News

Dear Customers and Friends,

Our new update for BT Speak and BT Braille marks a major technology milestone with the first AI integration in a braille-first editor.

Even better, these AI features are available to all customers with an active maintenance contract, with no setup required. There is no AI key to manage and no separate AI account needed. Simply use the tools when you want them.

We believe this represents a meaningful step forward in accessible computing, and we are excited to bring this capability directly to you.

These tools enable:

• Ask questions directly from your text
• Check spelling and grammar instantly
• Translate content into other languages
• Summarize passages
• Look up definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and word origins

As always, the AI features are optional and your content is only processed when you use them.

This update also includes noteworthy improvements to media controls, a new speech history access function, enhancements to BT Code, and more!

Read the full April release notes here.

In honor of Children’s Book Week, we’re highlighting our Braille Tales program! Through a partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Braille Tales provides six free books with braille and print each year to children under six years old who are blind or low vision. Parents who are blind or low vision who have a child under six are also eligible! Sign up for Braille Tales and find out how you can support this program.

NOTE: If your child is too old for Braille Tales, they might be eligible for the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults free braille chapter book program. You can learn more about it on their website.

The World Blind Union is pleased to share that Christopher Friend was formally presented with the Louis Braille Medal during a special ceremony hosted by Sightsavers.

The Louis Braille Medal is the highest honour awarded by WBU, recognizing individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the lives of blind and partially sighted people through international service and long-standing commitment to the movement.

The presentation ceremony provided an opportunity to celebrate Christopher’s remarkable career and global impact. His contributions span more than four decades, including his leadership of the Institutional Development Programme and his instrumental role in advancing the right to read through global advocacy efforts that led to the Marrakesh Treaty.

WBU President, Santosh Kumar Rungta, shared a video message congratulating Christopher and recognizing his enduring contributions to the global blindness community. WBU extends its sincere congratulations to Christopher Friend on this well-deserved recognition and celebrates the lasting impact of his work worldwide.

This is a recorded webinar of the BrailleNote Evolve. Get a first glimps on how the BrailleNote Evolve works with KeySoft powered by a customised NVDA version. The video also covers several key questions that have been asked multiple times including how JAWS will work on the device.

Watch on YOuTube

A recording of the fourth table talk from the EBU Braille Working Group is now available.

The recording of our latest webinar is now available on our Web site. This month, we focused on the BT Braille, with complete descriptions and demos. You can find it on the landing page of our Web site, as well as on our Guides and Media page.

By the way, the Guides and Media page contains archives of all of our monthly webinars. Happy listening.

8 May 2026

Braille is often seen primarily as a tool for reading and writing.

But it does much more.

For blind learners, Braille is the way to see text on the page — to understand not only the words, but also how information is organized. It allows a child to discover patterns such as lines, paragraphs, columns, tables, and other meaningful formats.

By reading through touch, children develop their sense of perception. This helps them recognize shapes and spatial arrangements, first on the page and then beyond it in the physical environment. In turn, this supports spatial imagination, structured thinking, and independence in learning and orientation.

Braille is therefore not only a literacy tool. It is a foundation for understanding text, space, and the world.

Braille is more than reading and writing — it helps blind people understand structure and space, shaping how they think and engage with the world.

#Braille #Accessibility #Inclusion #InclusiveEducation #DisabilityRights #LeaveNoOneBehind

Join Chris Turner and Ed Rogers of Bristol Braille Technology as they lift the lid on Canute Scientific, the next generation of multi-line braille technology designed specifically for blind people working, studying or exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Based on the already popular Canute Console multi-line braille workstation, but with an upgraded system board, new chassis, greater connectivity options, roadmap for future development  and a suite of custom applications designed with feedback and advice from braille readers at the forefront, BBT truly believes this is their best product to date.

IN this session, Ed and Chris will:

• Explain how Canute Scientific came to be and who will benefit most from it
• Describe the physical layout and appearance of Canute Scientific and how it differs from Canute Console
• Introduce Canute Scientific’s operating system and user interface
• Demonstrate some of the applications developed specifically for Canute Scientific
• Outline which features will also be available to Canute Console owners
• Explain the upgrade options available to owners of Canute Console and Canute 360

Register for Unveiling Canute Scientific

To join by phone, please use these details:

• Phone number: 0131 460 1196
• Meeting ID: 835 4384 4879
• Passcode: 123456

With thanks to Bristol Braille Technology CIC for sponsoring this session.

What happens when you combine the power of the BrailleSense with the revolutionary tactile graphics of Dot Pad X?

Join Dave Williams and Timothy Hornik from Dot Inc. with Jenny Axler from Selvas BLV for a special webinar to find out!

This session will share:

The work Selvas BLV has been doing to make the BrailleSense connect seamlessly with Dot Pad.

A live demonstration of Dot Pad X with BrailleSense.

Q&A with our expert panel.

Register for Dot Pad X with BrailleSense on Zoom

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