News

Job Vacancy: Access Specialists, Hertfordshire County Council

  • Job Title: Access Specialists
  • Starting Salary: £25,583 progressing to £28,142 pa pro rata (Actual approx. £21,882 progressing to £24,071 pa – pro rata for part time)
  • Hours: 30 or 37 hours, Term Time Only (39 weeks)
  • Location: Apsley – with travel countywide
  • Contract Type: Permanent
  • Directorate: Childrens Services
  • Deadline: Monday 27 April 2026
  • Interview date: Wednesday 29 April 2026 and Wednesday 6 May 2026

About the team

We are recruiting for 3 Access Specialists within the Vision Impairment Team. This is an exciting opportunity to join the Vision Impairment Team to support schools with modification of curriculum resources and activities for children and young people who will access their literacy through Braille/tactile diagrams alongside specialist technology plus supporting in the classroom.

About the role

You will work across Hertfordshire under the guidance of the Lead Access Specialists Qualified Teachers of Vision Impairment (QTVI). You will work with children and young people with vision impairment within schools or early years settings, providing direct classroom support, preparing teaching and learning materials and modelling best practice. You will help Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CYPVI) develop their Braille and specialist ICT skills.

Key responsibilities:

  • Produce resources in line with the National Curriculum in an accessible format for individual children and young people with vision impairment, Braille, audio, concrete materials and 3D models.
  • Mentor and train school-based staff responsible for meeting the needs of the CYPVI in modification of learning materials/experiences and the production of specialist resources.
  • Support the training of staff and pupils in the use of specialist equipment.
  • Work directly with CYPV Ito support the development of their Braille skills and deliver specialist programmes devised by QTVI.
  • Contribute to the planning, monitoring, and recording of pupil progress.
  • Liaise with school staff and other professionals within educational settings regarding learning materials for the child or young person with vision impairment.
  • Undertake mandatory HCC and relevant specialist in-service training.
  • Maintain awareness of current thinking and relevant developments, in order to improve and further develop service delivery.

About you

Essential requirements for this role:
  • Experience of successfully supporting children or young people in a learning situation.
  • A willingness to undertake further training to learn Braille, and to pass the RNIB Certificate in Contracted Braille (UEB) course and exam. In addition to this, you will be required to undertake the VIEW Partners in Learning – Advanced Certificate required for education support staff working with Vision Impaired students. You will have two years to successfully complete both courses.
  • GCSE or Vocational equivalent – strong numeracy and literacy.
  • Good ICT skills.
  • Well-organised and able to meet deadlines.
  • Ability to work independently and contribute as part of the wider team within the service.
  • Committed to safeguarding, inclusion and continued professional development.
  • Full driving licence and access to a vehicle.
Desirable:
  • A working knowledge of Braille.
  • Experience of working with a child or young person with a vision impairment.

View the full vacancy

Elizabeth Eagle-Bott Memorial Fund 25th Anniversary Concert: Call out for musicians

Deadline for expressions of interest: Wednesday 6 May 2026

Concert: Friday 3 July 2026

We are pleased to share this announcement which, though not directly related to braille, may be of interest to our community as braille music users are highly likely to have benefitted from this fund.

This summer, RNIB and Sound Without Sight are organising a concert on the 3rd July to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Elizabeth Eagle-Bott Memorial Fund, which provides one-off grants for blind and partially sighted musicians based in the UK.

We are currently trying to reach blind and partially sighted musicians who have previously received funding from the award and who may be interested in performing at the celebration, to help us raise awareness about the impact of this important fund. The call-out can be found here: Call-out for musicians: Celebrating 25 Years of the Elizabeth Eagle‑Bott Memorial Fund – Sound Without Sight

This is a voluntary opportunity but in recognition of each musician’s contribution to the event, they will receive:

  • A high‑quality video recording of their performance
  • A professionally mixed audio recording
  • Professional performance photography
  • The opportunity to showcase their work at a prestigious London venue to an invited audience.
  • A contribution towards travel expenses

The deadline for submitting an application is the 6th May 2026. More details are provided in the call-out linked above. For more information, please contact [email protected]

ICEB announces this year’s Mid-Term Executive Committee meeting is moving online

The Executive committee of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) has voted to move its mid-term executive meeting, scheduled to take place in August 2026, to be a fully online event.

Member countries and interested observers will be able to join via Zoom and input into the various discussions. More details on the online event will be posted in due course.

Perkins Announces Braille Bloom: The Future of Braille is Here

This is the future of the Perkins Brailler. This is the future of braille.

Meet the Perkins Braille Bloom™ – a new device that gives you the power to bring braille to life on any screen.

With the Bloom, any Perkins Classic Brailler connects to the internet, becoming a modern, plug-and-play braille keyboard for computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

It’s real-time communication without barriers – instant and seamless braille-to-text translation for teachers conducting virtual lessons. For families staying close to their child’s learning. For kids who want to easily text with friends. And so much more.

Meet the Bloom

How does it work? It’s easy! As the only official companion to the Perkins Brailler, designed with love by the experts at Perkins, the Bloom simply clicks into your Brailler and quickly connects via Bluetooth or USB.

It’s affordable. It’s innovative. It’s empowering. And it’s the next big leap for braille literacy. Are you ready to bloom?

Buy a Bloom

BrailleNote evolve is here: A new era begins

HumanWare is proud to officially launch BrailleNote evolve—a breakthrough in accessible technology and a new era of braille computing.

More than a notetaker

BrailleNote evolve is a braille-first, all-in-one companion computer, designed to grow with you. Built on Windows 11 Pro and powered by the trusted KeySoft experience, it brings together the simplicity of braille with the power and flexibility of a full computer.

Built for today. Ready for what’s next

For over 35 years, HumanWare has led innovation in braille technology. With BrailleNote evolve, we are redefining what a braille device can be—removing barriers to digital access and enabling users to do more, at every stage of their journey.

A powerful partnership that expands possibilities

Through our collaboration with Vispero, BrailleNote evolve can now be used with JAWS, offering users the option of a powerful, widely trusted screen reader for even greater flexibility and opportunity.

Users can build essential screen reader skills directly on the device, starting in a familiar KeySoft environment and transitioning seamlessly to JAWS when ready—creating a strong bridge toward independence, confidence, and professional success.

With six months of JAWS available, users can begin developing these critical skills immediately. Activation is simple—users just need to contact their local distributor to obtain their license, with the option to continue at a preferential rate.

Learn, transition, and succeed

BrailleNote evolve supports a seamless progression:

  • Start with a structured, braille-first experience
  • Build confidence with integrated digital tools
  • Transition naturally to Windows and screen readers

With access to mainstream tools like Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, users can learn, create, and work in the same environments used in education and the workplace. From writing documents to working with math and graphing in Excel, BrailleNote evolve supports advanced tasks with ease. The KeySoft add-on seamlessly enhances these applications, bringing a familiar, braille-first experience that makes every interaction more productive and efficient.

Bridging the gap to the real world

BrailleNote evolve bridges the gap between braille learning and real-world digital skills—helping users develop confidence and access greater opportunities in education, rehabilitation, and employment.

Designed to evolve with you

From early learning to professional use, BrailleNote evolve adapts to each user:

  • Simple, braille-first navigation for beginners
  • Advanced workflows and productivity tools for experienced users
  • Full access to Windows environments when needed

It’s a device that evolves alongside you—supporting independence, productivity, and long-term success.

Explore BrailleNote evolve

Join the waiting list

Don’t wait—be among the first to get your hands on BrailleNote evolve. Orders are first come, first served.

BrailleNote evolve isn’t just a new product—it’s a new approach to braille computing.

Together, we are not just evolving a product—we are expanding possibilities.

Recording: Expert Table Talk Series on Braille Displays: the Third C, Controlling Your Device with a Braille Display

In EBU Braille Working Group we believe you are tuned in our international meetings with braille displays as a main topic of our interest.

Before you receive an invitation to our last session of 4C, we would like to share the recording of our third C about controlling your devices with a braille display.

You can find the article and in it, also the recording of our table talk on @livingbraille YouTube channel.

Read the article Expert Table Talk Series on Braille Displays: the Third C, Controlling Your Device with a Braille Display on livingbraille.eu portal.

We encourage all of you to become a member of our livingbraille community – just write us with your wish to be registered and we will promptly do that. After registration, you can publish new posts and comment existing ones.

Make the livingbraille.eu living with us.

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Best regards,
Livingbraille.eu administrator
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: https://www.livingbraille.eu/
Funded by European Blind Union: The voice of blind and partially sighted people in Europe

Web: https://www.euroblind.org/

Blazie Technologies April Webinar Recording

The April webinar contained demos of several upcoming features, including using AI tools to ask questions, perform spell check, grammar check and summarization of a document. They also demonstrated their speech history where you’ll be able to review the last 500 utterances spoken by the BT Speak or BT Braille. And if that isn’t enough, they went to town, quite literally, showing everyone their new BT Towne open world social platform.

You’ll find the webinar recording on their Guides and Media page.

BrailleSense 7 Webinar Recording

If you missed the BrailleSense 7 webinar from Selvas BLV last month, or want to rewatch a part of it, you can find the recording with the Q&A section on YouTube. This webinar proved valuable to consumers, educators, and assistive technology professionals who are seeking a detailed look at the next generation of braille productivity and accessibility tools. This webinar reviewed what comes in the box, hardware overview, device layout, settings and navigations, and software capabilities, as well as a 30 minute Q&A at the end.

Webinar Chapter Timestamps:

  • 00:00: Introduction
  • 01:54: Physical Layout
  • 17:15: User Interface and Menus
  • 34:16: Gestures and Editing
  • 40:29: Excel Editor
  • 56:09: NVDA Remote
  • 1:02:27: Gemini
  • 1:11:36: Web TV
  • 1:17:13: Q&A
  • 1:57:29: Wrap Up & Contact Info

Watch the BrailleSense 7 Webinar on YouTube

Braille isn’t just reading — it’s freedom

A statement from the joint ICEVI/WBU Global Braille Literacy Campaign, 20 April 2026

For blind children, braille builds the same foundation that printed books give sighted kids: spelling, grammar, structure, and the power to write their own story.

And mathematics? You can’t listen your way through an equation. Braille gives children the tactile access they need to understand mathematical notation, work through problems, and truly master numbers — not just hear them.

Audio tools are great — but they can’t replace the independence that comes from reading, writing, as well as doing math in braille.

Braille equals confidence. Braille equals opportunity. Braille equals a future without limits.

More Braille means more empowerment. More Braille means more opportunity.

#MoreBrailleMoreEmpowerment #BrailleBuildsFutures #GlobalBrailleLiteracyCampaign

For information, contact ICEVI and WBU:

Email: [email protected]

Visit websites: https://wbu.ngo/about/global-braille-literacy-campaign; https://icevi.org/icevi-wbu-global-braille-literacy-campaign/