Date: 27th September 2023
Introduction
The International Council on English Braille (ICEB) is holding its Eighth General Assembly from Saturday, 25 May 2024 to Thursday, 30 May 2024 at The Grand Millennium hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. We are delighted to invite friends of braille to submit papers (either full presentations or shorter posters) for delivery at the event.
The theme for the week will be “Two Centuries of Braille”. Between the ages of 13 and 16, Louis Braille worked on perfecting the basis of the braille system. Join us as we celebrate achievements in the world of braille and look forward to the exciting innovations and developments ahead. The following list gives some ideas for topics; however, it is not exhaustive. If you have something exciting you would like to share please get in touch:
- Electronic reading of braille across different devices.
- Research, education and teaching of braille to children.
- Technological developments in braille production.
- Research and Teaching of braille to blind adults, including issues related to computer-assisted environments.
- Tactile graphics: research into readability and cost-effective production techniques.
- Methods and issues surrounding braille writing.
- UEB research and results of UEB implementation.
- Challenges facing developing countries in the production and teaching of braille.
- The future of braille code monitoring and maintenance.
For further inspiration please see the papers presented at the last General Assembly held online in 2020.
Process for submission
There will be two categories of papers, either a presentation or a poster session. If your paper is about a product, it will be categorised as a poster session.
Abstracts
Closing date for submission of Abstracts of up to 400 words is Saturday, November 18th, 2023. Late abstracts will only be considered if there are insufficient suitable abstracts received by the due date. Please provide the abstracts as Microsoft Word or text (.txt) attachments to [email protected].
Abstracts will be assessed and selected by the Papers Subcommittee of the ICEB, who will advise submitters of the acceptance (or non-acceptance) of their papers by Friday, December 8th, 2023.
What to include in your abstract: To assist the Committee in assessing your proposal, please ensure that you address the following points as part of your abstract of up to 400 words:
- Title of paper;
- Is the paper for inclusion as a presentation or poster session;
- Name(s) of author(s), including organisational or corporate affiliations;
- Contact details of author(s) (address, telephone and email);
- Key objectives of paper – up to five key points;
- Outline of paper;
- Name and contact details of presenter of the paper (if different from above).
Papers (posters or presentations)
Completed papers are due by February 29th, 2024 as both a Microsoft Word file and a braille file (brf/dxb). The brf files should be 25 lines by 30 cells, suitable for embossing on A4 or 8.5 by 11-inch paper. Note – If you are unable to produce a braille file, we can give you guidelines on how to do this.
The papers should be sent to Natalie Martiniello [email protected].
Presentations should be a maximum of 3,500 words in length, exclusive of abstract, footnotes and appendices. Posters should be no longer than 1,350 words.
Papers may be written by two or more co-authors, or by an individual. Authors or co-authors need not be delegates to the General Assembly.
All accepted papers will be emailed to ICEB member countries by March 29th, 2024. This deadline is so that delegates may read and discuss the contents with others prior to their attending the General Assembly.
Delivery of Papers
Delivery of full presentations: As delegates are expected to have read the paper, each presenter will be asked to give a summary of their paper in up to 25 minutes, allowing time for questions and discussion to follow. A presenter is not required to be a paper’s author/co-author nor to be a delegate to the Assembly.
Delivery of poster sessions: Each presenter will have 10 minutes to explain and demonstrate their item. Delegates will then be able to explore the products further in an exhibition area. Poster speakers should ensure that their posters are accessible to blind attendees.
Please note that papers and posters are to be presented in person. Due to the full schedule, time limits will be maintained. All accepted papers will be published in the proceedings of the General Assembly and will be posted on the ICEB website after the Assembly. Presenters will be expected to register and pay for attendance at the General Assembly. If you have any further questions, please write to [email protected]
Summary of due dates:
November 18th, 2023: Abstracts due.
December 8th, 2023: Abstracts selected and submitters contacted via email
February 29th, 2024: Completed papers due.
March 29th, 2024: Accepted papers distributed to ICEB delegations via email