News

Thanks to support from Bristol Braille Technology, Braillists will be participating at the following Sight Village exhibitions this year:

• Birmingham – 18th & 19th July
• Manchester – 27th September
• London – 7th & 8th November

We will be demonstrating and talking about some of the projects we are involved in and letting people know about our activities. The exhibitions are always fun and interesting events to be part of, producing much discussion and new connections.

We are looking for Braillists to help run the stands. If you’d like to volunteer please do get in touch and we’ll let you know further details. Even if you can spare just a few hours we would very much appreciate your support.

We will also endeavour to run our popular Braille and Beer get-togethers at the end of the first exhibition day at each event – a great way to meet and converse with fellow Braillists in the convivial atmosphere of a pleasant establishment.

Braillist Paul Sullivan attended an introduction to assistive technology in Birmingham, UK with fellow Braillists Stephanie Seargent and Dave Williams. They were also joined by Braillist and Braille technology developer Ed Rogers of Bristol Braille Technology. Here is Paul’s report on the day:

On Tuesday 28th February Ed Rogers and I travelled to Birmingham City University, where we rendezvoused with Stephanie Sergeant. We were there to take part in a Technology Day for the final year FdSc Rehabilitation Studies (Visual Impairment) students. Later we were joined by Dave Williams who stood in for Ed who had to return to Bristol in the afternoon. The event organiser, Kirsty Jackson, made us very welcome and kept us supplied with tea and coffee throughout the day.

A number of other organisations had been invited to participate, including Orcam, Ultra Cane, Synaptic, GiveVision, Sight and Sound and Optelec. We were based in three rooms which the students circulated round. Ed and Dave demonstrated the Canute MK10, while I showed the students a range of older Braille equipment, including a Braille slate and a Stainsby. Steph demonstrated a Braille Sense U2 mini, a Victor Reader Stream, and an iPhone. All bits of kit not on display by the other exhibitors. Dave and I also demonstrated our different electronic Braille displays, which the students seemed to find very interesting. Their assignment was to learn more about the technology on display, and find out the advantages and disadvantages of each device.

During the day we had in-depth, one-to-one conversations about Braille and Braille technology with around fifteen students. They all knew Braille and were really enthusiastic about its potential for enhancing the lives of visually impaired people. Having got your comments on the value of Braille via the forum, I was able to give the students specific examples of just how important it is for our independence, education, employment and social opportunities.

Stephanie took the student’s contact details and we will be writing to them individually to thank them for their interest. Some of them are already members of the Braillists and we will be inviting the others to join our community.

Prior to attending Paul had asked the Braillists’ forum for input on what Braille meant to them and insights into learning Braille, etc so they could pass on more views to the students. This inspired a lot of amazing and compassionate feedback – you can read all the responses on the forum thread here.

Hi Everyone

To further the Braillists’ aims, as outlined at braillists.org, what would you think about the creation of an independent high quality podcast celebrating all things Braille for Braillists everywhere? Find my proposal below. And if you are interested in helping start a podcast about Braille? Or if you have views about the sorts of content you think should be included in a podcast about Braille? I would like to hear from you directly. Contact details at the bottom of this post.

Why Does the World Need a Podcast about Braille Anyway?

Lots of people listen to all kinds of podcasts about all manner of weird and wonderful subjects, but I’ve not been able to find any about Braille specifically. Yet, by joining this forum you agree braille is an important subject. Audio is also a very natural way for us as blind people to share information with the wider world. I find it slightly odd that a podcast about Braille doesn’t exist already. And even if there is one, there may still be compelling reasons why we may want to make our own.

About 18 months ago I had the idea that a braille podcast could help introduce new people to Braille; support those getting started with Braille; re-energize anyone who has lost their confidence with Braille; provide Braillists with resources to help spread the word about Braille. A Braille podcast would seek to showcase the many ways Braille touches our lives, and share ways we can broaden Braille’s appeal. A Braille podcast could explore innovations in Braille technology. And a braille podcast could be a vehicle for sharing your Braille news and Braille reviews, not just of gadgets, but Braille publications, Braille policy etc.

The reason I have sat on this for 18 months, is as a freelancer with a young family to support, I have been searching for a suitable sponsor. As well as paying the bills, I would like to be able to offer some remuneration to contributors, and web hosting, domain registration fees etc don’t pay themselves.

While clearly such a podcast will need volunteers. Given sufficient interest from this forum, as a community interest company Bristol Braille Technology is willing to sponsor an initial production run. We would have a very modest budget to help with the costs of managing a website, produce audio, record content, promote the podcast, etc. This being the case, I am now in a position to help make a braille podcast a reality.

So Why Me?

As a blind dad and independent accessibility consultant, I am passionate about the power of Braille to enhance the independence and dignity of blind people. As well as directing ACB Radio for the American Council of the Blind between 2003 and 2006, I have produced packages broadcast on BBC Radio 4. I have also promoted Braille commercially for the assistive technology industry. I am regularly invited to present at RNIB Braille networking days and have led Braille technology workshops at the UK’s only course for Teachers of the Visually Impaired at Birmingham University.

While I hope my background in assistive technology and community media gives me a useful starting point, I certainly do not have all the skills and knowledge needed to make this a success. But with your help, I believe we can make it happen.

What Next

If you love Braille, or have audio production, journalism, podcasting, social media or web site skills that could be useful to bring a podcast about braille to life, please consider joining the Braille Podcast Team and help us make a difference.

To discuss this post further:

Email [email protected]

Call: 01905692279

Send a direct message via Twitter @dwilliamsuk

Our newsletter now reaches more than 250 subscribers! We’re still small and would like to reach more of the community so if you know someone who would be interested do let them know. The easiest way is through the sign up form on our website.

We also run a friendly forum that discusses our projects and other Braille related news. By signing up you’ll be better informed of the latest happenings in Braille and have a voice in our online community. To get it directly in your inbox simply reply to this email, send an email to [email protected] or go to the web form. It’s still fairly low volume so you won’t get inundated but you can easily control how many emails you receive or unsubscribe at any time. Alternatively you can read it online through our website.

Please let us know of any problems signing up to the newsletter or forum. We’ve recently resolved an issue with CAPTCHA fields and screen-readers/braille devices on our Newsletter sign up form but can only do this if we’re aware of the problem. Just email [email protected].

We would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and very much look forward to your input on more, exciting braille developments in 2017.

Skipton Building Society has donated £500 to the Braillists to help promote our group’s growth as a pro-active force for promoting Braille use. It comes at a perfect time, with our renewed focus on projects, and it is great to have their support.

New College Worcester, Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford and Queen Alexandra College in Birmingham are just some examples of organisations doing great work to teach and produce braille to high standards. However, we are sure there are many others in the same region with an equally strong interest in the value of braille. Through the Braillists, An opportunity exists to share expertise, develop skills and grow relationships between braille enthusiasts.

If you would like to connect with Braillists in Worcestershire, the West Midlands and surrounding areas, please contact Dave Williams. Email [email protected] or call 03335552084 (calls charged at your local rate and normally included in bundled minutes).

We’ve had a great proposal from a university project on the Braillists forum. Calvin is looking to test his tactile graphing and images concept in a Braillists group over the next couple of months. Calvin is looking to test the idea at the next group that meets in Bristol. Watch this space for the next meeting date.

We’ve had a great year for the Braillists in 2016, seen membership tip over 250, and lots of expressions of interests from a variety of new projects. Therefore Braillists groups will now have a much greater project focus rather than restricted to geographic location. For example, groups will come together to test the Canute for Bristol Braille Technology, support the development of other braille-related technologies that come along, develop innovative approaches for teaching braille, advocate for braille generally, etc. Groups will still be able to meet together if the members live near to one another, but they will also include members who participate remotely, using Skype for example.

The BBC have been developing a new miniature computer to teach children how to code. Its a little like a Raspberry Pi (not a pie, mind), but with its own small screen, cheaper and simpler to program.

The Braillists will be assisting the BBC to develop blind and VI accessible add-ons to the Micro:Bit and to run trials to test accessibility for blind users. Watch this space…

Ed Rogers visited Squirrel Devices in Boston, MA, who have designed amazing Braille callipers. They are using an innovative non-digital technology for rendering refreshable Braille numbers on the head of the callipers.

They sell in America for around $20, and they’re planning on bringing them to the UK and Ireland as well. They have sent the Braillists eight sample units, six of which we’ve already distributed to teachers of Braille to trial in educational settings.

They are keen to work with the Braillists; be that helping distribution or a series of brain storms to come up with alternative uses for their very exciting technology.