraced Braille to all our advantage.

Stuart will focus particularly on the ElBraille with Focus 5th edition display, the Braille Sense Polaris and the QBraille from Selvas Healthcare.

There’ll be plenty of time for a Q&A, so bring your refreshable Braille questions!

We’re starting on page 20 of Fingerprint volume 5 this week, covering lower signs which can occur anywhere in a word (IN and EN) and moving on to lower signs which only occur at the starts of words (BE, CON and DIS).

At this week’s Clever Cooking session we’ll be talking desserts. Does the thought of them give you jelly legs or make you crumble in general? Have you always said no way to a soufflé? We no that these things can seem a trifle complicated but ultimately the proof’s in the pudding so join us to learn some simple dessert recipes, get your questions answered and share your tips with everyone else.

The past 5 months have seen incredible change for everyone in the world, let alone blind people. As our Friday sessions approach their end we have one simple question: what have you learnt? Join us this Friday for a group discussion where we’ll be reflecting on how we’re all coping with the new normal, what went well and what as individuals we could have done differently. We’ll also be contemplating what strategies we can employ moving forwards to help us cope with any hard times in our futures.

This week sees us starting volume 6 of Fingerprint with dot 5 contractions.

This week we’ll be joined by Holman prize winner and blind baking extraordinaire Penny Melville-Brown, who’ll be live baking some ginger biscuits and answering all the baking questions you’ve always wanted to know but have been too scared to ask.

If you fancy a sneak peek at what we’ll be doing, click here to read the recipe.

We are looking forward to introducing you all to our guest speaker, Everette Bacon, to talk about the work the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) does to promote braille literacy across America.

Everette is on the Board of Directors of the NFB and President of NFB Utah.

We’ll be asking Everette all about how he has personally pushed to make assistive technology more widely available and the kind of resources and programmes the NFB provides for its members, including the work they’ve done to promote equality of distance learning for blind students during lockdown.

We are also looking forward to hearing about some of the most exciting projects the NFB has supported through the Dr Jacob Bolotin Award.

Come join the conversation.

We’re carrying on with dot 5 contractions starting with character, through and where. We’ll also review some of the contractions we learnt last time and answer any other braille questions people might have. If you’re following along with Fingerprint, please have volume 6 to hand.