Author: Matthew Horspool

Join Braille Literacy Canada to Learn About eBraille! Friday 19 September at 6:00 PM

Join Braille Literacy Canada at 6pm UK (1pm EST, 10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12pm Central, 2pm Atlantic) on Friday, September 19th to learn about eBraille!

Presented by Willow Free, Global Innovations Product Manager at the American Printing House for the Blind, this workshop will explore the new eBraille file format, which promises to greatly improve the experience for electronic braille readers. Files distributed in the eBraille format will be able to seamlessly adapt to various braille display line lengths, can incorporate both text and graphics, and can include markup (such as headings and lists) to make navigation and searching easier. Version 1 of the eBraille technical specification was released in August 2025.

“We’re at the beginning of another braille revolution,” says Willow Free, co-chair of the eBraille Working Group. Learn about eBraille, the file type which allows braille and tactile graphics to be read together in one electronic document. Willow will talk about eBraille, how it is implemented and supported, and will also take questions.

Willow Free is a certified transcriber, member of the World Braille Council, a former board member of the National Braille Association, and chair of the eBraille Working Group. Her job fuses technology and braille, both of which fill her with joy. She enjoys spending time with friends, in nature, and complaining about user interfaces.

Click here to Register for eBraille on Braille Literacy Canada’s website.

Invitation to Touch: Beyond Vision – Tactile Art Exhibition for the Visually Impaired, Monday 15 September, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM or 6:00 PM-10:30 PM

Carveco are excited to invite you to “Touch: Beyond Vision”, an inclusive exhibition that reimagines how we experience art.

Join them at the iconic OXO Tower in London for a unique event where visual culture is brought to life through the sense of touch.

This exhibition is designed especially for blind and visually impaired visitors, but it’s open to everyone—artists, educators, families, and accessibility advocates alike.

What Awaits You:

  • Over 20 tactile artworks crafted using Carveco’s AI driven relief technology, featuring famous musicians, landmarks, historical figures, and personal stories.
  • A community mural wall of 3D-printed, touchable photographs contributed by blind individuals.
  • Audio descriptions, braille labels, and guided touchpoints for independent exploration.

Why Your Involvement Matters

This is a movement in consumerising Art for the visually impaired. Using our new AI driven technology, we aim to demonstrate how accessibility and design can intersect in real-world, creative applications and make it accessible to anyone with visual impairment. It also provides a platform to connect with others committed to inclusive practices — including educators, artists, charities, and advocates.

We’d be delighted to have you join us, not only to explore the exhibition, but to discuss potential ways we might collaborate further in supporting accessibility through design and technology.

If you’re interested in attending or know anyone who nay be, please don’t hesitate to use the links below to register your interest.

Daytime Event | Evening Event

For further information, please email Ashlee Zogala on [email protected]

200 Years of the Braille System – From Slate to Display

The 11th World Blindness Summit recently concluded in São Paulo, Brazil. This session took place on 2 September 2025, the first day of proceedings.

From the Programme

PLENARY SESSION 1: 09:00 – 10:30
Session Number: P1
Venue: Dorina Nowill Auditorium
Session Moderator: Yaw Ofori Debra

Speakers:

  • Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, Ghana; Martine Abel-Williamson, New Zealand – Launching a Braille Literacy Campaign – More Braille, More Empowerment.
  • Regina Fátima Caldeira de Oliveira, Brazil – BRAILLE, YES, because reading is essential!
  • Frances Gentle, Australia – Braille in the Digital Age: Integration of Tactile Literacy and Artificial Intelligence and Assistive Technologies
  • Márcia Noronha de Mello, Brazil – The Braille System and the Advancement of Technologies as a Tool for Inclusion

Watch the Session

The session is available as part of the YOuTube stream for day 2, starting approximately 22 minutes from the start. It lasts approximately 90 minutes.

Watch the stream from the start of the Braille200 session

Braille Research Makes 3-Minute Thesis Competition

Aasha Rose has been working towards a PhD focussed on braille literacy and quality of life at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. As part of this, she has had the opportunity to submit to the 3-minute thesis (3MT) competition.

You can watch her presentaition on YouTube here: Does braille literacy impact quality of life?

The competition has a People’s Choice Award. If you would like to vote for Aasha’s presentation to win that award, simply like it on YouTube. Voting closes 12 September at 5:00pm.

Important Survey for Users of the Mantis, Chameleon, Monarch, PageBlaster/PicsBlaster, Polly and other Braille Products from APH

2025 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Satisfaction Survey

Attention: All Users of APH Products! If you have purchased APH products and services to use in education or rehabilitation settings, we want to hear from you!

This brief survey is conducted annually and is designed to accomplish several key goals:

  • Give users an opportunity to share their experiences with APH products and services.
  • Help us coordinate priorities and improve our product development processes.
  • Collect performance data as required by the federal Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

Follow the link below to complete the survey and learn more.

All individual responses will remain confidential. Your feedback about our performance and product effectiveness DOES make a difference.

Survey response deadline is Friday, October 10.

Start the 2025 GPRA Survey

eBraille 1.0 has Launched!

A digital reading format for braille publications, eBraille focuses on adapting braille for reading in refreshable braille displays with different line lengths. Using an EPUB 3-compatible file set based on the Open Web Platform — using technologies such as XHTML and CSS — to encode braille in semantically enhanced markup and allow it to adapt to the different capabilities of braille reading devices. The file set is designed for both packaged distribution to end users and deployment to the web for online and downloadable reading.

Composed of 91 people throughout the blindness or low vision field, the eBraille Working Group represented more than 50 organizations in 16 different countries.

Read this article to learn more about eBraille 1.0

Introducing I Love Braille and I Learn Braille

The East Bay Center for the Blind in Berkeley, California in 2021 launched Learn-at-Home” braille initiative allowing blind and visually impaired individuals to learn braille on their own. The Center provides this braille education tuition-free and it’s available for all adults all over the world. Any adult interested in learning braille can fill out our online enrollment application and receive the course materials as “free matter for the blind”. Use this link to fil out our enrollment form.

In addition to offering braille courses, we also run two weekly webinars promoting braille literacy, each on Thursdays and Fridays.  Our Thursday webinar is called “I Love Braille”, in which, participants discuss braille-related issues at all levels. Our Friday session titled “I Learn Braille” are especially geared to helping beginner learners. We allow participants practice braille letters and words with lots of fun activities. WE have received positive and encouraging feedbacks for these zoom meetings. These webinars are available all over the world for all, blind or sighted, who would like to login. Episodes of both webinars are also archived on our web site.

Here are the links to login:

For more information, send your email at: [email protected].