Braille and Beer after Sight Village, Tuesday 17 August

For the first time in nearly a decade, Sight Village will be held at its home venue of Queen Alexandra College, Court Oak Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9TG. It will be open 9:00 AM-5:00 PM on Tuesday 17 August and 9:00 AM-3:30 PM on Wednesday 18 August, and pre-registration is essential.

A wealth of braille products will be exhibited over the two days from suppliers including RNIB, Sight and Sound Technology, HumanWare and, of course, Bristol Braille Technology.

Sadly, there is a limited number of exhibitors this year due to COVID-19, and the Braillists won’t have a presence at the exhibition itself. However, a few of us will be meeting for one of our “Braille and Beer” events after the first day, and you’d be very welcome to join us.

We’ll be meeting at The Old House at Home, 193, Lordswood Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 8QP. The pub is 700 yards from the College, with a bus stop just outside.

We hope to be able to demonstrate a small selection of braille products during the evening including the Canute and Orbit Reader. If you have a braille product that you’d like to show to other braille enthusiasts, please bring it along!

We will also be bringing A4 braille frames, styluses and 8-cell word forming blocks to give away to anyone who wants one, and offering free 1:1 training on the use of this equipment to anyone who needs it. If you have already obtained your equipment by post, but need help using it, this is an ideal opportunity for you to receive it.

The gathering will be very informal and there are no set start or end times, but you can expect a flurry of activity at about 6:00 PM, once people have packed down after Sight Village.

This event is being supported by Bristol Braille Technology CIC. If you would like to meet up at QAC and walk over to the pub in a group, or you have other enquiries on the day, please find Ed or Steph on the BBT stand or call 020 3893 3392.