Author: Matthew Horspool

Tek Talk welcomes Venkatesh Chari, President of Orbit Research, to discuss What’s New with Orbit Research including a new subsidy program.

Meeting ID: 839 935 813

Passcode: awz

We are proud to announce that Tek Talk Programs can now be heard on ACB Media 1. Please visit the ACB Media Network Home page at https://www.acbmedia.org/ for upcoming events.

Podcast feed

Those wishing to subscribe to past Tek Talk program archives can do so using their mobile device and podcast app of choice or using their computers and podcatcher program of choice. The link with which to subscribe follows:

Presenter contact info:

Venkatesh Chari, President of Orbit Research

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 888-606-7248

Website: www.orbitresearch.com

BSU are hosting one of Bristol Braille Technology’s Braille Space events. These are a series of events, usually hosted at their workshop in Bristol, where people can get their hands on equipment, try things out, bounce some ideas round with like minded folk. This one is a bit special as they’ve been working with a group of students at BSU engaged in their Creative Industries Challenge. They’ve been set the task of developing a  fun application for the Canute Scientific which introduces new users to the machine. BBT are hoping the guys will be able to show their progress so far.

To confirm attendance at Braille Space, please email: [email protected]

Hello Braille readers,

The Braille Working Group of the European Blind Union (EBU) has already brought to you three interesting and informative sessions of table talks on braille displays usage — Use Your Braille Display Like a Pro. You can find the articles about our first three sessions on livingbraille portal:

• Expert Table Talk Series on Braille Displays: the first C, connecting;
• Expert Table Talk Series on Braille Displays: The second C — Consuming;
• Expert Table Talk Series on Braille Displays: the Third C, Controlling Your Device with a Braille Display.

The articles will lead you to the YouTube recording of each session.

As announced at the beginning of the series, the last Wednesday of each month from January to April has been dedicated to expert discussions on using braille displays. Today, we invite you to the fourth and final roundtable, focused on using your braille display like a pro:

• 📅 Wednesday, April 29, at 18:00 CET (17:00 UTC)
• on Zoom

The topic of our fourth table talk is: Creating Content with your braille display.

• Braille display with a braille or QWERTY keyboard? What are the pros and cons? “Playing chords” on your braille display.
• File types on stand-alone braille display, the impact of contracted and uncontracted braille input, and what to be aware of when transferring files. Code pages versus file types and braille display capabilities.
• Important information about braille table settings when creating the content with your braille display whether as a stand-alone device or when connected to a computer or smartphone.

A panel of experts will give short presentations and you are invited to share your experiences and ask your questions.

If you registered for our first session in January, you should have received the Zoom link by e-mail. The link remains the same for all sessions and we will send it to all participants who have already registered for previous sessions. In that case you do not need to register again.

If you did not register yet, we kindly request that you register for the table talk here: Registration form to the Expert Table Talks.

So come join us for our fourth expert table talk—and take your Braille display skill to the next level!

Selvas BLV is pleased to announce this major upgrade for Braille eMotion, V1.5.

This upgrade adds the popular Braille Practice application that exists on the BrailleSense, as well as the ability to create language profiles and emboss directly from the eMotion. It also fixes issues using HID with several screen readers. JAWS key maps are also updated to reflect current functionality via HID, which will also apply to Bluetooth in the May update to JAWS.

Please find the complete list of fixes and improvements in the release note download below.

Release Note Download

Read full newsletter

Blazie Technologies is soon going to be offering free training webinars. Each webinar will provide training on various topics with the goal of making you a more proficient BT Speak or BT Braille user. Initially, this is not going to be a multi-session course. Instead, each training session will provide one lesson covering one specific topic, followed by questions from participants.

If you own a BT Speak or BT Braille, David Goldfield would be very interested to know what topics would be most helpful, interesting or relevant to you. Please email [email protected]

Thank you in advance for your input.

Books open windows to new worlds, connecting people, cultures and ideas across generations.

Today, April 23, is UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day — and we’re using it to ask a simple but powerful question:

What good is the power of reading if not everyone can access it?

For the 253 million people worldwide who are blind or have print disabilities, too many books remain out of reach. That’s not a gap we can afford to ignore.

That’s why the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment and the World Blind Union are championing “Born Accessible” publishing — books designed from the very beginning to work for every reader.

No retrofitting. No afterthought. Accessible from day one.

Through our More Braille: More Empowerment campaign, we’re pushing for a world where access to braille, digital and audio formats worldwide isn’t an exception — it is the standard.

Because the right to read isn’t a privilege. It’s just a right.

Learn more about the ICEVI-WBU Global Braille Literacy Campaign: https://icevi.org/icevi-wbu-global-braille-literacy-campaign/ https://wbu.ngo/about/global-braille-literacy-campaign

#WorldBookDay #AccessibleBooks #BornAccessible #MoreBrailleMoreEmpowerment #Inclusion #Braille #VisualImpairment

Your opportunity to catch up with Orbit Research CEO Venkatesh Chari.

Join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88405081022?pwd=1dNbQSokTzvPM3o7m4bNXn7i7ydB3e.1

Meeting ID: 884 0508 1022

Passcode: 461498

View meeting insights with Zoom AI Companion: https://us02web.zoom.us/launch/edl?muid=a3da5580-d252-4e47-84d2-7313df8947c9

GLOW stands for Guided Layout & Output Workflow – a guided, confidence-building accessibility experience built for real publishing workflows. The GLOW Accessibility Toolkit helps authors, publishers, and organizations produce documents that comply with the American Council of the Blind Large Print Guidelines and WCAG 2.2 Level AA. The toolkit audits, fixes, and templates Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Markdown, PDF, and ePub documents for accessibility.

Presenter Contact Info

Email: [email protected]

GLOW website: https://glow.bits-acb.org/about/

Join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/839935813?pwd=eXFMRHpxNnhFZlRiMHAzRWNWYXM3Zz09

Meeting ID: 839 935 813

Passcode: awz

Special note

We are proud to announce that Tek Talk Programs can now be heard on ACB Media 1. Please visit the ACB Media Network Home page for upcoming events.

Podcast feed

Those wishing to subscribe to past Tek Talk program archives can do so using their mobile device and podcast app of choice or using their computers and podcatcher program of choice. The link with which to subscribe follows:

Dear Customers and Friends,

Join us on May 5th at 7pm EST for our Blazie Technologies Monthly Webinar!

We’ll be putting the spotlight on BT Braille 20 and BT Braille 40, our full-featured portable computers with a braille keyboard and integrated braille display. They represent a significant hardware upgrade over our flagship BT Speak, running the ultra-efficient Linux OS with 16 GB memory on a high-performance ARM processor, making them among the most powerful modern notetakers available today. Learn firsthand how they smoothly handle subscription-free desktop applications like office suite, web browsing, and email, all backed by 1TB of storage.

We’ll also showcase BT Braille as a complete media and productivity platform. From a Radio Tuner with over 50,000 stations to a custom YouTube client built for the Blind, and Blazie Applications that support everything from NLS BARD access to learning to program with BT Code and fully integrated AI tools, this compact, ultra-portable device is designed to do it all.

As always, we’ll walk through the product live and answer your questions during the Q&A.

Webinar details:

• Topic: Blazie Technologies: May Webinar
• Time: May 5, 2026, at 7:00 PM Eastern Time
• Join Here: Zoom link
• Meeting ID: 848 6228 8147
• Password: 317486

If you’re unable to join us live, don’t worry! A recording of the webinar will be posted on our website shortly after the event. You can find recordings of past webinars on our YouTube Channel and on our media page.

Whether you join us live or catch the recording later, we hope you’ll tune in and see what’s coming next at Blazie Technologies.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Join Blind Information Technology Solutions (BITS), as we welcome Venkatesh Chari from Orbit Research, for an update on all the exciting news from Orbit Research.

From Braille displays to the Orbit Player, there is a lot of exciting news coming from Orbit Research that you don’t want to miss.

This presentation will take place on Zoom. Registration is required. If you have a problem registering for this event, please contact:

Brad Snyder

BITS Presentations Chair

[email protected]

Register for Catching Up With Orbit Research