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:
Discover how easy creating tactile graphics can be with TactileView, the leading tactile design software—now included with HumanWare’s Romeo 60 and Juliet 120 embossers. Join Peter Tucic and Andrew Flatres as they guide you through key features and demonstrate how to produce high-quality tactile graphics with ease.
Blind and partially sighted people are invited to gather at Jersey library to share how braille and other reading technology has impacted their lives.
Blind and partially sighted people will gather at Jersey Library in St Helier on May 21 to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the invention of braille.
The event which runs from 9am-3pm is being organised by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and is a stop on a year-long RNIB ‘Braille and Beyond’ UK tour of libraries to mark the landmark anniversary.
Staff from RNIB and EyeCan, Guide Dogs, Jersey Library Service, and LEGO will be present to discuss the importance of braille, share tips and technologies and connect blind and partially sighted people from the local community.
RNIB staff will talk about the history and development of braille and how its use is being transformed by modern technology. Eyecan staff will talk about their vital support services and there will be a chance to check our sets of groundbreaking LEGO braille bricks. There will also be a tactile art exhibition in the library to coincide with the event.
James Bowden, RNIB’s Braille Technical Officer who is blind and a lifelong braille user, said: “Braille is reading designed for our fingers just like print is designed for our eyes. It’s a vital tool that helps blind and partially sighted people lead fulfilled lives. Braille readers are more likely to be employed than blind people who don’t read braille and this highlights a critical need to expand braille education, ensuring that more children with vision impairment and adults with sight loss can benefit from this powerful tool.
“Supporting braille education and resources is a crucial step towards an inclusive society. We’re doing the RNIB Braille and Beyond tour to celebrate the story of braille so far and it will be up to blind and partially sighted people across the UK to write the next chapter.”
Mark Coxshall, Chief Executive Officer for EYECAN, said, “We are delighted that partners from the RNIB will be travelling to Jersey to celebrate this fantastic milestone for braille. The event provides an opportunity to showcase the strong joint working with national charities such as RNIB, but also more locally with government teams and the third sector. Promoting inclusive social environments for islanders living with sight loss remains a priority, alongside being able to share information and support regarding our services available on the island.”
Ed Jewell, Chief Librarian at Jersey Library, said: “We are pleased to be part of the RNIB’s 200th anniversary of the invention of Braille, as we seek to provide a library service that is accessible to everyone who lives in Jersey, including those with vision impairments. To that end, Jersey Library has large collections of audio books on CD and online, free to borrow or download with a Jersey Library card. We also have books available in large print in our libraries and ebooks with adjustable sized print available via gov.je/library. Aside from books to borrow, our libraries are key hubs for community information and events like this are a great opportunity for us to work with partners in the third sector, like EYECAN and the RNIB, to help ensure their invaluable services and support are as widely promoted and appreciated as possible.”
For any inquiries about the event please contact EYECAN on 01534 864689 or email – [email protected]
All media enquiries including interview requests to 0207 391 2223 or [email protected]. For urgent enquiries out-of-hours, please call 07968 482812.
For more information about the Braille and Beyond tour contact RNIB’s Library Liaison Officer, Lara Marshall on [email protected].
For more information about the braille courses and resources RNIB offers, please go online to www.rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss/education-and-learning/braille-tactile-codes/learning-braille/#:~:text=RNIB%20braille%20resources%20can%20help%20anyone%20learn%20to%20read%20braille.
The Braille and Beyond events are made possible thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, which supports RNIB through funds awarded by Postcode Care Trust.
Louis Braille was in his teens in the mid-1820s when he began developing the six-dot tactile reading system that enables millions of blind and partially sighted people around the world to access the power of literacy. From September 2024, RNIB is leading a year of celebrations across the UK to recognise the bicentenary of the braille code; braille continues to unlock access to countless opportunities in education, employment and independent living.
Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, RNIB and its partners will highlight braille’s versatility for representing written language and technical subjects, enabling blind and partially sighted people to learn, work and play.
Despite its proven benefits, misconceptions about braille persist. Braille 200 affords us an opportunity to dispel some of those myths. Braille remains crucial in a world increasingly reliant on digital information. It complements audio technology and ensures independent and efficient access to detailed and personal information such as recipes, medication packaging and greetings cards. You do not have to be blind from birth nor super intelligent, braille can be empowering at any age.
We are the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Every six minutes, someone in the UK begins to lose their sight. RNIB is taking a stand against exclusion, inequality and isolation to create a world without barriers where people with sight loss can lead full lives. A different world where society values blind and partially sighted people not for the disabilities they’ve overcome, but for the people they are. RNIB. See differently.
Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk
Bath Library is partnering up with RNIB and the Braillists Foundation to celebrate 200 years since the invention of braille! We’d love to invite you to a special event where braille books, equipment and technology will be shown and talked about, the value of braille in day-to-day life and how it’s just as important now as it was 200 years ago. There will also be a chance to ask any questions about braille or sight loss.
Unlock the world of touch reading with our braille course! Whether you’re a beginner or looking to enhance your skills, this course will teach you the fundamentals of braille.
Every Friday 11am-1pm at Bedford Hall, 72-74 Wellesley Road, Croydon, CR0 2AR
Book by calling 02086882486/07395247699 or emailing [email protected]
Personal stories from Braille users around the world and how this very simple invention of six little dots continues to transform lives.
Built around a game of Braille Scrabble, Emma Tracey presents a celebration of Braille, 200 years after it was invented. Emma, who’s been blind since birth, talks to others who love the six tiny dots: Geerat Vermeij, one of the world’s leading experts in molluscs; Yetnebersh Nigussie, an Ethiopian lawyer, who describes her blindness as ‘a lottery I won at the age of 5’; Sheri Wells-Jensen, a linguistics professor who’s been a linguistic consultant on Star Trek and is on the US advisory board for messaging extra-terrestrial intelligence; Japanese concert pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii, who learnt to play using Braille music; and Emma’s friend and Scrabble partner, Ellie. And there’s a chance encounter with the most famous Braille user of them all, Stevie Wonder. But can Braille survive with the ever-increasing supply of tech that allows blind people to listen to, rather than feel, information?
Our Chairman, Dave Williams, commends this article to you.
A message from Aasha Rose
Dear Colleague,
You are warmly invited to participate in a research study exploring the relationship between braille literacy and the quality of life for people with blindness or low vision. This study is being conducted by Aasha Rose, a PhD student at the University of Southern Queensland.
The aim of this research is to understand how braille literacy influences key aspects of life, such as independence, social engagement, and personal well-being, for individuals who learned braille during their school years. Your insights will help us explore and refine tools for assessing braille literacy, contributing to the development of improved educational practices and outcomes.
There are 2 parts to this study. You can choose to be involved in one or both parts.
The online survey should take 15-30 minutes and can be accessed here: Online Survey. The survey asks for your expert opinion on the necessary components of an adult self-administered braille literacy assessment.
Participants are also required for a more in-depth interview. This interview should take 30-60 minutes. The purpose of the interview includes gathering your expert opinion on teacher led assessments of braille literacy.
Your expertise and insights are invaluable to this research. By participating, you will contribute to advancing understanding and practices in braille literacy assessment, helping to improve educational opportunities and quality of life for people with blindness or low vision.
If you would like to participate in the interview or have any questions, please obtain a Participation Information Sheet and Consent form by emailing [email protected].
Thank you for considering this opportunity to contribute to meaningful research. Please feel free to share this advertisement with colleagues who may also be interested in participating.
Warm regards,
Aasha Rose (she/her)
PhD Candidate
University of Southern Queensland
[email protected]
0419 832 586
ORCID
University of Southern Queensland | Queensland | 4300 | Australia
Greetings from Orbit Research!
We are pleased to announce the availability of a new software update, version 1.6 for the Orbit Speak notetaker. This update adds quite a few major new features and changes both for Orbit Speak Standard as well as for Orbit Speak Plus customers.
The update can be installed by using the automatic software update feature built into the Orbit Speak. Instructions on performing this process are provided below.
The following is a list of the new features and enhancements that are available in this update:
We are happy to introduce a long-awaited feature to the Orbit Speak, a podcast application.
This application allows you to subscribe, listen to, download, and manage podcasts in an easy and intuitive way.
It contains the following main features:
Please consult the updated user guide for a detailed walkthrough of the application.
We have added major features and enhancements to the book reader application for our Plus customers:
Please consult the updated user guide for a full list of the improvements as well as usage instructions.
We have added several improvements and new features to the internet radio application. Here is a list of the main changes:
We have added several enhancements to the voice recorder application:
Dear Customer,
We’re writing to provide an update regarding changes to the RNIB Personal Transcription Service, following the conclusion of our recent organisational-wide consultation.
As part of this consultation, we’ve carefully reviewed all service areas to identify where we need to do more, where we need to scale back and where we need to do things differently to help us focus on our aim of reaching many more people with sight loss through their eye care support journey.
Our aim continues to be ensuring RNIB is there for as many of the 2 million blind and partially sighted people in the UK as possible – a number that is expected to double by 2050 – whilst maintaining financial sustainability to remain available for as long as we’re needed. Additionally, there’s vital work ahead to create the societal changes necessary for lasting, positive improvements for blind and partially sighted people. These changes will enhance the delivery of support, ensuring continuity of care throughout individuals’ lives and addressing existing limitations in our reach.
Following a detailed consultation process and in response to suggestions from our teams, we’ve decided to continue offering Large Print on Demand, which represents over 50 per cent of our Personal Transcription work and is an expanding area of the service. This will now be managed differently, ensuring it remains sustainable and capable of meeting the growing demand.
The remaining aspects of the Personal Transcription Service will transition to a new provider, whose core business model specialises in transcription services. This change will involve a charged-for model, with RNIB subsidising part of the cost for a limited time to ease the transition for our customers. We appreciate how unsettling changes like these can be, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and a positive customer experience.
The new provider is A2i Transcription Services, and has been chosen after careful consideration, due to their excellent reputation. You can contact A2i in the following ways:
Telephone: 01179 440044
Email: [email protected] Website: a2i.co.uk
Address: A2i Transcription Services, Unit 4 Montpelier Central, Station Road, Bristol BS6 5EE
You will need to identify yourself as a RNIB Personal Transcription Service user by quoting the code RNIBPT04/25.
We remain incredibly grateful to you, volunteers and RNIB staff for your unwavering support of the Personal Transcription Service over the years. Your commitment has been invaluable. As we move forward, RNIB is firmly focused on creating a greater, long-lasting impact for blind and partially sighted people across the UK. Our dedication to driving meaningful change and ensuring support for future generations remains at the heart of everything we do.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your understanding.
Helen Atwere
Director of Operations
RNIB