Category Archives: events

SPEVI Conference 2020

The Australian Braille Authority was pleased to present a poster and display of our guidelines at the SPEVI Conference for South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment in Adelaide, January 2020. Our thanks are extended to Kathy Riessen for this work helping to promote ABA and braille.
four posters and many documents relating to ABA, ICEB, BANZAT and braille
The Conference is well attended by specialist vision teachers from Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. There was also representation for accessible format producers, O&M specialists, parents and the University sector. Some of the braille-related highlights of the Conference are described below.

Emily White of Melbourne University delivered an excellent keynote presentation and call for more research on the topic of braille literacy with involvement from expert practitioners. Strategies for encouraging early tactile literacy was presented by Lea Nagel (SVRC), Trish Bishop (BLENNZ), Meredith Pitcher (BLENNZ) and Sonali Marathe (RIDBC); and research on acquisition of braille skills was presented by Frances-Mary d’Andrea (University of Pittsburgh) and Tricia d’Apice (RIDBC).

ABA extends our congratulations to Josie Howse, who was awarded Honorary Life Membership of SPEVI in recognition of her significant contribution to the field of vision impairment in Australia and internationally during the past 41 years.  In bestowing Honorary Life Membership, SPEVI recognises Josie’s passion for education and braille literacy for children who learn by touch.

Vision Australia displayed new products including Code Jumper for accessible coding and Braille Lego, to be distributed to schools next year.

bucket of lego with braille dots and print letters/numbers on top

All conference presentations will be made available on the SPEVI website at www.spevi.net/conference/.

2019 ABA Annual Meeting wrap-up

Meeting participants seated at 2 tables in Braille HouseThe Australian Braille Authority meets annually, preceding the Round Table Conference on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities.

Reports were presented on the work of the Australian Braille Authority, international collaboration and the work of member organisations.  These are summarised in the 2019 ABA Chair’s Report by Jordie Howell.

chart with hiragana, romanji and brailleKathy Riessen announced the release of the ABA Guidelines on Foreign Language Material. These are a series of documents: The first introduces general rules for transcribing foreign language in a UEB context and the remaining documents each provide guidance for a different language. French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin and Japanese have all been covered. The documents can be downloaded for free from our website in print or braille. Our thanks are extended to Kathy Riessen for leading this work and to the many braille transcribers, proofreaders, users and teachers who provided invaluable input.

Nigel Herring of Pentronics raised the issue of import of quality braille paper to Australia. New import restrictions are impractical for the small quantities of braille paper required in Australia, meaning that we now only have access to poor quality paper. Nigel will work with the Australian Braille Authority to submit a request for exemption for braille paper.

This year, the meeting was hosted by Braille House in Annerley, Queensland. After the conclusion of the main proceedings, we were treated to a tour of their facilities, including their children’s area, Moon collection and braille production facilities. Our thanks are extended to Braille House for their hospitality.

Historic handmade braille alphabet wall chart.

2018 Round Table Conference wrap-up

Sam Taylor and Jordie Howell at the ABA meeting 2018

Sam Taylor and Jordie Howell at the ABA meeting 2018

The 2018 Round Table Conference was held at Rydges Sydney Central with the theme “Advances in Information Access – Opportunities, Applications and Technologies”. The Conference was preceded by the ABA Annual Meeting, at which a new Executive was elected. We are pleased to announce the re-appointment of Jordie Howell (Chair), Josie Howse, Kathy Riessen, Leona Holloway and Sam Taylor, and to welcome Tristan Clare as our newest member. Our thanks are extended to outgoing members Christine Simpson and Ross de Vent.

The 2018 ABA Annual Meeting Minutes are now available.

Braille Camp 2018

The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) and their Telelink team held their biggest ever Braille Camp in January 2018. Over 150 members from remote and regional families came together over four days to practice hands-on skills and network with other families.

children enjoying braille camp