What is computer braille? Are there different flavours? What are all the signs? Why would you want to use it? Is it still relevant now that we have UEB? The latest occasional Masterclass from RNIB’s braille expert James Bowden answered all of these questions and more. This session was recorded on Tuesday 21 September 2021. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

BrailleCast

An Introduction to Computer Braille (Extra 32)

Dave Williams, Chairman of the Braillists, explored how to use braille displays with various combinations of screen reader and web browser, unpicked some of the jargon that appears on the display, and explained how to navigate without a QWERTY keyboard or touch screen. This session was recorded on Tuesday 7 September 2021. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

Using Braille on the Internet (Extra 31)

How many listeners remember Talks? The popular screen reader for Series 60 and other phones running the Symbian operating system. It first came to the market in the early 2000s, and perhaps its most well-known proponent in the UK was Steve Nutt, the man behind Computer Room Services. His expertise when it comes to mobile phones is unparalleled and, unphased by the slow demise of Symbian, he's now just as well-known for his knowledge of Android. There's more to Steve than phones though. His company offers assistive technology training and consultancy; braille transcription; and sells a wide range of products including digital audio recorders, talking gadgets, talking book machines, speech synthesizers and other assistive software and, most notably for this podcast, an assortment of braille products. In addition to flagship displays from VisioBraille and Esys, he also sells the full range of leather cases from Executive Products, including a case for the popular Orbit Reader 20. Call Computer Room Services: 01438 742286 Also In This Episode Sight Village Birmingham: Queen Alexandra College, Court Oak Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9TG Braille and Beer: The Old House at Home, 193, Lordswood Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 8QP Focus 14 Blue 5th gen and Focus 40 Blue 5th gen special offer: call 01604 798070 or order online Vision Through Sound CIC 

Braille Displays and Other Products from Computer Room Services (Episode 30)

Most of us know about grade 2, of course, with its 180 contractions designed to make braille quicker to read and write and occupy less space. Grade 3 extends this concept still further with over 300 additional contractions, rules to allow vowells to be omitted, and provisions for reducing spaces and new lines. Whilst it’s not an officially recognised code, it has a loyal following amongst long-time braillists, who have used it very successfully to take shorthand notes or transcribe passages of text for reading aloud. It’s especially useful in conjunction with a hand frame or slate and stylus. James Bowden led a session exploring this code in more detail on Tuesday 20 July. Whilst he wasn’t able to cover all of the 300+ contractions in an hour, he did explain the concepts used to form them, introduce some of the most useful ones and the rules which govern their use, and signposted to resources with more information. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page. 

An Introduction to Grade 3 (Extra 30)

“Most of us who know braille were taught it.” It sounds like such an obvious statement – so obvious, in fact, that it seems appropriate to conclude that the world has an abundance of braille teachers, and the methods and techniques that they use are mature, uniform and understood by everyone working in the field. Presumably, approaches that work well have been iterated over time, those that haven’t worked so well have been abandoned, and the entire process has been well-documented so that future teachers can learn from the mistakes of the past. The reality is less clearly defined, although certain concepts which have withstood the test of time especially well have become accepted as common knowledge. Pre-braille skills, for instance, feature regularly in discussions about teaching braille, as do the differences between learning braille by touch and by sight and teaching braille to children and adults. On Tuesday 29 June 2021, we explored this topic in more detail in a live panel discussion with three braille teachers: Kirsten Roberts is a life-long braille user, a Qualified Teacher of the Visually Impaired (QTVI), and Deputy Braille Tutor for the Mandatory Qualification for Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairments offered at the University of Birmingham. In addition to her university work, she regularly teaches braille to both primary and secondary-aged children. Christine Williams recently retired from Exhall Grange Specialist School and Science College in Coventry, where she held the post of Lead Teacher of the Visually Impaired. In that capacity, she taught braille not only to the pupils at Exhall Grange, but also peripatetically to pupils of all ages in mainstream schools throughout Warwickshire (via the Vision Support Service). Prior to this, she taught French at Exhall Grange for a number of years, where braille also played a significant role. In her retirement, she teaches braille voluntarily at Coventry Resource Centre for the Blind, predominantly to adults who are losing or in danger of losing their sight. Melanie Pritchard has an extensive background in teaching braille to adults, either with visual impairments themselves or who are sighted friends or relatives of people with a visual impairment. Most recently, she taught the Braille For Beginners course remotely for the Braillists Foundation. Resources Mentioned in this Episode I-M-ABLE: Individualized Meaning-Centered Approach to Braille Literacy Education, by Diane P. Wormsley, Ph.D published by the American Printing House for the Blind The Abi Books: Adventures of a Young Blind Girl, available from the Royal National Institue of Blind People (ABI-BOOKS): full set (formerly TC21432, £115.00), books 1-20 (formerly TC21429, £40.00), books 21-30 (formerly TC21430, £40.00) and books 31-40 (formerly TC21431, £50.00) + Teacher’s Handbook (ABI-TEACHER) available for £15.00 in print (formerly TC21433) and braille (formerly TC21434). Fingerprint: distance learning course for touch readers, available from RNIB: course books (TC21439, £39.00) + instructions (TC21439-INST) available for £15.00 on audio CD (formerly TC21439CD), multi-media CD (formerly TC21439M) and in print (formerly TC21439P) and grade 2 braille (formerly TC21439B) + Reference Book (volume 10), available in braille (TC21440, £5.00). BrailleNote Touch Plus (18-cell and 32-cell), available from HumanWare The Duxbury Braille Translator from Duxbury Systems The Braille Primer: a comprehensive guide to contracted braille for people wishing to learn to write braille or who want to become transcribers, available from RNIB for £9.90 (TC21423) in print (formerly TC21423P), large print 18pt (formerly TC21423LP) and grade 2 braille (formerly TC21423B). A Braille Reader in the Family (booklet and sheet formats) and Crack the Code (booklet and sheet formats) from the ClearVision Project UEB Online from the Renwick Centre of The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children The Orbit Reader family from Orbit Research The professional association for the vision impairment education workforce (VIEW) Catch These Words, website of Holly Scott-Gardner Using a Range of Braille Technologies to Access Adult Life, a paper presented at the seventh General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille by Kirsten Roberts: Video presentation on Youtube, Word version or BRF version 

Everything you Ever Wanted to Know about Teaching Braille but were Too Scared to Ask (Episode 29)

In Using Braille on Windows, we introduced you to the basics of making a braille display work with various screen readers. In this session, we took this to the next level in the first of an occasional series of Masterclasses looking at the braille settings of a particular screen reader. This time it was JAWS. ... Read more

JAWS and Braille: A Closer Look (Extra 29)

After a recap of octave signs and intervals, this session covered: Word signs Ties and slurs Phrase marks You can follow Stuart on Twittre (@stuartlawler)

Braille Music: Let’s Tackle the Basics, Session 3 (Extra 28)

We’re almost exactly a month away from the opening night of the BBC Proms, the world famous summer season of concerts of classical music founded in 1895. Since their infancy, they’ve championed the composition and performance of new works of music through various channels including, latterly, the BBC Young Composer competition. In 2018, one of ... Read more

Xia Leon Sloane on Studying Composition and a Commission for the BBC Proms (Episode 28)

Over the years, blind people have benefitted from incredible enhancements in the fields of electronic braille and accessibility in general. In fact, it’s now possible to purchase a fully accessible Amazon Fire tablet for under £50 which, pared with an inexpensive braille display such as an Orbit Reader, and Amazons Kindle store which offers access ... Read more

The Most Inexpensive Braille Reading Setup in the World? Introducing Braille on the Amazon Fire Tablet (Extra 27)

Parents reading with their children: it’s an experience common to many households in virtually every country of the world. It’s a uniquely special experience for both the parent and the child, remembered for years to come, and often relived as children become parents themselves, and parents become grandparents. For many blind people in the UK, ... Read more

The Clearvision Project and the Typhlo and Tactus International Tactile Book Competition (Episode 27)

This week’s Masterclass has a more low tech flavour as we take a wander into the heart of the household. If you’ve ever wondered how to read braille recipes without ruining them or what to do when the label is too big for the jar, this session is for you. Emma Williams led the session ... Read more

Braille in the Kitchen (Extra 26)

In this session, we covered: Rests: quaver, crotchet, minim, semibreve and dotted versions of the above Clef signs: treble (G) and bass (F) Octave signs and their use Interval signs and their use A mid-month clinic will take place on Monday 14 June at 8:00 PM in the UK and Ireland. The next teaching session ... Read more

Braille Music: Let’s Tackle the Basics, Session 2 (Extra 25)

If you’re a blind Android user, you’re bound to have come across Steve Nutt at Computer Room Services. He’s blind himself, been in the accessible smartphone business for over 20 years, and has a vast amount of knowledge and experience when it comes to using smartphones with braille displays. We’re delighted that he joined us ... Read more

An Introduction to Braille on Android (Extra 24)

You don’t have to have been in the blindness community very long to have come across HumanWare and their two flagship brands: Victor Reader and BrailleNote. Indeed, on the second episode of this podcast, we talked extensively about the BrailleNote Touch, which has since been succeeded by the BrailleNote Touch Plus. BrailleNote is not the ... Read more

New Braille Displays and Firmware Updates from HumanWare (Episode 26)

We’re starting to hear more and more about BRF files. They’re the default braille format on platforms such as RNIB Reading Services; they’re regularly used in the transcription industry to share braille versions of documents between producers; and notetaker users have used them to transfer files from one brand of braille device to another. But ... Read more

What is a BRF and Why would you Want one? (Extra 23)

Braille represents competency, independence, and equality for blind people around the world.

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