What we do
The Australian Braille Authority (ABA) oversees the development and maintenance of braille codes and specifications used in Australia, acts as a braille accreditation body, and promotes braille as the primary literacy medium for people who are blind, deafblind, or have severe vision impairment.
Resources
New pages and information recently added to our website include:
- Braille in Public Spaces – Places in Australia where you can find braille menus, tactile maps, braille street signs, braille in playgrounds or parks, and more
- An up-to-date News page.
- ABA Guidelines for Foreign Language Materials (2019).
- A Resources page, where you can find links to all of the essential references and guidelines recommended for the production and use of braille in Australia.
- Two Honour Rolls paying tribute to Australian and International past leaders in braille.
- Addition of Perkins brailler repairers and music braille producers in the ABA Directory of Braille Services and Products.
Unified English Braille (UEB) is the official braille code for use in Australia. We recommend these resources to assist teachers, parents and transcribers in learning and understanding UEB and its use in Australia:
- The Rules of Unified English Braille – second edition (2013)
- Unified English Braille Australian Training Manual (2016)
- UEB Online and UEB Online accessible training courses
- Guidelines for Technical Material (2014)
- ABA Rules and Guidelines for Formatting Braille (2016)
- DBT Producer’s Manual (2011) with updates for DBT 12.2 and the new English (UEB) – Australian formatting template (2018)
Our structure and objectives
The Australian Braille Authority is a sub-committee of the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities Inc.
The ABA is managed by an Executive Committee and has Regional Braille Forums.
The ABA Executive Committee meets regularly by teleconference and usually once a year in person for detailed consideration of priority issues.
The ABA was established in 1981 and operates with these Objectives. The ABA’s Terms of Reference (zip doc & brf 46kb) were adopted in August 2011 and amended in November 2012. In addition, these Model Operational Guidelines for Regional Braille Forums (zip doc & brf 46kb) were made under Clause 32 of the Australian Braille Authority’s Terms of Reference (adopted August 2011) and were approved by the ABA Executive at its meeting of 10 August 2011.
Annual reports
The ABA holds its general meeting in April or May each year as part of the Round Table Conference. At these meetings, reports are presented by the ABA Chair and each Regional Forum.
- ABA Chairperson’s Report 2022
- ABA Chairperson’s Report 2021 (docx)
- ABA Chairperson’s Report 2019 (doc 534kb)
- ABA Chairperson’s Report 2018 (doc 86kb)
- ABA Chairperson’s Report 2017 (docx 104kb)
Further annual reports, minutes, workshop materials and newsletters can be found in our archives.
More information
For more information about the Australian Braille Authority and related matters, please contact us.
Our website
Thank you for visiting the Australian Braille Authority website.
Please visit again soon as we continue to grow the site and add topics of interest.
Suggestions for improvements are invited so please contact us.
The Australian Braille Authority is a subcommittee of the Round Table on Information Access for People with a Print Disability Inc.