News

If you are registered for our Braille for Beginners On Demand course, our next Office Hours session will take place on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. Please look out for a reminder email containing your unique joining link. If you have not received it by Tuesday lunchtime, please write to [email protected] for assistance.

If you are new to braille and not registered for Braille for Beginners, please consider signning up at www.braillists.org/beginners.

For people not following Braille for Beginners, your next session will be next Tuesday. Please see next week’s Newsletter for more information.

At Blazie Technologies, March is an exciting month for us. We began shipping the BT Speak in March of 2024. In honor of the BT Speak’s second anniversary, we wanted to make March an exciting month for our customers, as well, which is why the next BT Speak update will be free for everyone as our anniversary gift to you. Join us for our next webinar when we lift the lid to tell you about what you can expect in the upcoming update, as well as exciting updates regarding BT Braille.

Join the meeting

Meeting ID: 895 0144 1332

Passcode: 306544

Add to calendar

A FREE online webinar via Teams.

Learning braille can open up a whole world of opportunities, information and pleasure – it’s all about access.  However, before you start the business of learning the intricacies of all those dots it helps to refine gross and fine motor skills as well as being able to use a light touch.  These don’t just happen of their own accord or overnight, especially if you are learning braille because of sight loss – as a teenager, say.  This session will give ideas linked to foundational braille (pre braille) and how to make learning these skills fun and incidental.

We welcome questions in advance but there will also be the opportunity to ask questions throughout, via the ‘Chat’ function of Teams.

Bookings will close on Friday 27 February and the Teams Link will be sent to delegates on Monday 2 March.

Find out more and register

Speakers:

Timothy Hornik, LMSW CATIS, Sales Development Manager

About Dot Inc.:

The Dot Pad X is a versatile and portable display that offers seamless access to multiline Braille, images, and diagrams. It features a powerful 300-cell tactile graphics display and a 20-cell Braille display, allowing users to explore shapes, maps, and text with unprecedented detail and clarity.

About Tech it Out:

Join us to hear from industry experts on the latest in accessibility tech, AI, and inclusive design. Explore innovative tools and trends shaping a more accessible future for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. This fully remote event on Zoom offers the chance to engage with thought leaders and gain valuable insights.

About Vista Center:

Vista Center empowers individuals who are blind or visually impaired to live independently and confidently. Through personalized evaluation, expert counselling, specialized education, and hands-on training, we equip our clients with the skills and resources they need to navigate daily life, achieve their goals, and fully participate in their communities.

About Sight Tech Global:

The first global, virtual conference dedicated to fostering discussion among technology pioneers about how rapid advances in AI and related technologies will fundamentally alter the landscape of assistive technology and accessibility.

Register Here

Want to see past talks? Visit our Youtube Channel!

Braille Literacy Canada will be hosting a hands on/active participant workshop on the Braille Access App, new in iOS26.

For further details and to register, please email [email protected] and put “braille access” in the subject line.

Six Dots, No Limits – Six points sans limites

Wherever you are located, the international braille community is strong. As we look ahead into the bright future of braille literacy, there is much to celebrate and share.

Braille Literacy Canada (BLC) will be holding its sixth annual virtual braille symposium, Six Dots, No Limits – Six points sans limites on Friday May 22, 2026 from 1 – 5 PM Eastern (10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12pm Saskatchewan/Central, 2pm Atlantic, 2:30pm NFLD). This event will be of interest to braille readers, educators, transcribers, parents and anyone else who is passionate about braille literacy!

A host of exciting and world-renowned speakers will give half hour presentations (beginning at the start of each hour) followed by time for Q&A and discussion, with exciting door prizes sprinkled throughout the day!

Last year, this international event brought together braille enthusiasts from around the world, and a line up of exceptional speakers: check out the recordings here: Braille Symposium 2025

The symposium will be free of charge to members and $20 for non-members. Interested in becoming a BLC member? Annual membership is $20 and open to those who live in Canada. Write to us to learn more! [email protected]

More details on registration and schedule coming soon – Mark the date in your calendars! This will be an event you will not want to miss.

Your Braille Literacy Canada team

Braille Screen Input

Did you know that you can write braille directly on the touchscreen of your iPhone or iPad? Technology writer Judy Dixon tells you how in this comprehensive book with clear instructions and concise practice exercises. In addition to writing braille, Braille Screen Input can be used to navigate web pages, search for apps, and control your device, among other useful functions. The book includes a list of gestures with assigned functions, a list of commands that have braille dots assigned to them, and instructions on how to customize commands.

Read the table of contents and buy the book here!

3D Printing

How can you print a 3D object without spending loads of money on a 3D printer? What is filament? How can a blind or visually impaired person even navigate the software to start the process in the first place? This book from technology writer Judy Dixon answers all of these questions and more. Judy includes a glossary of useful terms, describes how she has created an accessible workflow, and goes through the process of printing a button from start to finish. She also lists several books, websites, keyboard shortcuts, and other 3D-printing resources to help anyone wanting to get started with 3D printing!

Read the table of contents and buy the book here!

My name is George Fence, and I am a third-year PhD student at Birmingham City University. My research focuses on haptic technologies for accessibility, which are devices that use the sense of touch to transmit information.

If you have experience reading English Braille and are familiar with the Perkins keyboard layout, this research might interest you.

What is involved:

The session will involve reading words using a new Finger Braille reading device, which uses six actuators arranged in the Perkins keyboard layout to show Braille, and scoring the emotional response you feel after each word.

The goal of the study is to explore how conveying emotions through affective haptics could potentially enhance Finger Braille reading, and the findings could be used to improve haptic technologies such as Braille displays. Participation in the study is completely voluntary, and the collected data will be anonymised.

If you are interested in experiencing new Braille technologies and want to find out more about the study, please submit your interest on the Microsoft Form or contact me directly by email: [email protected]

I look forward to welcoming you to the study and answering any questions you may have.

Thank you for your time!

Orbit Research is pleased to announce the release of firmware version vB1.01.00.00r28 for the Orbit Reader Q20 and Q40.

Following are the new features and improvements:

1. Resolved an issue where QWERTY keyboard keys occasionally did not function correctly on the host when Orbit Reader Q40 is connected to a screen reader by using the HID-Braille protocol.
2. Resolved an issue where connection with screen readers did not automatically resume on when unplugging and plugging the cable back in using the HID-Braille protocol.

Important notes:

1. Starting with this release, support for all screen readers via USB is provided natively via the HID-Braille protocol. This will make sure a smooth connection with JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack over USB. Note: the minimum version of JAWS required to properly support the Orbit Reader Q family of displays over USB is JAWS 2026.
2. The HID-Orbit protocol, while still available, should only be used for special compatibility situations.
3. Support for JAWS over Bluetooth is available using the legacy Orbit Reader 40 driver. This means that some JAWS Braille functionality will only be available over USB.

Orbit Research is pleased to announce the release of firmware version A1.xx.00.09r58 for the Orbit Reader 20 Plus

Following are the new features and improvements.

1. Resolved an issue where folder and file names were displayed incorrectly when creating a new folder or renaming a file while the Hindi language was selected.