Author: Matthew Horspool

Hi everyone,

Since 2013, I’ve worked to make MBraille a tool that is truly useful in everyday life for braille users. Over the years, many of you have shared feedback, ideas, bug reports, and encouragement, and MBraille would not be what it is today without that support. I’m very grateful for this community and for everyone who has been part of the journey.

As the app has grown and platforms have continued to change, it has become harder to maintain MBraille under the old one-time purchase model. To help keep the project going, I’m moving to a subscription model with a one-week free trial. My hope is that this will make it easier for new users and students to try MBraille, while also giving me a more stable way to support ongoing development and updates.

Important for current users: if you have already paid for the full version in the past, your purchase will continue to be honored permanently. If you ever need to reinstall the app, just tap Restore Purchases.

What’s new in MBraille 26?

I’ve been working on a number of features that many of you have asked for:

• Android version: The full MBraille experience, including TalkBack compatibility, is now available on Android.
• Voice dictation: You can now dictate notes and commands using your voice.
• AI chat with Gemini: MBraille now includes AI chat powered by Gemini, so you can ask questions, explore ideas, and get writing help directly in the app.
• Bookmarks: There is a new bookmarking system that makes it easy to drop and jump between bookmarks in your files using hold-and-swipe gestures.
• Improved aliases: You can now bind aliases to gestures and commands, or both.
• Revamped help documentation: I completely rebuilt the help system. The new documentation is much clearer, separates iOS and Android instructions, and properly explains the more advanced hold-and-swipe editing patterns.
• Third-party iOS keyboard removed: I’ve removed the third-party keyboard version for iOS, since Apple’s built-in Braille Screen Input already covers that use case well.

I really appreciate your support over the years, and especially during this transition. If you have questions, feedback, or run into any issues, please feel free to reach out through the mailing lists:

https://lists.mpaja.com/mailman3/lists

I can’t say exactly when MBraille will appear on the App Store and Google Play, but it should only be a matter of days. I’ll post an announcement on the mailing lists as soon as it is available.

Best regards,

Harri

Dear Customers and Friends,

Our new update for BT Speak and BT Braille marks a major technology milestone with the first AI integration in a braille-first editor.

Even better, these AI features are available to all customers with an active maintenance contract, with no setup required. There is no AI key to manage and no separate AI account needed. Simply use the tools when you want them.

We believe this represents a meaningful step forward in accessible computing, and we are excited to bring this capability directly to you.

These tools enable:

• Ask questions directly from your text
• Check spelling and grammar instantly
• Translate content into other languages
• Summarize passages
• Look up definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and word origins

As always, the AI features are optional and your content is only processed when you use them.

This update also includes noteworthy improvements to media controls, a new speech history access function, enhancements to BT Code, and more!

Read the full April release notes here.

In honor of Children’s Book Week, we’re highlighting our Braille Tales program! Through a partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Braille Tales provides six free books with braille and print each year to children under six years old who are blind or low vision. Parents who are blind or low vision who have a child under six are also eligible! Sign up for Braille Tales and find out how you can support this program.

NOTE: If your child is too old for Braille Tales, they might be eligible for the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults free braille chapter book program. You can learn more about it on their website.

The World Blind Union is pleased to share that Christopher Friend was formally presented with the Louis Braille Medal during a special ceremony hosted by Sightsavers.

The Louis Braille Medal is the highest honour awarded by WBU, recognizing individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the lives of blind and partially sighted people through international service and long-standing commitment to the movement.

The presentation ceremony provided an opportunity to celebrate Christopher’s remarkable career and global impact. His contributions span more than four decades, including his leadership of the Institutional Development Programme and his instrumental role in advancing the right to read through global advocacy efforts that led to the Marrakesh Treaty.

WBU President, Santosh Kumar Rungta, shared a video message congratulating Christopher and recognizing his enduring contributions to the global blindness community. WBU extends its sincere congratulations to Christopher Friend on this well-deserved recognition and celebrates the lasting impact of his work worldwide.

This is a recorded webinar of the BrailleNote Evolve. Get a first glimps on how the BrailleNote Evolve works with KeySoft powered by a customised NVDA version. The video also covers several key questions that have been asked multiple times including how JAWS will work on the device.

Watch on YOuTube

A recording of the fourth table talk from the EBU Braille Working Group is now available.

The recording of our latest webinar is now available on our Web site. This month, we focused on the BT Braille, with complete descriptions and demos. You can find it on the landing page of our Web site, as well as on our Guides and Media page.

By the way, the Guides and Media page contains archives of all of our monthly webinars. Happy listening.

8 May 2026

Braille is often seen primarily as a tool for reading and writing.

But it does much more.

For blind learners, Braille is the way to see text on the page — to understand not only the words, but also how information is organized. It allows a child to discover patterns such as lines, paragraphs, columns, tables, and other meaningful formats.

By reading through touch, children develop their sense of perception. This helps them recognize shapes and spatial arrangements, first on the page and then beyond it in the physical environment. In turn, this supports spatial imagination, structured thinking, and independence in learning and orientation.

Braille is therefore not only a literacy tool. It is a foundation for understanding text, space, and the world.

Braille is more than reading and writing — it helps blind people understand structure and space, shaping how they think and engage with the world.

#Braille #Accessibility #Inclusion #InclusiveEducation #DisabilityRights #LeaveNoOneBehind

Join Chris Turner and Ed Rogers of Bristol Braille Technology as they lift the lid on Canute Scientific, the next generation of multi-line braille technology designed specifically for blind people working, studying or exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Based on the already popular Canute Console multi-line braille workstation, but with an upgraded system board, new chassis, greater connectivity options, roadmap for future development  and a suite of custom applications designed with feedback and advice from braille readers at the forefront, BBT truly believes this is their best product to date.

IN this session, Ed and Chris will:

• Explain how Canute Scientific came to be and who will benefit most from it
• Describe the physical layout and appearance of Canute Scientific and how it differs from Canute Console
• Introduce Canute Scientific’s operating system and user interface
• Demonstrate some of the applications developed specifically for Canute Scientific
• Outline which features will also be available to Canute Console owners
• Explain the upgrade options available to owners of Canute Console and Canute 360

Register for Unveiling Canute Scientific

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 835 4384 4879
• Passcode: 123456

With thanks to Bristol Braille Technology CIC for sponsoring this session.

What happens when you combine the power of the BrailleSense with the revolutionary tactile graphics of Dot Pad X?

Join Dave Williams and Timothy Hornik from Dot Inc. with Jenny Axler from Selvas BLV for a special webinar to find out!

This session will share:

The work Selvas BLV has been doing to make the BrailleSense connect seamlessly with Dot Pad.

A live demonstration of Dot Pad X with BrailleSense.

Q&A with our expert panel.

Register for Dot Pad X with BrailleSense on Zoom