Latest News
- Full List of Braille And Beyond Events
- Join us in Worcester on World Braille Day 2025
We are thrilled to announce the world’s first face-to-face conference for World Braille Day, taking place at New College Worcester on Saturday 4 January 2025.
Join us to hear from inspiring speakers, browse an exhibition of braille technology, have your braille questions answered in 1:1 and small group surgeries, and much, much more.
The event will run from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM, with refreshments and lunch provided, and will be completely free of charge.
Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so register now to secure yours!
Stay tuned for further announcements in the coming weeks.
- Celebrating Braille 200 at Harrogate Library, Monday 21 October at 11:00 AM
Come join us for an enlightening talk by the Royal National Institute of Blind People as we celebrate 200 years of Braille!
Harrogate Library, Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, HG1 1EG
In 1824 Louis Braille invented a tactile system that would revolutionise the world for people with sight loss and empower them to achieve things that would never before been thought possible. Join us in a day of celebrations, information, talks and shared experiences.
Learn about the history and significance of Braille as we celebrate its 200th anniversary. Discover how this tactile writing system has empowered individuals with visual impairments for centuries. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Braille and its impact on the blind community.
All welcome. Refreshments provided. See you there!
- Tactile Silence Cinema, London, Tuesday 29 October at 2:30 PM
Testing audio-free description for silent film
RNIB, Grimaldi Building, London, N1 9JE.Pre-registration essential – this is not a drop-in event! Please email [email protected] to secure your space.
Bristol Braille Technology is very excited to be taking part in an accessible silent film description project, run by Polly Goodwin. Bristol Braille will be attending and participating in an experiment to use Braille displays to provide description for silent films.
On the day, at 2:30PM, we will watch two films, ‘Cheer Up’ and ‘Fulta Fisher’s Boarding House’. We’ll be bringing a Canute Console but attendees are encouraged to bring their own Braille displays of any make.
More details on the event:
Polly is a professional audio describer and researcher into the potential uses of audio description (AD). She is seeking film and/or access technology enthusiasts who are blind or have low vision to help shape a new form of audio-free description for silent film.
Silent film is a captivating medium that thrived in the first three decades of the 20th century, telling stories through moving images without the use of the human voice. As a professional audio describer and silent film fan, Polly wants to make this medium accessible while still respecting its fundamental silence. She is developing an experimental form of non-audible description making use of a new process developed for use in opera.
What does my participation involve?
About an hour, on Tuesday 28th October, 2024, in person at RNIB London HQ to test out some different versions of description and to give feedback.
Participants need to own, use and bring either a refreshable braille device or a smart phone/tablet used to access large print information through wifi transmission. Participants must be willing to take a short survey in advance which will be used to further the research.
More information on the medium and the films
If you are interested in hearing more about the event, the medium, or the films that will be shown — even if you cannot make it this time — please email [email protected].
- Untangling the Wires: Why Connecting and Charging your Braille Display with USB Doesn’t Always Work, Tuesday 29 October at 7:30 PM
USB, or Universal Serial Bus, has been a feature of braille displays for over twenty years. Originally a standard for connectivity, it has evolved over time to also provide power and charging capabilities. However, if USB is supposed to be Universal, why are some chargers faster than others, and why won’t some chargers and cables work at all?
IN this session, we will unravel the answer to this far from straightforward question. Along the way, we will cover:
- A brief history of USB
- Common USB connecters and how to tell the difference between them
- How and when the USB cable you use may impact performance
- What happens behind the scenes when you connect your braille display to a USB charger
- What to look for when buying replacement cables and chargers
- Whether or not a power bank is a viable solution for charging your braille display on the go
- Things to try if your braille display won’t charge
The session will be presented by Mobeen Iqbal from Taira Technology, an independent provider of bespoke and specialist hardware, software and support solutions. Mo has over fifteen years’ experience working with hardware of all shapes and sizes, from custom-built desktop and laptop computers to TV set top boxes and remote controls, and has a passion for improving the ease of use of technology for blind and partially sighted people.
Register for Untangling the Wires here.
To join by phone, please use these details:
- Phone number: 0131 460 1196
- Meeting ID: 815 5399 0950
- Passcode: 123456
- Introducing BUOC: Braille, User-Oriented Code, Tuesday 19 November at 7:30 PM
The latest in our occasional series showcasing historical braille shorthand codes which you might still find useful today:
Braille, User-Oriented Code (BUOC) was a code written by the late Australian, Rebecca Maxwell, with the support of Australian Braille Literacy Action (ABLA), formerly the Australian Guild of Business and Professional Blind. It was last revised in 1998 and includes a number of useful devices for making braille shorter.
In this session, we are delighted to be joined by Jordie Howell, a great proponent of BUOC and a contemporary of its author. Jordie will introduce us to the principals of BUOC, describe how some common words and phrases can be shortened and explain how we can find out more about this grass roots code.
Register for Introducing BUOC here.
To join by phone, please use these details:
- Phone number: 0131 460 1196
- Meeting ID: 857 0013 1529
- Passcode: 123456
- How important is braille to you?
As we celebrate 200 years of braille at RNIB, we would love to hear from blind and partially sighted people across the UK about your experience of using braille and how it has enabled you to access information independently.
If you are a braillist in the UK and you would like to share your experience to help us raise awareness of braille use in the UK, please use the survey link below and share your thoughts: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Braille200
Thank you.
- Braille Bar on Tuesday
Our popular Braille Bar returns this Tuesday at 7:30 PM. No question is too small, from kit to code – just ask and our experts will assist you!
Or, to join by phone, use these details:
- Phone number: 0131 460 1196
- Meeting ID: 880 3508 8878
- Passcode: 123456
- Invitation to Participate in the 200th Anniversary initiative “Braille 200”
From: European Blind Union – Working Group on Braille.
To: blind and sighted braille users all over Europe
Dear Friends,
In 1825, a 16-year-old blind boy named Louis Braille, at his school in Paris, invented the braille code for tactile reading. This invention has since spread enhancing literacy, education and employment of millions of blind people around the world. In 2025, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of our beloved braille code.
The European Blind Union, through its Braille working group, is launching a project to involve Braille users by sharing creative experiences. We are delighted to invite you to join our celebration. Our goal is to collect contributions inspired by braille from both blind and sighted users all over Europe.
We encourage individuals, groups, or organizations to create artistic or personal pieces, such as videos, podcasts about braille, texts, photos, graphics, or drawings in braille, based on braille signs or shapes. You might also come up with other creative ideas. Here are some ideas:
- Reading braille texts as audio or video.
- Original texts with testimonials, fictional stories, or poems related to braille code, submitted as text or recorded readings.
- Art projects involving braille, such as people standing with umbrellas to form braille characters, filmed or photographed from above.
- Reports from beginner braille courses.
- Works of art, such as graphics or pictures made of braille characters, which are visually interesting. A monthly calendar for 2026 will feature 12 outstanding graphics, for which a separate invitation will be sent.
- Songs, sketches, radio plays, etc. related to braille.
- Games, learning methods, software and materials on braille.
- Advice for other braille users.
- And any other creative ideas you come up with.
We hope to receive 365 contributions, one for each day of 2025. Every month, the EBU will award a prize of €100 to the best contribution of the month. All pieces will be published on our European Braille forum: https://www.livingbraille.eu/topic/braille200/, and will be shared through various channels such as email newsletters and social media.
We are eagerly looking forward to receiving your fantastic and original pieces. Please send your contributions, questions, or remarks via email to: [email protected].
Requirements for your contributions:
- Send us one or more files of your contribution. Or if you have already published it yourself, send a link to the public resource.
- If you know a good sample created by someone else, please advise us and send a link to this and contact details for the person.
- Include your full name, country, age, and whether you are blind or sighted.
- Young persons under 18 should include a declaration from their parents agreeing to the publication.
- Provide a text of up to 1,000 characters in English, explaining the content of your sample.
- If submitting text only, please include a full translation in English if possible.
- Photos and videos should be in landscape format.
- Include a short description of what can be seen in any photos or videos.
- Along with this text send us also your agreement as follows: By sending this contribution to European Blind Union Braille 200 initiative, I hereby agree on granting full copyright ownership to EBU.
By submitting your original work to this EBU initiative:
- Authors shall assign automatically to EBU worldwide all rights including copyright, and EBU may assign or license these rights.
- Authors shall allow EBU to use their name and their works in publicity and for information purposes as EBU may require.
- As copyright holder, EBU may give permission to the authors and to their national members to make use of the works as they deem fit.
- Authors shall provide EBU with their photographs and shall entitle EBU to reproduce, adapt, edit and publish their photographs on any media, including web and print.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation, involvement, and commitment.
Best regards,
Braille Working Group of European Blind Union
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.