News

One of our members has drawn attention to this Facebook group, which we thought might be of interest.

If you have a Facebook account and would like a braille pen pal, please click here to join the Braille Pen Pals Facebook group.

We are pleased to be bringing you our first Braille and Beer event of 2023, taking place immediately after Sight Village Wales.

We will be meeting at The North Star, 131 North Road, Maindy, Cardiff, CF14 3AE.

The pub is about half a mile away from the All Nations Centre, the venue for Sight Village Wales, and we think it will take about 10-15 minutes to walk there after the exhibition.

All are welcome, whether or not you are attending Sight Village, and you don’t need to register in advance. However, if you see this announcement in time and you are thinking of coming, it would be really helpful if you could email us to let us know so we can make the pub aware of roughly how many people to expect. There are no penalties if you tell us you’re coming but don’t make it on the day, so please do let us know if you can! The email address, as ever, is: [email protected]

If you haven’t let us know you’re coming but you decide on the day that you’d like to join us, you’ll still be made very welcome.

A party of us will be walking over from the exhibition at about 3:30 PM. If you’d like to join us, please meet us in the foyer, or call us on 020 3893 3392. Otherwise, please just meet us at the pub.

We are advertising a finish time of 7:00 PM as the North Star have a pub quiz starting shortly after that time. However, there are secluded areas of the pub where the quiz will not be a distraction, so if you would like to stay later than 7:00 PM, please feel free to do so.

Walking directions from the All Nations Centre to the North Star are included below. We look forward to seeing you there!

Getting to Braille and Beer from Sight Village Wales

Sight Village Address: All Nations Centre, Sachville Avenue, Cardiff, CF14 3NY

Braille and Beer Address: The North Star, 131 North Road, Maindy, Cardiff, CF14 3AE

The walk is mostly flat.

1. From Sight Village, walk south-east for 276 feet towards Banastre Avenue.
2. In 151 feet, turn right onto Banastre Avenue.
3. In 331 feet, cross the road and turn left onto Whitchurch Road/A469.
4. In 0.3 miles, cross the road and turn right onto Newfoundland Road.
5. In 0.1 miles, cross the road and turn left onto North Road/A470.
6. In 30 feet, cross the road and turn right towards North Road/A470.
7. In 105 feet, cross the road and turn left onto North Road/A470.
8. Cross the road. The destination will be on the right.

The Braillists is now closed for the Easter holidays, to give our staff and volunteers some time for rest and recuperation.

There will be no Braille Bar on Tuesday 11 April.

There will be no Masterclass on Tuesday 18 April.

There will be no Book Club on Thursdays 13 and 20 April.

Zoom events will restart with the Braille Bar on Tuesday 25 April and the Book Club on Thursday 27 April.

There will be a severely reduced service from the help address during this period.

Happy Easter!

STOP PRESS! Ed Rogers, Stuart Lawler and Ilka Staeglin will be hosting a Braillists event at a location to be decided in Drumcondra. It will take place during the afternoon of Thursday 30 March. Dublin was the second local group the Braillists ran back in 2014, so we’re pleased to be bringing it back after a few years of quiet.

What will be discussed and tested at the meeting?

• Ed will be bringing the Canute Console from Bristol Braille Technology for people to test and feedback on. We will be asking people to suggest things they would like to see demonstrated on it.
• We will be talking through the direction the Braillists can and should go in next. If you have an idea for a project that embodies “more Braille!”, then likely as not that can be supported by the Braillists.
• Talking about all the latest technology which was showcased at CSUN.
• If other braille technology companies besides Bristol Braille Technology would like to attend the meeting, or would like the meeting to test and provide feedback on their braille products, please email [email protected].

How do you attend?

Simply email [email protected] so we know you’re interested in coming! We’ll keep people updated when we have exact times and places.

We can’t wait to welcome you to our latest masterclass this Tuesday at 7:30 PM GMT.

We’ve got a lot to cram into what will be the last of our computer science-themed classes. We’ll start with a quick refresher about what we’ve covered so far before taking a deep dive into what it takes to write software and build hardware with a particular focus on the accessibility elements of the process. As per usual we’ll be leaving time for all of your questions at the end of the session, so make sure you have all of your coding / Linux / Git / anything computer sciencey questions ready!

Register for the Masterclass here.

To join by phone, please use these details:

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

STOP PRESS! Dave Williams and Ed Rogers will be at CSUN, Anaheim, California, USA between Wednesday 15 and Friday 17 March. As part of the trip, they will be holding a Braillists meeting in the foyer of the Hilton Hotel (just over the way from the Marriott) at 6:00 PM on Wednesday 15 March. If Newsletter readers would like to attend, please email [email protected] so they know how many people to expect!

What will be discussed and tested at the meeting?

• Ed will be bringing the Canute Console from Bristol Braille Technology for people to test and feedback on. We will be asking people to suggest things they would like to see demonstrated on it.
• We will be talking through the direction the Braillists can and should go in next. If you have an idea for a project that embodies “more Braille!”, then likely as not that can be supported by the Braillists.
• Talking about all the latest technology being showcased at CSUN.
• If other braille technology companies besides Bristol Braille Technology would like to attend the meeting, or would like the meeting to test and provide feedback on their braille products, please email [email protected].

How do you attend?

Simply email [email protected] so we know you’re interested in coming! We’ll keep people updated when we have exact times and places.

TAVIP is hosting a free online event, open to all looking at Electronic Braille devices and eBraille.

Electronic Braille devices have come a long way over the last 40 years.

Join Paul Porter and Mike Townsend on the 15th March at 7.30 PM to take a look back at where Braille has come from and where it is going. From reading documents, web pages, spreadsheets and much more to having a library at your fingertips. The future is exciting with the development of multi line and graphic Braille displays.

The session will be interactive and we will welcome contributions from participants. We will look at Braille devices, what they are and what they can offer.

We will look at Braille devices from low cost to fully featured and everything in between.

We will also take a look at eBraille.

Join eBraille: from Paper to Chips: https://zoom.us/j/2222397064

To join by telephone, please use these details:

• Telephone Number: 020 3695 0088
• Meeting ID: 222 239 7064

The topic for the March 9, 2023, Many Faces of BARD program will be BARD on the Braille eReader. The program will begin at 7:00 p.m. eastern time and last for one hour. This program will be recorded.

The session will begin with a discussion of BARD on both models of Braille eReader distributed by NLS. The remainder of the time will be spent answering questions about the presentation or other questions related to BARD usage on any of our devices.

• Join BARD on the Braille eReader: https://loc.zoomgov.com/j/1618927125?pwd=QUxvaG1hRnRQU2E3Y2MxK01zZUpjQT09.
• Meeting ID: 161 892 7125
• Passcode: 570141

If you choose to dial into the call, use the US telephone numbers provided below. The Zoom.gov ID will not work with standard Zoom.us.

• San Jose: +1 669 254 5252
• Spanish Line: +1 646 964 1167
• New York: +1 646 828 7666
• Spanish Line: +1 415 449 4000
• +1 551 285 1373
• San Jose: +1 669 216 1590

One tap mobile (US):

• +16692545252,,1618927125#
• +16469641167,,1618927125#

Remember that the meeting is recorded. Do not speak if you do not wish to be on the recording.

On 8 February 2023, Dave Williams, our Chairman, became the 1892nd recipient of a Points of Light award from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in recognition of his voluntary work with the Braillists Foundation. On accepting the award, he dedicated it to everyone who has volunteered for the Braillists since its inception.

The Prime Minister’s daily Points of Light award is a cross-party programme supported by all MPs which recognises, every weekday, an outstanding individual volunteer, charity leader or community champion for the positive change they are making for their community. The programme is administered by the Government’s volunteering team at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The Prime Minister wrote to Dave to personally thank him for his work. He also received a certificate.

Read the full story on the Poinnts of Light website.

We all extend a huge congratulations to Dave on winning this award.

Hable One is a powerful, fun and exciting way for you to interact with your smartphone or tablet using braille. As well as being a fully functional braille keyboard, supporting both grades 1 and 2, it also serves as a wireless remote control for every aspect of your smartphone or tablet, from moving around the screen to selecting, playing and pausing music, dialling numbers and changing settings.

We are delighted to be partnering with Hable and Sight and Sound Technology Ltd to offer up to 60 braille users in the UK and Ireland the opportunity to try one out for two weeks, and up to 3 people to win one for free!

This is a limited time offer, with signups closing at 9:00 AM on Wednesday 15 March, and candidate selection starting ahead of this on Wednesday 1 March.

For more information and to sign up, visit braillists.org/hable.