Newsletter - June 2024

In This Issue

1. President's Message (Daphne Hitchcock, BLC President)
2. A Note From Your ICEB Rep (Jen Goulden)
3. Reminder: Braille Literacy Canada (BLC) will hold its fourth annual virtual braille symposium on Friday, June 14, 2024
4. Announcing the 2024 Edie Mourre Scholarship Winners
5. Braille Literacy Canada Honours Jen Goulden with the 2024 President's Award
6. Braille Bites is back with a second season!
7. Braille Art Corner
8. Celebrating Braille Transcribers on 06-06: Ode to the braille transcribers (Kim Kilpatrick and Daphne Hitchcock)
9. UEB Basics: Mathematical Signs
10. Erratum: UEB Non-Alphabetic Symbols Reference
11. Feature Spotlight: Using the Hable One to Support Braille Learning in Adulthood (Charmaine Ashpole)
12. Social Media Links

President's Message

By Daphne Hitchcock, BLC President

Hello Everyone!

It's June and we have an abundance of braille news for you.

Announcement, announcement!

BLC recently engaged the services of Mariner Innovations to help guide us through the process of developing a Strategic Plan. This is long overdue, and we look forward to sitting down to discuss the past accomplishments and setting future goals/objectives for this organization. BLC is grateful to CNIB for helping to defray the costs associated with the process. Stay tuned for more information from your board.

Coming up soon in June!

We celebrated the work of braille transcribers on 6-6-2024! Six dot champions, who follow exacting standards to provide perfect braille copy. Hooray for our transcribers!

Additionally in June, we are hosting our 4th Annual Braille Symposium: Touch the future - Toucher l'avenir, with a sterling line-up of presenters. Registration for the Symposium is now open. This is a wonderful opportunity to increase your knowledge - what could be better than spending an afternoon learning more about braille? Hope to see you there.

I have just attended the ICEB General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand, celebrating 200 years of braille. It was a great honour to be one of the four delegates representing BLC.

I hope that wherever you are in Canada, you can enjoy these longer and warmer days of spring.

All the best - Daphne Hitchcock, President.

A Note From Your ICEB Rep

By Jen Goulden

The International Council on English Braille (ICEB) held its 8th General Assembly from Saturday, 25 May 2024 to Thursday, 30 May 2024 at The Grand Millennium hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. The theme for the week was "Two Centuries of Braille." Each member country of ICEB sent up to four delegates to the Assembly, and observers were also warmly welcomed. The General Assembly covered the business reports of ICEB, as well as papers and demonstrations on a wide range of braille-related topics. Canada's delegates were Jen Goulden, Natalie Martiniello, Daphne Hitchcock and Riane Lapaire.

ICEB brings together English-speaking countries from around the world and is the body responsible for Unified English Braille (UEB). The General Assembly is held once every four years, with a midterm face-to-face meeting of the ICEB Executive Committee taking place two years into each term.

If you'd like to learn more about braille on the international stage, visit https://www.iceb.org or write to info@blc-lbc.ca.

ICEB produces a quarterly newsletter under the excellent direction of Mary Schnackenberg of New Zealand. This newsletter is jam-packed with all sorts of braille-related events and information from around the world. If you'd like to receive the newsletter, UEB updates and other announcements directly into your inbox, we invite you to subscribe to our one-way announce list by writing to iceb-announce+subscribe@groups.io.

You can also follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter and Mastodon at @ICEBbraille.

Reminder: Braille Literacy Canada (BLC) will hold its fourth annual virtual braille symposium on Friday, June 14, 2024

Braille Literacy Canada (BLC) will hold its fourth annual virtual braille symposium on Friday, June 14, 2024 from 1 - 5 PM EDT (10am-2pm Pacific, 11am-3pm Mountain/Saskatchewan, 12pm-4pm Central, 1pm-5pm Eastern, 2pm-6pm Atlantic, 5pm-9pm UTC).

The schedule of events is as follows:

• 1:00pm EDT: Teaching Braille to Adults: Beyond Just Knowing the Code (Jennifer Ottowitz, CVRT, National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision)
• 1h00: (In French) Qu'en est-il des ressources francophones sur le braille musical au Canada? (Ioana Gandrabur, Jen Goulden)
• 2:00pm EDT: Where are We Now? An Update on the Monarch Dynamic Braille and Tactile Graphics Display (Peter Tucic, HumanWare)
• 3:00 pm EDT: What's the Problem with Pre-Braille? Re-Visiting Early braille literacy (Adam Wilton, Ph..D, Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired)
• 4:00pm EDT: Braille Music - using technology, how do we learn it, how do we find resources? (Jordie Howell, Vision Australia, International Council on English Braille)

Each presentation will be approximately 30 minutes long, followed by a 15 minute question-and-answer period, and then a 15 minute intermission.

IMPORTANT: A separate registration and Zoom link is required if you wish to join the French presentation at 1pm EDT. If you wish to attend the French presentation at 1pm EDT as well as the later English sessions, you will need to register for both workshops, and switch Zoom rooms before the 2pm EDT session begins.

IMPORTANT : Une inscription séparée et un lien Zoom sont nécessaires si vous souhaitez participer à la présentation en français à 13h EDT. Si vous souhaitez assister à la présentation française de 13h EDT ainsi qu'aux sessions anglaises ultérieures, vous devrez vous inscrire aux deux ateliers et changer de salle Zoom avant le début de la session de 14h EDT.

We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsors, Humanware, Beyond Print-CNIB, Canadian Assistive Technology and Crawford Technologies, who through their generous support, are helping to make this event a true success, including by donating incredible door prizes!

For session registration and presenter info, please visit:

• For the English sessions: 2024 Braille Literacy Canada Symposium: Touch The Future
• Pour la session française : Qu'en est-il des ressources francophones sur le braille musical au Canada?

We hope to see you there!

Announcing the 2024 Edie Mourre Scholarship Winners

At our AGM held on Saturday, June 8th, 2024, BLC announced the two recipients of the 2024 Edie Mourre Scholarship award. This award, created in honour of Edie Mourre, a long-time CNIB library employee and braille transcriber, supports outstanding individuals who are training to become braille transcribers, proofreaders, or braille educators.

This year, we are pleased to introduce the two recipients who have been chosen for the Edie Mourre Scholarship:

• Rachael Vance is an educational assistant who is looking forward to pursuing certification in UEB to better support the students in her district.
• Amanda Drake is an Educational Assistant who is wishing to pursue braille certification to support more of the students in her schoolboard.

BLC, as the Canadian Braille Authority, is thrilled to be able to support Rachael and Amanda as they strive towards their braille goals, and we wish them all the best with their future training! We thank all those who are interested in pursuing braille certification to increase access to timely and high quality braille.

Braille Literacy Canada Honours Jen Goulden with the 2024 President's Award

President Daphne Hitchcock, on behalf of the board of Braille Literacy Canada (BLC), presented the 2024 President's Award to Jen Goulden at the Annual General Meeting held on June 8, 2024. Established in 2018 and awarded annually, the award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to braille literacy in Canada.

Jen Goulden is a lifelong braille user who devotes much of her personal and professional energy to braille literacy. She served as President of the Canadian Braille Authority as it transitioned to be called Braille Literacy Canada for a period of five years.

Jen has also served as the Chair on BLC committees including Communications, Braille formats and French braille and she has contributed to many braille initiatives. She has taken the lead on several special projects; overseeing the revisions for the BANA Graphing Calculator Guidelines (from Nemeth to UEB), reviewing the 2024 Accessible Signage Guidelines, presenting at BLC Braille Symposiums and braille promotion workshops, and helping with the braille zoomer group. Additionally, Jen played a role in the Transactional Documents Guidelines and in coordinating the translation of the UEB rulebook into French.

Jen documented the process for Developing Braille Codes for Languages Other than English and recently presented on this topic at the ICEB 8th General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand.

At the international level, Jen has worked with the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) as a representative of BLC and CNIB, and is active member of the BANA Board, currently serving as BANA chair. Jen also serves as Canadian representative for the International Council on English Braille (ICEB). Actively working as ICEB treasurer for eight years, and currently is Vice President of ICEB. Jen continually elevates the voice of the Canadian braille community on an international level.

Jen is an extremely well qualified braille transcriber. With years of experience, she has certification in UEB and UEB Technical. She is qualified to produce French braille and music braille. "If you ask her anything about braille, she always has an answer and if it isn't an immediate response she will be back to you in a flash with the required information. Jen is generous with her time and very willing to share her expertise." states BLC president, Daphne Hitchcock.

BLC is honoured to recognize Jen for her years of dedication to Braille Literacy Canada and for the many contributions she has made on an international level.

Braille Bites is back with a second season!

In the first season, Braille Bites focused on tactile strategies for young learners with visual impairments. In this new season focus has shifted to important tactile skills and strategies young learners will need as they enter preschool or kindergarten. Braille Bites is the result of a collaborative effort between Braille Literacy Canada and the Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired.

Adam, Jen, and Daphne are joined by their friend and colleague Marilyn in Season Two. Together, they present short episodes aimed at families that focus on story boxes, independent living skills, orientation and mobility, recreation and leisure, and more.

Each episode provides a bite-sized preview of an activity that is available as a downloadable recipe card complete with ingredients, instructions, nutritional information (connections to the Expanded Core Curriculum), as well as links to additional resources for more information and inspiration.

Check out Braille Bites on the PRCVI website, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for some tactile learning fun!

Braille Art Corner

Spring has sprung! Here are the instructions for drawing a Flower in a Pot with your Perkins Brailler. Thanks to Edith West for providing this pattern.

Row 1: Space 9 times, braille dots "3-5", braille dots "2-6"

Row 2: Space 8 times, braille dots "4-6", space 2 times, braille dots "1-3"

Row 3: Space 5 times, braille dots "3-5", braille dots "1-4", braille dots "2-6" Space 1 time, braille dots "1-5", braille dots "2-4", Space 1 time, braille dots "3-5", braille dots "1-4", braille dots "2-6"

Row 4: Space 4 times, braille dots "4-6", Space 3 times, braille dots "1-3-5", now make 2 full cells by brailling dots "1-2-3-4-5-6" two times, braille dots "2-4-6", Space 3 times, braille dots "1-3"

Row 5: Space 5 times, braille dots "1-5", braille dots "3-6", braille dots "2-4", Space 1 time, braille dots "2-4", braille dots "1-5", Space 1 time, braille dots "1-5", braille dots "3-6", braille dots "2-4"

Row 6: Space 8 times, braille dots "4-6", Space 2 times, braille dots "1-3"

Row 7: Space 9 times, braille dots "1-5-6", braille dots "2-3-4"

Row 8: Space 9 times, braille dots "4, 5, 6", braille dots "1-2-3"

Row 9: Space 4 times, make 12 full cells by brailling dots "1-2-3-4-5-6" twelve times

Row 10: Space 5 times, make 10 full cells.

Row 11: Space 6 times, make 8 full cells.

Row 12: Space 6 times, make 8 full cells.

Row 13: Make 18 full cells.

You have now created the outline of a blooming plant with 4 circular petals in a flower pot.

Celebrating Braille Transcribers on 06-06: Ode to the braille transcribers

By Kim Kilpatrick and Daphne Hitchcock

Lots of dots,
Lots of dots.
Making books accessible for our tots,
Watch their fingers fly across the brailler
The thought of all that work makes me blanche and go paler.

Lots of dots,
Lots of dots.
In the braille world they are our building blocks.
Menus, signs, bank statements, too
These are just a few of the things they do.

Lots of dots,
Lots of dots.
Transcribing music, math and stories with plots.
Science and history and geography, too
Transcribing books, some old, and some new.

Lots of dots,
Lots of dots.
Transcribing words, ideas, and thoughts.
Braille readers everywhere are so grateful to you.

The transcribers who give us our braille and who
Make it easier for us to study and learn.
It's your day now. It's your turn.

June 6 is to celebrate you and thank you a lot.
For transcribing all those millions of dots.

UEB Basics: Mathematical Signs

You won't need your calculator for learning these math signs! Here is a handy reference for UEB mathematical characters. For more information on UEB math symbols and other UEB symbols go to National Braille Press and download their UEB Brief Symbols List. It is free!

• Plus or addition sign: dot 5, dots 2-3-5
• Minus (when distinguished from hyphen): dot 5, dots 3-6
• Times (multiplication cross): dot 5, dots 2-3-6
• Multiplication dot: dot 5, dots 2-5-6
• Divided by: dot 5, dots 3-4
• Equals: dot 5, dots 2-3-5-6
• Fraction line (within a number): dots 3-4
• Decimal point: dots 2-5-6
• Greater than: dot 4, dots 3-4-5
• Less than: dot 4, dots 1-2-6

For those of you who are into some hard core math, here are some additional mathematical signs.

• Greater than or equal to: dots 4-5-6, dot 4, dots 3-4-5
• Less than or equal to: dots 4-5-6, dot 4, dots 1-2-6
• Plus-or-minus (plus over minus): dots 4-5-6, dots 2-3-5
• Minus-or-plus (minus over plus): dots 4-5-6 dots 3-6
• Subscript indicator: dots 2-6
• Superscript indicator: dots 3-5
• Ratio: dots 2-5
• Proportion: dots 2-5, dots 2-5

Erratum: UEB Non-Alphabetic Symbols Reference

In the March 2024 issue, we included an overview of common UEB non-alphabetic symbols. Unfortunately the link to reference materials for these symbols was missing.

If you are looking for more non-alphabetic symbols and indicators, please refer to the Rules of Unified English Braille (second edition, 2013), which can be downloaded as a PDF or a BRF from https://www.iceb.org/ueb.html.

Feature Spotlight: Using the Hable One to Support Braille Learning in Adulthood

By Charmaine Ashpole

Editor's Note: Charmaine has graciously allowed us to share her story. To learn more about accessing the Hable device in Canada, please visit Purchasing Hable One Bluetooth Braille Keyboard in Canada, Article - Hable (iamhable.com).

I lost most of my sight and a lot of hearing (mercifully, mainly on one side) as a result of sudden illness in 2018, at the age of 45. I realised that Voiceover on my existing iPhone was going to be a game-changer. It was, and I upgraded to iPhone 12 Pro Max, in January 2021. It's a "lifeline." But I never figured out how to type accurately, and was considering going the qwerty keyboard route, as I used to touch-type in my former sighted-life.

I started to learn braille online via UK-based Braillists Foundation in 2022. I still have much to do to improve my Tactile braille reading skills, and fully intend to do this.

I also got to try out the Hable One before I bought it, as part of "The Hable One Challenge," run by UK-based sales agent, Sight and Sound Technology. This was a chance to try out this marvellous life-changing gadget, with other blind and partially-sighted people who wanted to engage via the Whatsapp Group that was set up for the purpose. We all learned from one another, and all had different ways of doing things. Many loved it as an iPhone or Android phone controller, but I was so taken with it as it enabled me to properly get my voice back into text by typing in Grade 1 braille.

So it really is possible to learn braille later in life and use it to type very easily... where there's a will, there's a way!

Social Media Links

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

• Teachers of students with visual impairments fuel a love for reading and writing through #braille. Their dedication is key in empowering students for an independent life filled with literary adventures! See: The Critical Need For Visual Impairment (VI) Teachers
• "Braille and tactile graphics are key to effective learning and are the cornerstone of literacy for blind people." Check out the results of the survey "Braille Display Usage" - livingbraille.eu: https://www.livingbraille.eu/results-of-the-survey-braille-display-usage/
• ICEB publishes page of reference materials on shorthand #braille codes: https://iceb.org/shorthand.html
• Publication Announcement: Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics 2022 Now Available on BANA Website at https://www.brailleauthority.org/guidelines-and-standards-tactile-graphics. The BANA Tactile Graphics Committee has put a tremendous amount of work into this update over the last several years!
• An excellent keynote address at the 8th GA by Jonathan Mosen. #GA2024 Read or listen to it at Safeguarding the legacy, investing the inheritance
• From ICEB: Did you miss our 8th General Assembly, or do you want to listen to one of the presentations again? All of the sessions are now available in audio format. Search for ICEB General Assemblies and Midterms wherever you get your podcasts. See also: https://www.iceb.org/recordings/