Newsletter - December 2022

In This Issue

1. President's Message (Daphne Hitchcock, BLC President)
2. World Braille Days (WBD) 2023
3. Journées mondiales du braille 2023
4. It's that time of year: Renew your BLC membership!
5. Meet the Board: Shawn Lebrun (Allyant representative)
6. Braille at Christmas (Kim Kilpatrick, BLC Vice-President)
7. Holiday Gift Ideas (Betty Nobel)
8. Brailler Basics: Fending Off Dust Bunnies
9. A Note From Your ICEB Rep (Jen Goulden)
10. Recent Braille Promotions Workshops (Fall 2022) (Kim Kilpatrick, BLC Vice-President)
11. Edie Mourre Scholarship accepting applications until March 31, 2023
12. La bourse d'études Edie Mourre accepte les candidatures jusqu'au 31 mars 2023
13. Funding to assist with the acquisition or production of French-language braille books for children
14. Maintenant disponible : Financement pour aider à l'acquisition ou à la production de livres en braille de langue française pour enfants
15. BANA Holds Fall Meeting In Baltimore (Jen Goulden, BANA Chair)
16. Social Media Links

President's Message

By Daphne Hitchcock, BLC President

Dear BLC Family and Friends,

I feel very privileged to be representing Braille Literacy Canada. These past months as President have been full of lovely surprises and connections with people right across Canada.

Recently we received a heart-warming video acknowledgement from a recipient of a brailler. Excerpt: "So, my heart is pretty full right now, I needed a brailler for work and contacted Braille Literacy Canada. Can I go on your Brailler Bounce list?" (a box is opened, inside is a brailler, it is lifted out of the box) "I have my new brailler, thank you. I cannot do my job without a brailler and you made it happen! Thank you."

Our info mailbox is testament to the work our BLC members are doing to provide programming and resources to the community. Responding to the recent Braille Promotions workshop, Brailler and Braille Device Maintenance, one of the thank you emails said, "This was a great workshop, and I think I can speak for all of us when I say, thank you Rick, for all you have done and everything you continue to do, both as a businessman and as a gentleman."

A response from one of our Braille Zoomers, and recipient of a Braille Zoomer Starter Kit: "I can't wait to get back to our monthly zoom. I miss it. I am so thankful for all you guys do and how hard you work. I have used everything in my box. I love the large print slate and the flash cards. And I finished the short stories book."

Another Zoomer writes: "I am getting so much out of being a part of the Braille Zoomers group. It augments and provides much-needed support as I work my way through the Hadley course."

Does BLC make a difference? Unquestionably, YES, we do.

Highlights of the past months include:

• BLC contributed to the virtual Connecting the Dots conference with a panel presentation on Braille and Tactile Graphics in STEM learning. This workshop was well attended. The recording of the presentation will soon be made available. Stay tuned.
• In November, we welcomed Shawn Lebrun onto our Board, as the representative of Allyant (formerly T-Base Communication). We look forward to getting to know Shawn and you can meet him in our 'Meet the Board' article that follows. We said farewell to Jessica Blouin, as she stepped away from the board to take on other responsibilities. Many thanks to Jessica for her contributions as a BLC Board director.
• The BLC Teaching and Learning Committee, in partnership with PRCVI released another 'batch' of Braille Bites - be sure to check these out as Jen Jesso and Adam Wilton, provide fun and instructive activities to help develop early braille literacy skills for young children with visual impairments.
• Braillers continue to bounce! In the past eight weeks, the Brailler Bounce Initiative sent six refurbished braillers into homes across Canada. And we gratefully received 2 additional brailler donations, which are now lined up for servicing. We have a steady request for braillers.
• Our Braille Zoomer Starter Kit programme is also responding to meet the needs within our braille-reading community. Eight kits are ready to be sent out this month to eight recipients on our waitlist. When funding becomes available we will be ready to distribute additional kits.

During the month of January, we look forward to celebrating World Braille Day (WBD) with some very exciting workshops and events. NNELS, CCB, BLC, CELA, PRCVI and AERO are collaborating to bring this month-long celebration of braille. For details and registration information read on ahead.

There is a lot happening with our little organization! And it is thanks to your support and membership that we continue to grow. It is that time of year when many of us think of making donations. Should you wish to extend your support to BLC, please consider a contribution on our donate webpage or through our BLC Endowment Fund.

Your gifts benefit Canadians who are blind or visually impaired and help BLC to provide resources, programming, training and support for those on a braille journey. Thank you for being a part of BLC.

Whether you live in Moncton, Kamloops, Saskatoon or Gatineau, wherever you are in Canada, we are sending this message to you and yours with holiday greetings from all of us on the BLC Board. We hope that your holiday season is healthy, safe and happy. Best wishes in 2023.

Daphne Hitchcock, President

World Braille Days (WBD) 2023

NNELS, CCB, BLC, CELA, PRCVI, and AERO are collaborating to bring a month-long celebration of braille.

Braille Boost for WBD 2023!

Need to get back into the swing of things after the holidays with braille reading, writing, and tactile graphics? How about a little Vitamin B-R-L?! Join us for a month of fun with Braille Boost - a variety of braille-focused pursuits including dot-to-dot fun, word searches, and tactile graphics activities. TSVIs and braille transcribers can download and emboss activities for big World Braille Month fun with their students. Register today! Materials for primary, intermediate/middle, and secondary learners will be available in contracted and uncontracted UEB.

Target Audience: K-12 Students, TSVIs, braille transcribers

Format: Downloadable package of braille - tactile graphic activities

Date/Time/Length: January -- All Month Long!

Materials will be available in English.

Registration information coming soon.

The following WBD workshops will be presented on Zoom with automatic captioning.

The ABCs of Braille: Basics for beginners

Learning braille can be intimidating - but it doesn't have to be. Whether you are an adult learner just beginning this journey, or those who support new braille learners, this welcoming and informative session is for you. Join us for an introduction to basic braille and an overview of commercial and library resources available for new adult braille learners. Learn about available technologies to help get started. And hear insights and strategies from adults who have begun to learn braille later in life because of a later-life onset of a visual disability, as well as those supporting new braille learners. Braille can open a whole new world for readers. It's never too late to start learning!

Target Audience: All welcome! This session might be particularly useful for you if you are: A person adjusting to vision loss and thinking about learning braille; A family member or friend supporting new adult braille learners; A professional supporting people learning braille; A Reluctant but curious non-braille reader.

Format: Information session + panel

Date/Time/Length: Wednesday, January 11, 2023. 1:00 pm Eastern (90 minutes)

Session is in English; it will be recorded and made available publicly after the event.

Register for the ABCs of Braille now!

Living with braille

What is the relevance of braille in our times? How can braille enhance our lives and open doors to new opportunities? Join us for a session exploring the various ways in which braille can make a difference in daily living, work, school and play. You will hear from various pannelists reflecting on the impact braille has played in their careers, education and other aspects of their lives.

Target Audience: All French speakers

Format: Information session + panel

Date/Time/Duration: Wednesday, January 18, 2023. 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (90 minutes)

The session is in French; it will be recorded and made public after the event.

Register for Living with Braille Now!

Celebrailliation Time!

A variety night showcasing braille. Join us on Saturday January 21 for a Celebralliation of in honour of World Braille Day. We want to hear from all talented braille enthusiasts. Record for us a story, a song, a spoken word piece, a poem, some jokes, with the theme of braille. You can audio or video record these or send them in BRF or written form to braille@nnels.ca Entries must be no longer than 3 minutes each. We reserve the right to choose which entries can fit into our allotted time. There will be door prizes! Special thanks to our door prize sponsors: Canadian Assistive Technology and Humanware.

Target Audience: Braille enthusiasts

Format: Variety Night

Date/Time/Length: Saturday, January 21, 2023. 1:00 pm Eastern (90 minutes)

Session is predominantly in English, but some entries may be in French. This session will not be recorded.

Register for Celebrailliation now!

Let's Keep in Touch: Productive Allyship for Braille in Post-Secondary

From books to braille signage, extra-curricular, health services, and every part of the post-secondary experience, disability offices, administrators, library staff, professors, and anyone interested in the post-secondary experience can join this World Braille Day event to see how they can be an ally for braille in all aspects of the post-secondary experience.

Target Audience: Centres for Accessible Learning offices, administrators, library staff, professors, and anyone interested in the post-secondary experience. Public library staff may find some cross over topics of relevance.

Format: Information session + Panel

Date/Time/Length: Wednesday, January 25, 2023. 1:00 pm Eastern (90 minutes)

Session is in English; it will be recorded and made available publicly after the event.

Register for Let's Keep in Touch now!

Journées mondiales du braille 2023

Le RNSEB, Le CCA, LBC, le CAÉB, le PRCVI et le SOREFS collaborent pour offrir un mois de célébration du braille.

Coup de pouce pour la Journée mondiale du braille 2023!

Vous voulez vous replonger dans la lecture et l'écriture du braille ou faire des activités tactiles après la période des Fêtes? Pourquoi pas participer à des activités vitaminées? Joignez-vous à nous pour un mois de plaisir en vous inscrivant au coup de pouce braille - une série de défis axés sur le braille comme des jeux de points à relier, des recherches par mot et des activités comprenant des graphiques tactiles. Les enseignants d'élèves aveugle et ayant une basse vision, ainsi que les transcripteurs de braille, peuvent télécharger et embosser les activités afin de s'amuser avec leurs élèves lors du Mois du braille. Inscrivez-vous dès aujourd'hui! Le matériel pour les apprenants des cycles primaire, intermédiaire et secondaire sera offert en code braille anglais unifié (UEB) abrégé et intégral.

Public cible : Élèves de la maternelle à la 12e année, enseignants d'élèves aveugles et ayant une basse vision, transcripteurs de braille

Format : Trousse téléchargeable d'activités sur le braille et les graphiques tactiles

Date/Heure/Durée : Pendant tout le mois de janvier!

Le matériel sera offert en anglais.

Renseignements sur l'inscription à venir.

Dans le cadre de la Journée mondiale du braille, les ateliers suivants seront présentés sur Zoom avec le sous-titrage automatique.

L'ABC du braille : Les rudiments pour les débutants

L'apprentissage du braille peut être intimidant - mais il n'a pas besoin de l'être. Que vous soyez un apprenant adulte qui débute ce parcours ou une personne qui appuie un nouvel apprenant du braille, cette présentation ouverte et informative est pour vous. Joignez-vous à nous pour une introduction aux rudiments du braille et un aperçu des ressources commerciales et de bibliothèque offertes aux nouveaux apprenants adultes. Apprenez-en plus sur les technologies offertes pour vous aider à entreprendre votre parcours. Enfin, écoutez des témoignages et apprenez des stratégies d'adultes qui ont débuté l'apprentissage du braille plus tard au cours de leur vie en raison de l'apparition tardive d'un trouble visuel et de personnes qui appuient les nouveaux apprenants. Le braille peut ouvrir un nouveau monde aux lecteurs. Il n'est jamais trop tard pour apprendre!

Public cible : Tous sont les bienvenus! Cette séance pourrait être très utile si vous êtes : une personne qui s'adapte à la perte de vision et qui pense apprendre le braille; un membre de la famille ou un ami qui appuie un nouvel apprenant du braille; un professionnel qui appuie des personnes qui apprennent le braille; une personne réticente, mais curieuse, qui ne lit pas le braille.

Format : Séance d'information + panel

Date/Heure/Durée : Le mercredi 11 janvier 2023. 13 h, heure de l'Est (90 minutes)

La séance se déroulera en anglais; elle sera enregistrée et rendue publique après l'événement.

Inscrivez-vous dès aujourd'hui!

Le braille au quotidien

Quelle est la pertinence du braille aujourd'hui? Comment le braille peut-il améliorer nos vies et nous ouvrir de nouvelles possibilités? Joignez-vous à nous pour explorer les diverses façons dont le braille peut contribuer à la vie quotidienne, au travail, à l'école et aux loisirs. Plusieurs panélistes réfléchiront au rôle que le braille a joué dans leur carrière, leur éducation et d'autres aspects de leur vie.

Public cible : Tous les francophones.

Format : Session d'information + panel

Date/Heure/Durée : Mercredi 18 janvier 2023. 13 h, heure de l'Est (90 minutes)

La séance est en français ; elle sera enregistrée et rendue publique après l'événement.

Inscrivez-vous maintenant !

Sous le signe des célébrations!

Un spectacle de variétés qui présente diverses facettes du braille. Joignez-vous à nous le samedi 21 janvier pour célébrer la Journée mondiale du braille. Nous voulons entendre tous les passionnés de braille talentueux. Enregistrez une histoire, une chanson, du « spoken word », un poème ou des blagues ayant pour thème le braille. Vous pouvez les enregistrer en format audio ou vidéo; vous pouvez également les envoyer en format BRF ou texte à braille@nnels.ca Les numéros ne doivent pas dépasser trois minutes. Nous nous réservons le droit de choisir ceux qui s'inséreront dans le temps alloué. Il y aura des prix de présence! Un merci tout spécial à nos commanditaires : Canadian Assistive Technology et Humanware.

Public cible : Passionnés du Braille

Format : Spectacle de variétés

Date/Heure/Durée : Le samedi 21 janvier 2023. 13 h, heure de l'Est (90 minutes)

La séance se déroulera principalement en anglais, mais certains numéros seront peut-être en français. Elle ne sera pas enregistrée.

Inscrivez-vous dès aujourd'hui!

La collaboration au bout des doigts : Alliance productive pour l'utilisation du braille au palier postsecondaire

Des livres à la signalisation, en passant par les activités parascolaires, les services de santé et tous les autres volets de l'expérience au palier postsecondaire, les employés des bureaux de services aux étudiants en situation de handicap, les administrateurs, le personnel de bibliothèque, les professeurs, ainsi que toute personne intéressée par l'expérience au palier postsecondaire, peuvent se joindre à cette activité pour savoir comment être un allié pour l'utilisation du braille dans tous les aspects de l'expérience postsecondaire.

Public cible : Centres pour l'apprentissage accessible, administrateurs, personnel de bibliothèque, professeurs, ainsi que toute personne intéressée par l'expérience postsecondaire. Les employés des bibliothèques publiques pourront y trouver des sujets connexes pertinents.

Format : Séance d'information + panel

Date/heure/Durée : Le mercredi 25 janvier 2023. 13 h, heure de l'Est (90 minutes)

La séance se déroulera en anglais; elle sera enregistrée et rendue publique après l'événement.

Inscrivez-vous dès aujourd'hui!

It's that time of year: Renew your BLC membership!

Want to join us or are you already a member of BLC? As we approach the end of the year, the time is coming to join or renew your membership for 2023. The new membership year begins on January 1st! The easiest way is to fill out our online membership form.

You can then pay online with PayPal, send an Interac email transfer, or get instructions for sending a cheque.

If you don't wish to become a member but would still like to support the work of BLC we invite you to visit our website and donate online.

If you have any questions about BLC or need any assistance, you can contact us any time at info@blc-lbc.ca. We always love hearing from you!

Here's to another year full of braille!

Meet the Board: Shawn Lebrun (Allyant representative)

1. Who are you? (name, province, and board position; are you a braille user, transcriber, educator, something else?)

Greetings everyone, my name is Shawn Lebrun. I live in Cornwall, Ontario, and I currently sit on the BLC Board. My experience with braille has primarily been as a transcriber for Allyant, an accessibility solutions company. We do all sorts of braille transcription work from bank statements to educational textbooks.

2. When did you start learning braille? Tell us your favourite braille related memory.

I started learning braille in 2016 when I first joined Allyant (then known as T-Base Communications). My initial involvement was with the development of a print-to-braille transcription software, and my appreciation and love for those embossed dots only grew from there. Looking back, I have too many favourite braille related memories to share, but I will settle on the first braille conference I attended in Detroit back in 2018. It was so great to meet so many different braille transcribers and users from Canada as well as from our neighbours to the south; the kindness and humility of the community left a lasting impression on me and only further cemented my opinion that I had found the right career for me.

3. Tell us a bit about what you do for BLC (e.g. committee involvement) and what you like about it? Or about a BLC initiative that you're especially excited about going forward?

I am still new to the BLC so I have not yet had the privilege of getting involved with any of the great committees, but in the future, I would love to see if I can help in any way with the Braille Formats and Braille Promotions committees. I always get particularly excited when it comes to advocating and promoting braille literacy. Otherwise, as a board member, I participate in the monthly meetings for the BLC, where the current agenda and future work of the BLC is discussed and decided upon.

4. Tell us about one gem (e.g. a page or resource) on the BLC website you want members to know about.

One gem on the BLC website I thought I would spotlight is the UEB Listserv. For those who may not know, it is a place for subscribers to post braille questions to be answered by code and formatting experts. As a transcriber, I find it incredibly helpful to have such a great resource on hand whenever tricky transcription questions do arise.

5. What are your thoughts about BLC as you look back on the past? Any BLC accomplishments or braille advancements you would like to especially highlight?

I am deeply humbled by the efforts and talents of the volunteers, members, and everyone else involved in coming together to make the BLC an effective steward of braille literacy in Canada. I consider it an honour to be accepted as a board member on the BLC. Further to that point, a recent BLC accomplishment that really caught my attention was the article released on September 19, 2022, announcing the BLC endorsement of the Mi'kmaw Braille Code. I have always appreciated braille for it empowers people and provides an equal access to information, so it is always great to see the inclusion of other languages and cultures within Canada to the braille community. I think this is important work, and everyone involved should be applauded for their tremendous efforts.

6. What are your thoughts on braille and BLC as you look to the years ahead?

I look towards the future of braille and the BLC with excitement, knowing that bigger and better things will always be on the horizon. I am strong believer that success relies on networks of dedicated and talented people working together to achieve their common goals, and I know the braille community will.

Braille at Christmas

By Kim Kilpatrick, BLC Vice-President

Some of my first braille memories involve reading the tags on all of the gifts under our Christmas tree. I would crawl under there and explore all of the packages and read the braille labels. All packages were labelled. Not just mine. As I grew older, I created all labels in braille and they were stuck on to all gifts.

In this way, I could feel all gifts and I could also hand them out on Christmas morning. This made me feel included and important.

My letters to Santa were written in braille and left out with the milk and cookies. On Christmas morning, both a braille letter for me and a print letter for my brother would be beside the empty plate. I also wrote to the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny and received responses from them too.

I thought this was just normal at the time. Now, I am so grateful that my mom learned braille and included braille in everything around our house.

These Christmas memories of gifts and letters in braille bring back very fond memories for me.

Holiday Gift Ideas

By Betty Nobel

Happy Holidays to everyone. If you are looking for a gift for a braille user in your life, or if you simply want to treat yourself, here are some links for you to check out.

If you would like to purchase tactile greeting cards, calendars, tactile stickers including Christmas trees and stars, or some fun tactile books for kids, go to https://tactilevisiongraphics.com/.

The Braille Superstore has lots of cool stuff. They have keychains, puzzles for small children, braille necklaces, T-shirts, books, cards and card games and so much more! I even found some wind chimes with a braille message "Sing Dance Love". Other items for older children and adults include: - Tactile board games Offers a variety of braille and other tactile games including: Braille Parcheesi, Braille Snakes and Ladders, Braille Monopoly and Braille Scrabble. - Their Braille Card Games offer different types of decks, card organizers, Bingo accessories, and a braille book of popular card games - Their Brain Teasers page offers puzzles to exercise your brain and tactile skills, including braille Sudoku. - If you or a friend or family member are just beginning your braille learning journey, these Braille Flash Cards could be fun.

The CNIB SmartLife store offers Play and Recreation items including some braille card and board games such as Uno.

64 Oz Games offers accessibility kits to adapt the retail versions of many popular games, including Taboo, Settlers of Catan, and other role playing and deep strategy games.

For younger children, consider: - Dimpl Duo: toys for toddlers, with braille and raised tactile shapes as part of the toy. Available from specialty toy stores and Walmart. - Uncle Goose ABC wooden blocks. Available from specialty toy stores and WestCoast Kids, Vancouver. - Braille Lego. Available through contacting https://frontier-cnib.ca/products/lego.php.

If you prefer clothing, you can go to https://ailledesign.com/ or https://twoblindbrothers.com/.

It's pretty amazing how much braille stuff there is out there. So enjoy shopping.

Brailler Basics: Fending Off Dust Bunnies

Do you own a Perkins Brailler or a refreshable braille device? Remember to always use a dust cover when you are not using your brailling device.

If you don't have a dust cover, I'd recommend getting one and keeping it on the brailler when it is not in use. It keeps out the dust that can gum-up the oils inside, and it also keeps unwanted items like paper clips, toys, and bits of debris from falling inside the brailler and jamming the machine.

It is very important to keep your brailler covered when not in use, to keep dust and dirt out of the machine. As dust will combine with the oil to form an abrasive paste (think, hard as cement) which can gum up the internal working of the keys and damage the machine over time.

Perkins brailler dust covers can be purchased or some folks have used a large shower cap to pull over their device. A tea towel draped over, works well too.

A Note From Your ICEB Rep

By Jen Goulden

The following message was sent out to the ICEB-announce listserv early in November:

Following long discussions of the Code Maintenance Committee and the approval of the ICEB Executive, I am pleased to announce that 3 updated sections of the Rules of Unified English Braille (2013) have been posted on the ICEB website, at http://iceb.org/ueb.html

These changes clarify how and when indicators (just the capital at this stage) may occur within a longer word containing a shortform, the need for which followed the approval of DeafBlind (Capital Deaf, capital Blind) in 2020 as an exception. The updated rules mean that this word is no longer an exception but falls within the rules.

The updated sections are 2.6 Standing Alone, 10.9 Shortforms and Appendix 1: Shortforms List.

2.6: Previous additions to these sections are included. Section 2.6.4 has been expanded and reworded and 2.6.5 has been added to clarify standing alone for non-alphabetic symbols such as punctuation.

10.9: New sections 10.9.4 relates to words with an interior capitals indicator or terminator, 10.9.5 clarifying the addition of "s" or "apostrophe s" to shortform words; 10.9.6-10.9.9 give greater clarification with regards to avoiding confusion with shortforms that was previously stated.

Appendix 1: The shortforms list has been reworked, adding rules for specific words where appropriate and removing words which already meet these rules. Longer words are now listed alphabetically under each shortform. The rules for list construction which the Code Maintenance Committee must follow when considering words to be added have been updated to allow for longer words with interior indicators.

In addition to the above updates: a new symbol has been approved for the German sharp s, and German capital sharp s. A new section numbered 4.6 has been approved for addition to the Rulebook.

The updated sections can be downloaded in 3 different formats: .brf (formatted for 30 cells by 25 lines), PDF with Unicode characters for braille examples, PDF with Simbraille characters for braille examples.

There is also a file summarising the Rulebook changes which have occurred since its 2013 publication.

Kathy Riessen
Code Maintenance Officer

To receive these messages directly to your inbbox, we invite you to subscribe to ICEB's one-way announce list by writing to iceb-announce+subscribe@groups.io. You can also follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter at @ICEBbraille.

Recent Braille Promotions Workshops (Fall 2022)

By Kim Kilpatrick, BLC Vice-President

BLC has hosted and collaborated on some very interesting workshops this fall.

First, in October, we held a panel about advocating for braille. This was a fascinating and informative discussion and we sincerely thank our panelists: Rob Sleath, Jen Goulden, and Debbie Gillespie for their passion for advocacy and their wonderful tips and ideas.

In November, we were honoured to host Rick Chant from Chaos Technical services to talk about keeping our braille devices in good working order. Thank you to Rick for your humourous and insightful presentation and for your wonderful support of our community over the past 3 decades. Rick's web site is at https://www.chaostechnicalservices.com.

Also in November, BLC partnered with the Canadian Council of the Blind's Get Together with Technology program to present a workshop on the Hable One braille input device. The podcast about the Hable One can be found by searching for the Canadian Council of the Blind in your podcatcher of choice.

These BLC workshops will also soon be available on our YouTube channel.

Edie Mourre Scholarship accepting applications until March 31, 2023

The 2023 competition for the Edie Mourre Scholarship is now open and will be accepting applications until March 31, 2023.

Are you interested in pursuing a certification in braille transcription? Or maybe you have always wanted to study music braille? Perhaps you have been contemplating pursuing braille studies but the cost has held you back? Your time could be now!

The Edie Mourre Scholarship fund is intended to assist those who are pursuing employment as a braille transcriber or proofreader, or as an educator. Eligible codes include: Unified English Braille, Code braille français uniformisé, music braille, or other braille systems.

More information on the program and an application form (in English and in French) may be found online at https://www.brailleliteracycanada.ca/en/programs/ediemourre.

Good luck, and we invite you to share this announcement with others!

La bourse d'études Edie Mourre accepte les candidatures jusqu'au 31 mars 2023

Le concours 2023 pour la bourse d'études Edie Mourre est désormais ouvert et les candidatures seront acceptées jusqu'au 31 mars 2023.

Vous désirez obtenir un certificat en transcription braille ? Vous souhaitez depuis toujours étudier la notation musicale en braille ? Vous avez peut-être envisagé d'étudier le braille, mais vous n'aviez pas les moyens financiers de le faire ? Voici une bonne nouvelle !

Le fonds de la bourse d'études Edie-Mourre a été mis sur pied pour aider les personnes désireuses de travailler comme transcripteur, correcteur d'épreuves ou professeur de braille. Codes admissibles : Unified English Braille, Code braille français uniformisé, notation musicale en braille autres codes de braille.

De plus amples informations sur le programme et un formulaire de candidature (en anglais et en français) sont joints à cet e-mail, et peuvent également être consultés en ligne à l'adresse suivante : https://www.brailleliteracycanada.ca/fr/programs/ediemourre

Bonne chance, et nous vous invitons à partager cette annonce avec d'autres !

• Du conseil d'administration de la BLC

Funding to assist with the acquisition or production of French-language braille books for children

Thanks to many generous donations, Braille Literacy Canada (BLC) is pleased to facilitate access to French braille and print-braille books for children across Canada. BLC will reimburse applicants for the cost of books purchased for children in contracted or uncontracted French braille. Applications will be reviewed and decisions about the amount of reimbursement provided will be made on a case by case basis, subject to funding availability.

• This program is available to students across Canada, up to and including grade six.
• The student must either be a braille reader, or be in the process of learning braille.
• Priority will be given to Francophone students.

To apply, see the French Braille Book Reimbursement Program for complete details!

Maintenant disponible : Financement pour aider à l'acquisition ou à la production de livres en braille de langue française pour enfants

Grâce à de nombreux dons généreux, Littératie braille Canada (LbC) est heureux de faciliter l'accès aux livres en braille français et en imprimé-braille pour les enfants partout au Canada. BLC remboursera aux demandeurs le coût des livres achetés pour enfants en braille français abrégé ou non abrégé. Les demandes seront examinées et les décisions concernant le montant du remboursement seront prises au cas par cas, selon la disponibilité des fonds.

• Ce programme est offert aux élèves partout au Canada, jusqu'à la sixième année inclusivement.
• L'élève doit être un lecteur de braille ou être en train d'apprendre le braille.
• La priorité sera accordée aux élèves francophones.

Pour faire une demande, voir le Programme de remboursement des livres en braille français pour tous les détails !

BANA Holds Fall Meeting In Baltimore

By Jen Goulden, BANA Chair

The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) board typically meets in person twice a year, in the spring and fall. Each meeting is hosted by one of BANA's member organizations.

After nearly three years we were finally able to meet in person again. The Fall 2022 BANA meetings took place in Baltimore, Maryland, from November 14-16 and were hosted by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB).

In the coming weeks BANA will be putting out a press release with more details on the meetings.

To receive this in your inbox along with other announcements, you can subscribe to our one-way listserv by clicking on the following link: https://www.brailleauthority.org/form/bana-announce. You can also follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter at @BRLAuthority.

Social Media Links

Here are a few of the items we have posted on our social media platforms in recent weeks.

• Dr Robert Englebretson, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Rice University is tackling misconceptions around how students learn to read and write braille. Check out this interview we did with him for an episode of @braillecast: https://braillecast.com/podcast/e025
• We've all been really enjoying the 2022 online advent calendar from the @TactileTimes newspaper, with a fun, braille - themed surprise behind every door. Go here to learn more: https://is.gd/JmoVz0
• Are you gearing up for the holidays? Check out some of our titles, including I Love You Through and Through at Christmas, Too!; The House without a Christmas Tree; Horrible Harry and the Holidaze; A Newberry Christmas. Order now by clicking the link: http://seedlings.org/order.php
• It's hard to believe that a new year is just around the corner! Check out the @TactileGraphics 2023 calendar bundle: https://tactilevisiongraphics.com/product/2023-calendar-bundle/
• Halifax transcriber designs Canada's first ever Indigenous braille code: https://halifax.citynews.ca/helpers/halifax-transcriber-designs-canadas-first-ever-indigenous-braille-code-6096354