Latest News
- Braille for Beginners Drop-In Session
If you are registered for our Braille for Beginners On Demand course, our next Office Hours session will take place on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. Please look out for a reminder email containing your unique joining link. If you have not received it by Tuesday lunchtime, please write to [email protected] for assistance.
If you are new to braille and not registered for Braille for Beginners, please consider signning up at www.braillists.org/beginners.
For people not following Braille for Beginners, your next session will be next Tuesday. Please see next week’s Newsletter for more information.
- Focus 14, 40 and 80 Blue 5th Generation Now Support HID
A new firmware update has been released for all fifth generation Focus braille displays, introducing support for the HID (Human Interface Device) braille protocol over both USB and Bluetooth.
Further information, including release notes, download links and update procedures, can be found on the Focus Blue 5th Generation Firmware Downloads page of the Freedom Scientific website.
- RNIB Personal Transcription Service Featured on IN Touch
In Touch recently ran a feature on RNIB’s Personal Transcription Service, amit widespread concerns about its future.
- New SD Card of Christian Braille Books Available from Torch Trust
We are pleased to announce that our braille SD card is now available to buy. The card contains thousands of books converted from our braille library, including hymn collections and even the latest edition of the NIV Bible.
It is designed to slot into an electronic braille display – a compact, portable device that converts digital text into tactile braille. These devices are growing ever more popular – they display one or a few lines of braille at a time using pins which can be raised or lowered by mechanical means and thus the braille can be endlessly advanced. In this way a whole book can be read on the device with the user pressing a button to scroll to the next line.
Sheila Armstrong, Torch trustee, writes: “Some people have suggested that braille’s dying out, as they can’t imagine heaving all those heavy volumes around – the forty-three volumes of the Bible, for instance. But what if you could have thousands of braille books on something the size of a postage stamp or even smaller? Well, it’s now possible, thanks to little SD cards which can be popped into electronic braille readers. Up comes the book you’ve selected and if you finish it, there are many, many more where that one came from. I have a lot of time for St John’s comment about there not being enough space in the whole world if all the books had been written about our Lord Jesus’ time on earth. If I owned all the braille books you can fit on an SD card, the house would definitely not be big enough to contain them!”
To purchase the SD card at a cost of £10, please call the Client Services team on 01858 438260 or email [email protected].
We hope that this project will reach braille users across the UK, enabling access to so many wonderful Christian resources at no more than the press of a button.
The Braillists is a grass-roots community group offering high quality training and support to emerging and established braille users. We also work with family members, friends, colleagues and teachers of braille users, and connect braille users with braille technology developers and funders.
What Is Braille?
Braille is a simple code for representing written language. We believe braille has the potential to transform the life of any blind person who has the opportunity to learn it.
Discover more about braille on this page.
Learn Braille
We support hundreds of adults to read braille by touch in a few short weeks through our innovative and approachable Braille for Beginners course. Free of charge, it comprises hard copy resources through the post and a series of short pre-recorded lessons, supplemented by email and Zoom support from highly qualified and experienced tutors.
Find out more about Braille for Beginners and register here.
There are plenty of other courses available too, for both children and adults, reading by touch or by sight. We have made a list of these on our Learn Braille page.
Perkins Repairs and Other Braille Equipment
The Perkins Brailler is the most established braille writer in use today, and even machines from the 1950s can still be serviced and repaired. We have compiled information about Perkins repairs, places to purchase Perkins Braillers, and other types of braille equipment on our Braille Equipment page.
If you are looking for braille paper, you can find it on our Braille Consumables page.
Our Aims
- Promote the value of braille as a proven literacy tool that enriches the lives of blind people.
- Support efforts to make affordable braille and tactile reading technologies available to all blind people irrespective of education and employment status.
- Provide an open forum for the exchange of ideas about the development of future braille technology.
Find Out More
Join our announcements only mailing list to receive our weekly newsletter.
Join the conversation and meet other Braillists on our discussion forum.
Connect with us on Twitter (@Braillists) or like us on Facebook for up to the minute Braillists news.
Listen to some braille-related audio on Soundcloud (braillists).
Please see our Sponsors and Partners for information on organisations who are supporting us.
Get In Touch
Email [email protected] or call 020 3893 3392. Further details on our Contact Us page.