Latest News
- Braille at University, Tuesday 26 May at 7:30 PM
How might you use braille at university, and what funding is available to help you get it? Join Connor Scott-Gardner to find out!
Connor has experience as an advocate, DSA assessor and university student. IN this session, he will share:
- How he used braille in his own studies, and how you might use it in yours
- Where braille technology works well in a university environment (and where it doesn’t)
- What options are available for transcription, both for hard copy braille and electronic formats for use on braille displays
- What support is available and who is responsible for providing it
- Advice on navigating Disabled Students Allowance, and what to ask for at a DSA assessment
This session will be particularly relevant if you are about to start a university course, but much of the information will still apply if you are part-way through your studies. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the session.
Register for Braille at University
To join by phone, please use these details:
- Phone number: 0131 460 1196
- Meeting ID: 844 5048 9979
- Passcode: 123456
- ICEB announces its next town hall event: Updates to choice and placement of grade 1 indicators, Thursday 4 June at 9:00 PM
The ICEB Executive Committee has recently approved a significant update to the choice and placement of grade 1 indicators, section 1.7 of the Guidelines for Technical Material (GTM). The new guidance clarifies when it is appropriate to use a grade 1 symbol, word or passage indicator and will be of particular interest to those working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
The updated guidance gives a consistent approach to selecting which kind of grade 1 indicator to use, removing confusion where the same mathematical expression could be written in multiple ways.
ICEB is delighted to invite you to a special town hall event, taking place at 20:00 UTC, on Thursday June 4th, where we will explain these changes in detail, provide examples and most importantly, answer your questions.
If you are a transcriber, a teacher, or a braille reader (especially working with Mathematics or scientific notation), this session will most certainly be of interest.
Please register here to attend. We look forward to your company!
- Demo Day – Innovation for a More Accessible World, Tuesday 16 June
On Tuesday 16 June 2026, Louis Braille Campus will be hosting their second ever Demo Day. This year’s event will focus on universal design and international collaboration.
Demo Day is an event for discovering and testing advancements in accessibility innovations that allow people with disabilities to live more independently.
All talks will be available in both English and French, with subtitles and translations.
Registration is free, and the event will take place on Tuesday 16 June 2026, at 9am, at the Louis Braille Campus in Paris, France.
- Entering Usernames, Passwords and Other Technical Details on a Braille Keyboard, Tuesday 19 May at 7:30 PM
“HELP! I can’t use my braille device on the internet because I don’t know how to braille the login details!”
This is a common challenge for braille display users. Whether it’s connecting a braille display to wi-fi, adding an email account to a braille notetaker, typing a password in Braille Screen Input on an iPhone or using your braille display to log back into your computer after it’s fallen asleep, the question of which braille code to use and how to braille the increasingly complex sequences of letters, numbers and special characters we often use still catches even the most seasoned braille user out.
“Do I need to use computer braille? I don’t know that.”
“I’m using UEB: can I use contractions?”
“How do I braille an ‘at’ sign?”
“Can I still use dot 6 for capitals? What about if there’s a mix of upper case and lower case?”
In this session, Matthew Horspool will answer all of these questions and more, covering topics including:
- The differences between literary and computer braille
- Why computer braille isn’t as “standard” as you might think
- Things to watch out for when using UEB
- How to work out which code to use
- A quick rundown of the most common symbols in the most common codes
This session is likely to be quite fast-paced. There will be plenty of time for questions, but we encourage you to take your own notes relevant to your specific devices and credentials.
Register for Entering Usernames, Passwords and Other Technical Details on a Braille Keyboard
To join by phone, please use these details:
- Phone number: 0131 460 1196
- Meeting ID: 839 8313 2413
- Passcode: 123456
- Explore Reading with Dot Pad X, Monday 18 May at 5:00 PM
Join Dave Williams and Timothy Hornik from Dot Inc. for a practical webinar exploring reading with Dot Book and Dolphin EasyReader on the Dot Pad.
We’ll show how braille readers can access books, navigate content, and make the most of multiline braille for a richer tactile reading experience.
About this webinar:
- Ideal for braille users, teachers, parents, assistive technology professionals and anyone interested in accessible reading.
- Featuring a live demonstration of reading on Dot Pad X.
- Q&A with our expert panel.
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.
Everyone at the Braillists would sincerely like to thank our sponsors and partners.
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.