Celebrate the wonder of Braille through creativity with the VICTA Braille Art Competition!
The competition is open to visually impaired children and young adults from 0 to 29 years. There are different age categories to enter into with different themes, a category for school entries, and amazing prizes up-for-grabs, so it’s time to go dotty for Braille.
This survey forms the final study of a PhD being conducted by Aasha Rose.
The aim of her research is to understand how braille literacy influences key aspects of life, such as independence, social engagement, and personal well-being, for people who learned braille. Your insights will help her better understand the real-world impact of braille on daily living, identify areas where support can be improved, and contribute to developing strategies that promote accessibility and inclusion for people with vision loss.
A message from UKAAF:
Dear All
I am writing to let you know about the news that we received recently that Jim McCafferty sadly passed away over Christmas. Jim was a huge supporter of UKAAF and Braille. I have written the tribute below to him.
We pass our condolences to Jim’s family and friends from all at UKAAF.
It is with great sadness that I write, on behalf of UKAAF, to remember Jim McCafferty, who died on Christmas Day. Jim was a much-respected colleague, trustee, editor, and friend, and his contribution to accessible formats — and to UKAAF in particular — was both profound and enduring.
Registered blind from the age of three, Jim learned braille at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh, and it remained central to his life ever since. As Jim himself so powerfully expressed: “Braille has had a massive and very positive impact on my life, and to be perfectly honest, I really do not know how I could do without it.” Braille enabled Jim to live an independent, informed and fulfilling life, both personally and professionally, and he was a passionate advocate for ensuring others could do the same.
Jim devoted more than 40 years of his career to braille production and proofreading, including many years with the Scottish Braille Press. His expertise, attention to detail, and deep understanding of braille were widely respected across the sector. Even following his retirement, Jim continued to support Sight Scotland as a supply braille proofreader — a reflection of his lifelong commitment to quality and access.
Within UKAAF, Jim served with distinction as both a trustee and, for nearly 11 years, as editor of Format Matters. In this role, he played a vital part in shaping discussion, sharing best practice, and strengthening collaboration across the accessible formats community. His editorial leadership was thoughtful, rigorous and generous, always grounded in the belief that accessible information changes lives.
Jim spoke openly about the practical value of braille in everyday life — from managing personal records to ensuring privacy and confidentiality — but he was equally passionate about encouraging new learners. His advice was always clear and heartfelt: “Give learning braille all you’ve got. You don’t need to know the system intricately, but learning the alphabet and numbers will allow you to communicate and keep track of important information. It will help you maintain your independence and improve your life skills.”
Jim’s legacy lives on through the many people who benefited from his work, his guidance, and his advocacy. On behalf of UKAAF, I extend our deepest condolences to Jim’s family, friends and colleagues. He will be remembered with great respect, gratitude, and affection, and he will be greatly missed by all of us who had the privilege of working alongside him.
Susan Day
UKAAF Chair
Back in April, RNIB announced that it was to cease Personal Transcription and outsource this service to a third-party commercial organisation. This decision was shared widely across social media and elicited a strong response.
Following an initial meeting and a series of focus groups during the Summer, RNIB has now announced that it will retain a Personal Transcription service for braille music in-house, recognising “its unique value to our users”. This will be free of charge. All other personal transcription, including large and modified print music, will continue to be outsourced to an external provider, and will likewise continue to be subsidised by RNIB.
A new Blind-first and a11y-first audio-based game aimed at increasing typing skills and #Braille literacy. Multiple game and input modes, fun sounds, and you earn tickets with each round that you can use to get silly prizes when you cash out at the Prize Counter! Practice your Perkins typing with the home-row setting and your grade 2 symbols and word signs. I’m still iterating, but enjoy this initial release. Go whack some moles!
Braillio is a braille typing tutor you can use anywhere.
Learn braille without any special equipment.
Use a standard keyboard! F, D, S and J, K, L keys operate as braille input keys.
Fully voiced without the need for outside screen reading software.
Just log in from the browser on just about any device.
Uncontracted and Contracted UEB Braille.
Welcome to Brailliance by Themis Games!
Brailliance is a puzzle game where you guess the word by adding up braille dots. This game has been carefully crafted to be playable by everyone, and it includes multiple accessibility features for people with blindness and other disabilities. For players with unhindered sight, tap the keyboard as you normally would and enjoy the challenge. For everyone else, the game is fully compatible with popular screen readers and can be played with a number of different input methods including keyboards and accessibility shortcuts.
Seeing Hands has released a new small Braille project:
As a celebration of the new year, we’ve made a Braille calendar generator. This can create a file showing the calendar of any year or years which can be used to mark events. Because it’s designed for any display with the ability to edit a Braille file, and technically anything that can read one, this doesn’t have the same feature set that a calendar application on a notetaker might have but if you are using something that doesn’t have one, this might be of some use. It mostly depends how you like to use a calendar, and it can still be limiting for users of small displays.
It’s quite a small thing, but I hope people find this useful, and if you have any ideas for how we can improve this, we’d appreciate any feedback. You can find the tool at https://s.seeinghands.org/calendar
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Scott Thornhill
Executive Director
202-467-5081
American Council of the Blind Announces Partnership with Dot Inc. to Expand Access to Multi-line Braille Technology
Alexandria, Va., January 5, 2026 — The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is proud to announce a new partnership with Dot Inc., a leader in innovative braille technology, that will expand access to multi-line braille and reinforce ACB’s longstanding commitment to braille literacy and accessibility.
Through this partnership, ACB members are eligible for an exclusive $300 discount on the purchase of the Dot Pad X, Dot Inc.’s new groundbreaking multi-line braille display. The Dot Pad X represents a major advancement in braille technology, allowing users to read and interact with content in ways that go beyond traditional single-line displays.
“This partnership reflects ACB’s commitment to braille and its importance for people who are blind or have low vision,” said ACB Executive Director Scott Thornhill. “Multi-line braille technology like the Dot Pad X has the potential to transform education, employment, and independent access to information, and ACB is proud to be at the forefront of these advancements.”
In addition to the member discount, Dot Inc. will make a donation to ACB for each Dot Pad X purchased by an ACB member. These donations will support ACB’s advocacy, programs, and initiatives that promote braille literacy, accessibility, and equal opportunity.
“By combining direct savings for our members with a donation that strengthens ACB’s mission, this partnership creates both immediate and long-term value for our community,” Thornhill added.
ACB and Dot Inc. will also collaborate on future outreach, education, and storytelling efforts, including case studies highlighting how multi-line braille technology can improve access to information and daily life for people who are blind or have low vision.
To learn more about the Dot Pad X, visit https://www.dotincorp.com/en/product/dotpadx
The Monarch RISE Project is working to empower a community of individuals who are blind, low vision, or DeafBlind, as they pursue competitive integrated employment (CIE). The project aims to provide Monarch devices, specialized training, and individualized support to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing of strategies and success stories.