This addon mirrors the computer screen on a DotPad graphical area.
Copyright and License
This add-on is copyright (C) 2026 MAWINGU. This add-on is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2. The image processing is based on the DotPad prototype add-on created by Michael curran [email protected].
Key Commands
control+NVDA+f8: Open connection dialog.
NVDA+f8: Displays the screen at the upper left corner of the navigator object, pressed twice will track the navigator object.
shift+NvDA+f8: Displays the screen around the mouse pointer, pressed twice will track the mouse pointer.
NVDA+Escape: Stops tracking and automatic refresh.
Image processing details
The add-on captures the part of the screen that matches the current zoom level and the coordinates of the navigator object, mouse pointer or the current panned position. The size of the view viewport is a multiple of the graphical area of the connected device. If the image is expected to be black on white, it tries to keep black pixels at the expense of white pixels, and the opposite for white on black. this ensures that thin lines are not removed when shrinking. As the dotpad can only show a monochrome image (I.e. raised dots for white, no dots for black), a suitable threshold must be found to choose how bright something should be to be classed as white. this add-on currently uses a very basic local mean threshold approach where by the average brightness is calculated for a block of 7 by 7 pixels around the pixel in question, and then this value is used as the threshold. this approach ensures that changes can be shown even if lighting changes across the image.
We are delighted to announce that the Global Braille Survey is now open!
As part of the Global Braille Literacy Campaign – More Braille: More Empowerment – the survey provides an important opportunity for people around the world to share their experiences and perspectives on braille literacy.
Led by the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), the World Blind Union (WBU), and collaborating organisations and individuals, this global research initiative aims to strengthen our understanding of how braille is learned, taught, accessed and used – and of the factors that enable or create barriers to braille literacy.
Who can participate?
We warmly invite responses from:
Adults aged 18 years and over who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind;
Parents and guardians of children of any age who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind;
Teachers and other professionals involved in braille education; and
Braille transcribers.
Share your experience – Take the Global Braille Survey:
When you follow the above link, you will first be invited to select your preferred language, then review the informed consent information, and then complete a short set of questions to determine which survey or surveys are relevant to you.
If you are eligible for more than one survey – for example, if you are both an adult braille user and a braille transcriber – you are welcome to contribute from each perspective. Simply complete one survey and then return to the link when you are ready to complete another.
The survey is available in multiple languages
We are delighted that the Global Braille Survey is already available in a growing range of languages, helping to make it possible for more people around the world to participate.
The survey is currently available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Russian, Slovak, and Spanish.
Italian and Portuguese translations are awaiting verification, and we hope to make these languages available in the near future.
We also warmly welcome offers to assist with translations into additional languages so that the survey can reach an even wider range of countries, communities and language groups. If you have any questions about the survey, or would like to offer assistance with an additional language translation, please contact [email protected].
Why does your participation matter?
Every response adds to our global understanding of braille literacy. The findings will help build a stronger evidence base to inform advocacy, policy, research, resources and practice, and to support efforts to strengthen access to braille literacy around the world.
Please help us spread the word
We want to hear from people across countries, regions, languages and communities.
Please share the Global Braille Survey widely through your organisations, professional and community networks, and directly with braille users, families, educators, professionals and transcribers who may wish to participate.
By sharing the survey widely – including with communities using the languages in which the survey is now available – you can help us hear from as broad and diverse a range of participants as possible.
Every experience matters. Every perspective adds to the evidence. Every voice can help strengthen the future of braille literacy.
Thank you for being part of this important global effort.
We are delighted to share an encouraging update on the survey, which is a major initiative of the Global Braille Literacy Campaign – More Braille: More Empowerment.
More than 1000 surveys have now been completed!
This is a wonderful early response. We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has already participated in the survey and to those who have helped promote it through their organisations, networks and braille communities.
A detailed snapshot taken on 25 August, when 637 surveys had been completed, demonstrates the growing global reach of the initiative:
Respondents represented 49 countries and territories.
Surveys had been completed in nine languages: English, Spanish, Slovak, German, Russian, French, Hungarian, Simplified Chinese and Hindi.
442 responses (69.4%) were from adults who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind.
107 responses (16.8%) were from teachers and educational professionals.
74 responses (11.6%) were from braille transcribers.
14 responses (2.2%) were from parents and caregivers.
While we are greatly encouraged by this response, we want to hear from many more people, across many more countries and communities. We particularly welcome your help in reaching braille users, families, educators, professionals and transcribers whose experiences and perspectives may not yet be represented.
Who can participate?
The Global Braille Survey welcomes responses from:
Adults aged 18 and over who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind;
Parents and guardians of children of any age who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind;
Teachers and other professionals involved in braille education, including retired professionals who have taught braille; and
Braille transcribers.
Take the Global Braille Survey
https://tiny.cc/braillesurvey
The survey is currently available in Arabic, Czech, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Nepali Unicode, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak and Spanish.
For people who have difficulty accessing or completing the online survey because of poor internet connectivity, alternative arrangements are available. Please contact [email protected] or [email protected].
Watch and share the Global Braille Survey launch webinar
The recording of our August 2026 webinar introducing the survey and explaining its purpose is available on YouTube:
You can also share our Instagram post promoting the survey:
We would greatly appreciate your continued support in sharing the survey and webinar recording through your organisations, professional networks and braille communities.
Every response helps us build a stronger global evidence base about how braille is learned, taught, accessed and used, as well as the factors that enable braille literacy or create barriers to it. The findings will help inform future advocacy, policy, research, resources and practice.
Every experience matters. Every perspective adds to the evidence. Every voice can help strengthen the future of braille literacy.
Thank you for helping us build a truly global picture of braille literacy.
NV Access is pleased to announce that version 2026.2 of NVDA, the free screen reader for Microsoft Windows, is now available for download. We encourage all users to upgrade to this version.
The braille display can now automatically scroll and DotPad devices support multi-button combinations. The default gesture to toggle automatic scroll is NVDA+alt+k.
Liblouis has been updated with new Italian and Estonian braille tables.
The liblouis developer team is proud to announce the liblouis release 3.39.0.
Of particular note in this release is the introduction of improved Māori braille tables, together with dedicated UEB tables for New Zealand which incorporate the Māori macron.
SharpLouis, my LibLouis .NET wrapper, is updated to version 3.0.0.
Main changes:
Updated to LibLouis 3.39.0.
Now the Braille translation table metadata is fully handled. for example, some tables have several languages, like Israeli Braille table has Hebrew, Arabic and English, and now FindByLanguage() will return those. Also, missing fields like region, grade, system, version, unicode-range, variant are handled by the wrapper.
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.
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.
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.
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.