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Reading aloud is a skill that is both terrifying and liberating. Adding braille to the mix presents unique challenges that can often get in the way of recognising significant progress. Along with reading speed and fluency, the one question we hear most often is: “How can I improve my ability to read aloud?”

Building on the topics from her popular masterclass, Revitalise Your Braille Reading Technique, Chantelle Griffiths returns to uncover some of the mystery and magic of reading aloud and to share some tips and tricks to help.

In this masterclass we will explore:

• How a six-year-old Chantelle connected the dots between elephants, cats and reading aloud, and the one word she learned that can help you, too.
• What reading aloud is not, and why “not” helps a lot!
• The surprising visual analogy that can improve your reading exponentially, if you choose to see it.
• The three infuriating words that everyone hates to hear but loves to experience.
• How moving on is not giving up, but levelling up.
• The capital B mindset that resets your brain and your reading practice every time.
• And so much more.

Why not bring along some familiar reading material, electronic or hardcopy, and try some of what you learn with us in real time.

Whether you’re new to reading aloud or you just want a fresh perspective, there’s something here for everyone.

Register for the Masterclass here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 871 6649 7003
• Passcode: 123456

We are delighted to have been made aware of this event from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations:

2024 is the 200th anniversary of the invention of Braille. David Wilkins, a totally blind and partially deaf member of CIPR, who has used Braille since 5 years old will lead this session. David trained as a journalist and is now a member of the British Antarctic Survey’s Net Zero team in Cambridge. The session will talk through the history of Braille, how it was developed, and how modern technology isn’t always the answer; covering what you should consider when communicating with people who are visually impaired.

Find out more

MuseScore is a free notation editor, widely used for creating music scores for onward translation into braille. It has been great to see the emphasis on accessibility within its development in recent years. Sound Without Sight are very excited to share that their next Meet-up Session will feature a live demo of MuseScore Studio by James Bowden, Braille Technical Officer at RNIB. James will demonstrate the process of installing the software, and then cover all you need to create basic scores while using keyboard navigation and a screen reader. More information and sign up.

Come join us for an enlightening talk by the Royal National Institute of Blind People as we celebrate 200 years of Braille!

Harrogate Library, Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, HG1 1EG

In 1824 Louis Braille invented a tactile system that would revolutionise the world for people with sight loss and empower them to achieve things that would never before been thought possible. Join us in a day of celebrations, information, talks and shared experiences.

Learn about the history and significance of Braille as we celebrate its 200th anniversary. Discover how this tactile writing system has empowered individuals with visual impairments for centuries. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Braille and its impact on the blind community.

All welcome. Refreshments provided. See you there!

Reserve your free tickets here

As we celebrate 200 years of braille at RNIB, we would love to hear from blind and partially sighted people across the UK about your experience of using braille and how it has enabled you to access information independently.

If you are a braillist in the UK and you would like to share your experience to help us raise awareness of braille use in the UK, please use the survey link below and share your thoughts: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Braille200

Thank you.

From: European Blind Union – Working Group on Braille.

To: blind and sighted braille users all over Europe

Dear Friends,

In 1825, a 16-year-old blind boy named Louis Braille, at his school in Paris, invented the braille code for tactile reading. This invention has since spread enhancing literacy, education and employment of millions of blind people around the world. In 2025, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of our beloved braille code.

The European Blind Union, through its Braille working group, is launching a project to involve Braille users by sharing creative experiences. We are delighted to invite you to join our celebration. Our goal is to collect contributions inspired by braille from both blind and sighted users all over Europe.

We encourage individuals, groups, or organizations to create artistic or personal pieces, such as videos, podcasts about braille, texts, photos, graphics, or drawings in braille, based on braille signs or shapes. You might also come up with other creative ideas. Here are some ideas:

• Reading braille texts as audio or video.
• Original texts with testimonials, fictional stories, or poems related to braille code, submitted as text or recorded readings.
• Art projects involving braille, such as people standing with umbrellas to form braille characters, filmed or photographed from above.
• Reports from beginner braille courses.
• Works of art, such as graphics or pictures made of braille characters, which are visually interesting. A monthly calendar for 2026 will feature 12 outstanding graphics, for which a separate invitation will be sent.
• Songs, sketches, radio plays, etc. related to braille.
• Games, learning methods, software and materials on braille.
• Advice for other braille users.
• And any other creative ideas you come up with.

We hope to receive 365 contributions, one for each day of 2025. Every month, the EBU will award a prize of €100 to the best contribution of the month. All pieces will be published on our European Braille forum: https://www.livingbraille.eu/topic/braille200/, and will be shared through various channels such as email newsletters and social media.

We are eagerly looking forward to receiving your fantastic and original pieces. Please send your contributions, questions, or remarks via email to: [email protected].

Requirements for your contributions:

1. Send us one or more files of your contribution. Or if you have already published it yourself, send a link to the public resource.
2. If you know a good sample created by someone else, please advise us and send a link to this and contact details for the person.
3. Include your full name, country, age, and whether you are blind or sighted.
4. Young persons under 18 should include a declaration from their parents agreeing to the publication.
5. Provide a text of up to 1,000 characters in English, explaining the content of your sample.
6. If submitting text only, please include a full translation in English if possible.
7. Photos and videos should be in landscape format.
8. Include a short description of what can be seen in any photos or videos.
9. Along with this text send us also your agreement as follows: By sending this contribution to European Blind Union Braille 200 initiative, I hereby agree on granting full copyright ownership to EBU.

By submitting your original work to this EBU initiative:

• Authors shall assign automatically to EBU worldwide all rights including copyright, and EBU may assign or license these rights.
• Authors shall allow EBU to use their name and their works in publicity and for information purposes as EBU may require.
• As copyright holder, EBU may give permission to the authors and to their national members to make use of the works as they deem fit.
• Authors shall provide EBU with their photographs and shall entitle EBU to reproduce, adapt, edit and publish their photographs on any media, including web and print.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation, involvement, and commitment.

Best regards,
Braille Working Group of European Blind Union

We are excited to announce the launch of a new eBook!

Whether you’re new to braille or you’ve been using braille technology for decades, choosing your braille display can be daunting. They’re so expensive, there’s so much to consider, and just when you thought you’d investigated all your options, you come across another one you hadn’t heard of before!

Braille On Display has been helping prospective users choose the braille display which best meets their individual needs since 2016, and to celebrate National Braille Week and World Sight Day, we are delighted to unveil the third edition of this comprehensive compendium.

Join us on Thursday 10 October at 7:30 PM, where we will hear first hand from its author, Jackie Brown, about what this publication has to offer and what has been added in this brand new edition. Jackie will be joined by esteemed ambassadors from the assistive technology industry including Ron Miller and Jonathan Mosen, who will add their own commentary on the book.

We will also reveal details of how you can obtain your own copy of the book, and there will be a question and answer session with Jackie towards the end of the event.

Register for the Braille On Display Launch Event here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 864 5331 8624
• Passcode: 123456

From: European Blind Union – Working Group on Braille.
To: EBU member organisations

Dear colleagues and friends,

Many braillists organisations worldwide are promoting celebrations to commemorate the 200th anniversary of braille.

In this regard, the European Blind Union, through its working group on braille, has designed an initiative aimed at involving braille users in a creative experience.

Therefore, we are delighted to invite you to join our project. Our aim is to collect pieces inspired by our writing code, from blind and sighted users all over Europe.

We would like them to work on the production of any artistic or personal output: video or podcast about braille, text, grafics or drawings in braille, based on braille signs or shapes, or any other contributions they might creatively come up with related to the braille code. The pieces can be stories, poems, songs, reports, advice to other braille users, games with braille, software etc.

We hope to receive 365 contributions, so that we can release one per day, throughout the whole year of 2025.

We Will publish these pieces on our European braille forum: www.livingbraille.eu and send out via many different channels including e-mail newsletter and social media channels. And we invite you to do the same in your country.

Thus, we send you a motivational text, addressed to your braille users, which you will need to translate and to spread through your target group lists and social media.

We are truly looking forward to receiving these fantastic and original contributions, straight from the users.

If you have questions or remarks or want to express your collaboration, please mail to [email protected]

Thanks in advance for your cooperation and involvement.

Natalina Martiniello, Ph.D., CVRT, Assistant Professor, Vision Rehabilitation, School of Optometry, Université de Montréal is recruiting a student who is interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Visual Impairment Rehabilitation as part of her lab, with a focus on braille learning/usage in adulthood, and accessibility. She says:

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with strong interest and experience in the domain of braille and assistive technologies for people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. The candidate will join the research laboratory of Dr. natalina Martiniello and complete a Ph.D. in Vision Science (Specialization: Visual Impairment Rehabilitation) in the School of Optometry at the Université de Montréal, in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

The individual will work on research to develop evidence-based indicators to guide the selection of braille display technologies for diverse reading and user needs across adulthood. This research will explore the influence of braille display characteristics (e.g. line length, single vs. multiline design, ergonomics, complexity) on reading performance across a range of linear and non-linear reading tasks for education, employment and independent living. This research will also explore the potential impact of age-related declines on the ability to use braille display technologies, and factors to maximize usage for working-age and older adults with acquired vision loss.

For more information, please see this document in English or this document in French.

Torch Trust are trialling a new way to access their braille catalogue electronically and are seeking testers. If you would be interested in testing, please email Jake Kyle on [email protected]