Author: Matthew Horspool

Monarch’s terminal mode app bridges the gap between screen readers and multi-line braille displays. The program allows for the two device types to work in tandem, providing a comprehensive reading and navigation tool for all users. Thanks to the newest updates from NVDA and Vispero’s JAWS, the two screen readers are officially ready for terminal mode use with Monarch.

Terminal mode relies on screen reader support to transfer information from the screen onto Monarch. The application became available with the 1.3 Monarch update and now has support from the recent JAWS and NVDA updates to be used through USB connection. The expansion to Bluetooth connection is expected to come soon. Continued expansion of terminal mode to other screen readers is also on the way.

Using terminal mode with the NVDA screen reader allows users to experience wrapped mode, which intelligently adjusts the text to fit the multiline display for a more natural reading experience.  When using the JAWS program, Monarch users have even more options for personalization in how they interact with text in terminal mode. The first is cropped mode, an innovative way to detect and display table content, such as tables found on the web or Excel spreadsheets. Cropped mode spatially aligns tables and sets of data to help users explore information in its correct formatting. Within cropped mode, users can ‘zoom’ into specific columns, rows, and even individual cells of data. This allows for granular exploration of data without compromising on formatting.

JAWS also supports split display, a new way to split the Monarch’s display into two independent sections, like having two monitors on one device. Users can choose specifically how much of the screen they’d like to split, and between which tabs. Students could complete assignments with date sets and tactile graphics appearing in tandem alongside their questions. Split display creates a world of new possibilities for individualized displays to support each user.

With Monarch’s innovative braille cell design, it is the only multi-line display with touch capabilities in terminal mode. Users can read, write, and edit all at the same time. Monarch’s touch capabilities allow for the option to “point and click.” Touching a specific dot, followed by the action button, moves users to that exact spot for editing, reviewing, and careful review of materials.

“Terminal mode on Monarch is a fully input and output experience,” said APH’s Head of Global Technology and Innovation, Greg Stilson. To begin using, ensure both Monarch and JAWS or NVDA programs are updated to the newest version. Terminal mode is live now!

If learning braille feels like an overwhelming task, we have just the resource for you. Whether you’re helping your child learn braille or you’re an adult adjusting to vision loss, the Braille Brain website is your guide.

Braille Brain is a free learning tool from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). It gives you step-by-step lessons to help you learn Unified English Braille (UEB). And now, there are even more lessons available!

Braille Brain Offerings

Braille Brain offers UEB Foundations lessons that cover alphabet, numbers, word signs, contractions, basic math signs, punctuation, and fractions, with opportunities to practice by reading the braille on your computer and writing braille with your computer keyboard.

Braille Brain also offers UEB Advanced, which covers subscript, superscript, complex fractions, shapes, angles, and arrows, as well as sine, cosine, and tangent. And let’s not forget Nemeth! Braille Brain offers lessons to support Nemeth learning, including code, operations, punctuation indicators, code switch indicators, complex fractions, Roman numerals, and additional math concepts.

Advanced UEB Lessons

These new lessons go beyond the basics. They help you understand braille used in math, science, and other technical subjects. You’ll learn things like:

• How to read and write math and science symbols in braille
• How braille is formatted in school and work documents
• How to follow equations and expressions
• How to read higher-level school materials

You can move through the lessons at your own speed.

Check Your Progress

The new lessons now have built-in assessments. These assessments help you check what you’ve learned and show you where you might need more practice. If you’re a parent or caregiver helping someone learn, these tools can be a great way to challenge yourself to learn alongside your child or family member.

Earn a Certificate

Coming soon will be the opportunity for learners to earn certificates when they complete a set of lessons and pass the quiz. You will be able to download it to show others what you’ve learned. It’s a great way to celebrate your progress and take pride in your braille literacy journey.

Why This Matters for Families

If you’re a family raising a child who is blind or low vision, learning braille can help you better support their learning. And if someone in your family is losing vision, these new lessons can better help you through learning alongside and providing feedback as they are learning a new skill.

Braille Brain gives you the chance to learn and grow, one step at a time. It’s friendly, flexible, and made with families in mind.

Get Started

Ready to take the next step in your braille journey? Visit braillebrain.aphtech.org today. Explore the new Advanced UEB lessons and earn your certificate as you build your braille skills.

Putting UK travel hub location, train station information at your fingertips.

Over the past few weeks, the team at Bristol Braille Technology have been hard at work conducting research, consulting with various partner organisations and visually impaired users to find out what provision already exists in terms of accessible travel hub information.  What the challenges are for VI people wanting to access this information and where their efforts can fill the gaps. With big thanks to the National Centre for Accessible Transport, based on research and user feedback, BBT has developed the Maps app for the Canute Console.

Read the full newsletter

Apple recently released the latest versions of its flagship operating systems, including iOS and iPad 26 for the popular iPhone and iPad product lines. Amongst the many new features are a significant number of improvements to VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader.

In this two-part series, Matthew Horspool will lift the lid on what is new and changed for users of braille displays and Braille Screen Input.

In part 1, on Tuesday 23 September, we will cover:

• Braille Keyboard Input
• Item overview
• New cursor and text selection options
• Quick navigation
• Single-hand Braille Screen Input
• Changing gestures in Braille Screen Input Command mode

In part 2, on Tuesday 30 September, we will devote the entire session to Braille Access, a new notetaker-like experience for connected braille displays. We will talk about:

• Launching apps and items
• Taking, reading and managing braille notes
• Reading and transferring BRF files
• The braille clock and calculator
• Live braille captions
• Braille Access settings
• Configuring braille keyboard commands for Braille Access

Both sessions will start at 7:30 PM UK time, and you can register once to attend both sessions.

Register for the Masterclass here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 890 9440 0482
• Passcode: 123456

The story of Braille music and its impact on blind musicians over the last 200 years.

2025 marks 200 years since Louis Braille invented his revolutionary 6-dot tactile writing system for blind people. Braille was also an organist, and he went on to adapt his system into Braille Music, allowing blind musicians to access and study scores like never before.

Award-winning lutenist Matthew Wadsworth travels to France to learn about the origins of Braille Music and explores the impact it’s had on blind musicians over the last 200 years.

Matthew visits the Musée Louis Braille (Braille’s childhood home) in Coupvray, France to learn about Louis Braille’s early life. He also travels to the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (The National Institute for Blind Youth) in Paris – the institute for blind students where Louis Braille was a student and teacher. The school still teaches blind students today and organ teacher Alexandra Bartfeld tells Matthew how the institute trained famed blind organists like Jean Langlais, Louis Vierne and Gaston Litaize.

Philippa Campsie, independent researcher into the history of blindness, explains how Charles Barbier’s Night Writing code using raised dots inspired Louis Braille. And Mireille Duhen, from the Valentin Haüy museum, shows Matthew period tactile music scores from the turn of the 19th century.

Internationally acclaimed concert pianist Ignasi Cambra explains at the piano how he uses Braille Music to memorise a score.

Viola player Takashi Kikuchi is a member of Paraorchestra. He recently learned the music for the Virtuous Circle – an orchestral performance of Mozart’s 40th Symphony with additional music by Oliver Vibrans. He discusses the challenges of memorising contemporary music and how he worked with fellow viola player and Assistant Music Director of Paraorchestra, Siobhan Clough, to access the score.

Recorder player and composer James Risdon talks to Matthew about the ways digital Braille Music scores have benefited his career. And Dr Sarah Morley Wilkins from the Daisy Consortium Braille Music project and Jay Pocknell (Project Manager at Sound Without Sight and Music officer at the Royal National Institute for Blind People) discuss their work with music publishers to improve access to Braille Music scores in the digital age.

Listen on BBC Sounds

Can you guess today’s mystery object? Eric Knowles baffles punters at Stoneleigh antiques fair in Warwickshire with an intriguing brass-hinged item with holes in it – but what was it used for? Matthew Horspool reveals all!

The object is shown from approximately 13 minutes through the programme.

Watch Bargain Hunt Series 72: Stoneleigh 9 on iPlayer

This is a message from Mary Lea. Please contact her directly for more information.

At the moment I am volunteering at the Braille Hub in Belfast, and they can recycle old RNIB books into bound copies. If you have any books you’d like to have bound for your own collection, or if you want to donate them to schools in Africa, let me know. The pamphlets go to Belfast prison where the prisoners get to produce the books while learning useful skills.

Write to me off list for more information.

BoQuest is a gamified braille and assistive technology practice app giving braille students the chance to practice their braille skills anytime and anywhere on their smart devices with any compatible braille display.

BoDesk is a web dashboard for TVIs and vision teachers to help them with lesson planning, assigning personalized assignments and tracking student progress.

Bonocle are running a pilot with the Bonocle braille challenge.

1. Go to www.bonocle.co/pilot
2. Fill the form and get the download instructions
3. Do the challenge and win up to $500.
4. Invite others to join and mention you in the form’s referral section for a chance to win $100.*

*More people will grant you more entries and they must complete one run of the challenge to qualify as an entry.

For more information, email Ramy Abdulzaher

You might be familiar with many functions of the Canute 360 from Bristol Braille Technology, but did you know it can work seamlessly with the widely popular Duxbury Braille Translator? When connected to a Windows machine, the Canute can output Braille text in real-time using Duxbury’s six-key Braille entry, or display any translated text loaded into the application.

This added functionality can significantly enhance the usability of the Canute 360, particularly for those who need to quickly navigate content in a multi-line environment. If you already have Duxbury and the Canute 360, you’re set to go!

Join Bristol Braille Technology’s Ed Rogers and Sight and Sound Technology’s Stuart Lawler to learn not only how to set up this integration but also explore a variety of use cases. Don’t miss this opportunity to maximize your Canute 360 experience!

Register for the Masterclass here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 862 7390 4662
• Passcode: 123456

With thanks to Bristol Braille Technology and Sight and Sound Technology for their sponsorship of this event.

Selvas BLV is proud to announce that BrailleSense 6 firmware version 3.0 is due for release by the end of September!

This major update delivers a redesigned Main Menu and Settings dialog, an enhanced Word Processor, a new Braille Practice app for teaching and learning Braille, the highly anticipated new Web Browser, and more.

They will be holding a webinar to preview this firmware and have a live Q and A session on Tuesday 16 September at 10:00 PM UK time.

Join link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88034816739

Join them to explore how this update advances productivity, learning, and accessibility.