News

There are several online events originating in Canada throughout January in recognition of World Braille Day. You can find out more here.

Thank you to everyone who attended our events for World Braille Day. Recordings of all of the sessions of the Six Dots to Success conference are now available on the Sight and Sound Youtube channel. You can find them in this playlist.

A message from The Amber Trust on behalf of RNIB.

What are we doing?

• We would like to capture an honest assessment of the education system’s ability to support blind and partially sighted musicians.
• We are running a survey through Music Education Hubs to get an idea of how well-equipped the current system is.
• We would also like to present a report on the current state of play for accessible music notation transcription in the UK.
• The views and experiences of blind and partially sighted musicians, and those who support them directly, will be incredibly important for this report.

Why are we doing this?

• In the new National Plan for Music Education, the Government has explicitly committed to making music education accessible to all children. However, there is currently no provision in the plan for the transcription to accessible notation.
• While discussions are open around how funding will be allocated as part of the NPME, we think it is essential that a report is composed, to argue the case that resources should be set aside for transcription and access to notation.
• We will use insights from this research to make recommendations for how blind and partially sighted musicians can be better supported in the future.
• The report will also help RNIB to shape the work of its Music Advisory Service.

How can you help?

As you will appreciate, obtaining data on numbers of visually impaired musicians is not easy, and numbers only tell half the story; it is the voice of those affected which is likely to hit through.

It would be great to include some short testimonies from teachers of blind students, QTVIs, and musicians themselves about:

• Why access to music in accessible formats is important
• What it means to have this
• What it means not to have this
• What barriers there are to obtaining this currently
• Accessing the services and support of Music Education Hubs

Any assistance you can offer with pulling together these experiences would be a massive help. Please send any responses to Jay Pocknell, Music Support Officer at RNIB: [email protected]

Thank you very much!

How will responses be collected?

RNIB’s Music Advisory Service are very grateful to the Amber Trust for circulating this call for support. RNIB will collect responses anonymously. We will extract and collate comments from responses at the earliest opportunity, at which point your contact details, and any other personally identifiable data, will be removed, and your original email will be deleted.

The comments themselves may be used to help form the report as detailed above, so will be kept for that reason, but these will not include any personally identifiable data.

We will only use your email for the reason detailed here and cannot respond to enquiries made within responses. If you would like to contact RNIB’s Music Advisory Service for support or further discussion around supporting blind and partially sighted people to access music, please email us separately using the address: [email protected]

Do you have an interest in tactile art? Do you think you can impress the VICTA team with your creative flair? Would you like to enter the Braille Art Competition? Then what are you waiting for?

To mark Louis Braille’s birthday on 4 January, we celebrate #WorldBrailleDay to honour the Braille code which has made written literacy accessible for individuals with a vision impairment. Our Braille Art competition is back for its fourth year to mark the celebrations!

The VICTA Braille Art Competition has 2 categories.

Category 1 – Braille your name!

For under 10s

The challenge for category 1 is to make your name out of Braille in the most creative way possible. You can be as creative as you like, from using Lego bricks to apples, the possibilities are endless.

Once you have completed your creation, ask an adult to photograph it and email your entry to [email protected]. Please send your photo high resolution as a jpeg format.

The prize:

• 1st place will receive a £50 Amazon voucher
• 2nd place will receive a £25 Amazon voucher
• Chosen finalists will be displayed in our online gallery

Terms and conditions:

• This category is open to children who are registered or are registrable blind or partially sighted aged between 0 and 9 years on 31 January 2023
• Entrants must be residents of the United Kingdom
• The entries will be judged by a combination of VICTA staff and VICTA Trustees. The judge’s decision will be final
• By entering the competition, you agree to you/your child’s name and competition entry being used on the VICTA website and social media. Please note, if you do not want your child’s photo to feature on the website/social media, please do not include them in your photograph of your artwork.
• The competition closes at 5pm on 31 January 2023

Category 2 – Connections!

For 10 to 29 years

To enter category 2, VICTA would like you to create a piece of Braille art that can be any design you like. For inspiration, you might want to explore last year’s gallery or check out sixdotsart.com

You could also create your piece based on the theme of ‘Connections’. In 2022, we were fortunate to make ‘connections’ with the CNIB on a number of different projects and programmes including a Braille Art mural and this year, there is a special international category for Canadian entries.

As well as the prizes detailed below, your designs may also be put forward to feature on sixdotsart.com!

Once you have completed your creation, either email the instructions to [email protected] or post the finished artwork to:

VICTA, Braille Art Competition, Challenge House, Sherwood Drive, Bletchley, MK3 6DP

The prize:

• 1st place will receive a £50 Amazon voucher
• 2nd place will receive a £25 Amazon voucher
• Chosen finalists will be displayed in our online gallery

Terms and conditions:

• This category is open to children and young adults who are registered or are registrable blind or partially sighted aged between 10 and 29 years on 31 January 2023
• Entrants must be residents of the United Kingdom
• The entries will be judged by a combination of VICTA staff and VICTA Trustees. The judge’s decision will be final
• By entering the competition, you agree to you/your child’s name and competition entry being used on the VICTA website and social media channels. Please note, if you do not want your child’s photo to feature on the website/social media, please do not include them in your photograph of your artwork.
• The competition closes at 5pm on 31 January 2023

International Entries – CNIB

VICTA are delighted to invite participants from the CNIB to enter our Braille Art Competition. International entrants can enter category 1 or category 2. If you are in Canada and would like to enter, please contact Karen at the CNIB on [email protected]

Find out more & be inspired!

Braille artist Clarke Reynolds is registered as severely sight-impaired and uses Braille as an artistic medium. He describes his art as “Seeing Without Seeing”. Not only can the art be seen but it can also be touched, making it accessible to visually impaired people.

Mr. Reynolds is exhibiting at the Quantus Gallery in London from 11th to 28th January. The weekday opening times are 10am to 6pm but we have no information on the weekend opening times. There is free entry and no need to book ahead.

The Quantus Gallery is located at 11 – 29 Fashion Street, Spitalfields, London E1 6PX as part of the Rafael Viroly Architects premises.

Mr. Reynolds’ seeingwithoutseeing.com website provides information about future exhibitions and images of past projects, as well as information about his artistic journey from dream to realisation.

Happy new year from all of us at the Braillists Foundation. We hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing Christmas.

As you are doubtless already aware, Wednesday 4 January is World Braille Day, celebrating the birthday of Louis Braille, and we have two exciting events taking place:

• Six Dots to Success, in collaboration with Sight and Sound Technology Ltd, 9:15 AM to 12:45 PM
  A keynote from Peter White at the BBC, a panel discussion in association with the UK Association for Accessible Formats, and three breakout rooms focussing on braille at school, braille in higher education/employment and braille for leisure. There’s something here for everyone!
• Braille Technology Throughout the Ages, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
  Historians, industry experts and researchers ponder the braille technology of the past, present and future.

Click on the links above to register for each event. If you have any problems, please email [email protected]. We may not reply quickly, but we guarantee to be able to register you in time for the event.

The UKAAF webinar on Tuesday 3rd January will be the first in the series for 2023.

We will be joined by Matthew Horspool, from Braillists Foundation, to discuss the subject is: A Passion for Braille.

Matthew has been Braille Subject Lead for the UK Association for Accessible Formats since November 2020. A life-long braillist himself, his professional career started in a school for the blind, where he worked as a braille transcriber and teacher of technical braille codes. As Braille Subject Lead, he works closely with our two braille groups and external stakeholders, including the International Council on English Braille, the DAISY EBraille Working Group and a variety of local, regional and national organisations. Professionally, he is General Manager at Braillists Foundation.

Please Click here to complete the registration link and reserve your place.

The Braille Authority of Slovakia have produced a 14-minute video highlighting some of the issues faced by blind people and promoting the value of braille. You can watch it here.

In our last Masterclass before the Christmas break, we’re delighted that Kim Charlson, Executive Director of the Perkins Library (part of Perkins School for the Blind), will be joining us again. Kim is author of the book “Drawing with your Perkins Brailler”, which includes step-by-step directions for creating 36 different drawings including shapes, animals and subjects with holiday and transportation themes.

In this Tuesday’s session, she will use Christmas-themed drawings to explain the concepts behind using braille cells to create pictures. Bring a Perkins and some paper and follow along and, by the end of the session, you will have your very own festive pictures made entirely of braille dots!

And don’t worry: if you came to Kim’s excellent session last year, this year’s pictures are brand new!

Register for our Masterclass with Kim charlson here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 824 7645 2710
• Passcode: 123456

World Braille Day Conference from The Braillists Foundation and Sight and Sound Technology.

• 4th January 2023
• 9.15am to 12.45pm
• Online conference, free to attend
• Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqce6uqDotH93Po0zPwiPhOiiq7WJG3Bbz

Wednesday 4th January is World Braille day, and we are delighted to be hosting our inaugural Braille Conference, in association with Sight and Sound Technology.

During this half-day online event attendees will hear directly from visually impaired people about the continuing need for braille and its potential for improving their educational, employment and leisure opportunities.

Whether you work with teachers, classroom assistants, disability professionals, members of academic staff at a college or university, family members or braille users there’s something here for everyone. Myths and misconceptions will be challenged, questions answered and sources of help and support identified.

The conference will include a keynote address by well-known BBC broadcaster Peter White, as well as panel discussions and workshops, as we explore:

• Braille at school
• Braille in Further/Higher Education and Employment
• Braille for Leisure

The event is free and will take place from 9.15 to 12.45.

Please register here to attend and a detailed programme for the day will be sent to you closer to the time.