Braillecast

For many in the blind community, Dean Martineau will be a household name. Prolific in the technology sphere, he’s perhaps best known for his Top Tech Tidbits newsletter, which has been published every Thursday for over ten years. In the past, he was also the voice behind the Sound Computing audio magazine, and delivered bespoke technology training under the brand of Top Dot Enterprises. Towa...

This episode features the last of the content that we recorded at the recent Sight Village South East exhibition. Namely, a seminar from the Braillists Foundation entitled "Making the Case for Braille in the 21st Century", the notes from which are included below. We also present a comprehensive demonstration of the Braille Screen Input feature on iOS. Chapter markers have been inserted throughout...

This episode features a couple of interviews that we recorded at the recent Sight Village South East exhibition. We also hear one person’s perspective on the ElBraille . Jenny Axler, Technical Support Manager at Hims and Stuart Lawler, Manager of Sight & Sound Ireland, join us to discuss the BrailleSense Polaris and Polaris Mini, QBraille XL, and the fifth generation Focus line of braill...

4 January is Louis Braille's birthday (he would have been 211 this year if he was still alive). It's no coincidence, then, that, since 2019, the United Nations has formally celebrated this date as "World Braille Day" , an international day of observance "... to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partial...

We hear from Kristina Salceanu, founder of Advent Of Change about their braille advent calendar . It's available for £29.95 online via both Advent of Change and John Lewis and it's also available at John Lewis's Oxford Street store.

We’re back! And we start our new series with an overview of the braille landscape, including: Royal Blind’s resources for National Braille Week (7 to 13 October 2019) The seventh General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille , 11 to 15 May 2020 at the Google Academy in central London, in particular the call for papers. Braille On Display updated for 2020 Lego Braille...

In this episode, we talk with Holly Scott-Gardner about studying Spanish, living abroad and the impact of braille on these pursuits. we also discuss: RNIB released the Orbit Reader 20 in the UK (product code HT358) on 8 August for £449, or £399 for Connect members. AFB Accessworld Review of the Brailliant BI-14: HumanWare’s Latest Step Toward Smart Braille Displays Apple iOS 12 introduces qu...

Where do new Braille signs come from? Who decides? Do we need a new Braille file format? We hear from James Bowden, a highly regarded Braille Specialist with RNIB . James is a member of the UK Association for Accessible Formats (UKAAF) and represents the UK on the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) , which met at ChildVision , the National Education Centre for Blind Children in Irelan...

California State University of Northridge held their 33rd International Conference on Technology and Disability in San Diego this March. Braillecast made a whistle stop tour of the exhibit hall to discover what new braille and tactile reading products could be making waves in 2018. We'll hear about the tactile graphics Display that enabled blind students to touch a total solar eclipse , we learn a...

In this episode we hear from Scott Davert from the US. Scott is a braille advocate and deafblind specialist and sits on the Disability Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission. As well as this, he actively promotes braille in the Applevis community, and has recently written a series of braille display reviews which have been published by Accessworld from the American Foundation...

Paul Sullivan of the Bristol Braillists speaks with Alan Thorpe from EYECAN about manual braille writing equipment. Alan shares tips on caring for your Perkins Brailler and how the design has endured for over half a century. We also discover other historic Braille Writing machines including Pike Glouser, a British machine from the first half of the 20th century. EyeCan http://www.eyecan.org.uk/ Hi...

In this episode, we have a detailed chat about the Orbit Reader 20, the long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated low-cost Braille electronic reading device. In Braille News: a variety of discounts and pricing information due to site village: Sight and Sound Technology have announced discounted pricing for VFO products for the duration of the exhibition season. Humanware have set the UK price for the B...

Dave Williams and guests catch up with all the latest news from last month's UKAAF AGM, explore issues facing blind students needing Braille in higher education, and we debate the value of the survey from the International Council on English Braille . In Braille News CNIB has begun shipping the Orbit Reader . APH and RNIB are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks. Another affordable Braille...

This is Episode2 of Braillecast. Thank you for listening! Our host Dave Williams discusses the BrailleNote Touch, interviewing several teaching assistants at schools in the UK where the Touch is used. He talks to Greg Stilson from Humanware about the product. In Braille News As of the Windows 10 Creators Update, Braille support is now built directly into Microsoft Windows. See using Narrator with...

This is Episode 1 of Braillecast, a Podcast produced by and for Braillists everywhere. Our host Dave Williams interviews Megan Paul. Megan’s essay, “The Bumpy Road” , won the Junior category of the 2016 Onkyo Braille essay competition. In this chat over a cup of tea, Dave talks to her about the essay and her views on Braille more widely. In Braille news: The world premiere of a m...