Newsletter - January '96

Volume 5: NO. 1

Unified Braille Code Research Project

by Darleen Bogart, Chair

There has been considerable progress on the Unified Braille Code in the last nine months. The purpose of the Unified Braille Code is to amalgamate the current English braille codes, which include Grade 2 braille and the Nemeth code for math and science. Committee II: Extension of the Base Code presented its report to the Project Committee in March 1995. The report was approved for distribution for evaluation according to the plan for the development of a unified braille code for the English language.

Evaluation

The evaluation process has begun in Canada and the United States with the distribution of the Committee II report to all evaluators. It is a lengthy report and requires some study to understand it. The evaluation instrument is being distributed to the Project Committee members for review before it will be finalized by Dr. Emerson Foulke of the International Braille Research Center.

The evaluation instrument will also be sent to representatives in each participating country, for use in their evaluation. The IBRC will assimilate the results of the evaluations from each country into the final evaluation report. Nearly one hundred names have been submitted as potential evaluators from Canada.

In the interim, the other working groups are considering other aspects of unified braille, such as contractions, interface with foreign codes, phonetics and phonemics, chemistry, alignment in mathematics, format guidelines, and transcriber rules.

Features

These are some of the major features:

• Prefix/root symbol construction is unchanged from previous draft.

• Upper numbers confirmed

• Grade one mode when contraction assignments are nullified and used for other purposes.

• Provision for italic, boldface, underline, san serif and transcriber assigned type fonts to be used when needed. The extent is indicated by the second cell: e.g., one letter, one word, two or more words. The type font for two or more words is terminated after the last word affected.

• Unambiguous symbols of enclosures;  new symbols for the brackets (dots 1-2-6 and 3-4-5) with the prefix before each indicating the type of enclosure i.e.', round, square, curly.

• Grade One indicator required for letters a-j when following a number, and for letters standing alone in Grade Two context except a, i and o.

• Superscript and subscript indicators are 3-5 and 2-6 respectively and extend only to the number or letter following. When more than a number or letter is affected, an enclosure sign must be added before and after the grouping.

• Mathematical signs of operation are unambiguous two cell symbols except for the minus sign when it is not distinguished in print from the hyphen. Most are lower signs.

• The fraction line is a single cell (dots 3-4) when used in a simple fraction. This decision was made because of the great use of simple fractions in everyday material e.g. recipes.

• Capital mode is established by triple sign.

• Contractions recommended for deletion: e.g., ble, com, dd, by, into.

• Neutral stance on deletion of final-letter contractions beginning with dots 6, and 5-6, and "to".

• A print space is recognized as a space: i.e., no sequencing.

• When a mathematical expression uses a symbol that is a Grade Two contraction, Grade One mode must be entered at the beginning of the expression and terminated at the end: e.g., superscript: or subscript, fraction (other than simple) radicals.

• Punctuation marks are unchanged from present usage.

• Dots 2-5-6 represent the dot whether a period, decimal point or dot in an ellipsis.

• Print order and spacing is always followed.

International Braille Research Center (IBRC) The IBRC, formerly the Braille Research Center, has moved from Louisville, Kentucky to Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Susan Leclermann from Queen's University has agreed to serve as a member of the IBRC research advisory committee. Dr. Ledermann's specialty as a psychologist has been in haptic perception.

International Council on English Braille (ICEB)

by Darleen Bogart

The second General Assembly was held October 24-26,1995 at Dorton House School for the Blind in Kent, UK. The Canadian delegation included current members of the CBA Board of Directors: Dr. Euclid Herie, Jo Churcher, Fred Poon and Darleen Bogart. We met twice before the assembly to discuss aspects of the Unified Braille Code (UBC). In addition, Jill Cooter participated as the alternate and Lois Brown as the scribe.

There were delegations from Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. The Assembly was hosted by the Royal London Society for the Blind at the modern Dorton House School, about a thirty minute ride on the fast train south of London. We were billeted in a wonderful old manor house (complete with ghosts).

Most of the session time was spent in discussion on the main aspects of the UBC. The nine resolutions that affect ICEB and UBC are listed below.

The elected executive members for 1995-1999 are:

• President, Joan Ledermann, Australia

• Past President, Connie Aucamp, South Africa

• Vice-President, Bill Poole, United Kingdom

• Treasurer, Joe Sullivan, United States

• Secretary, Reinette Popplestone, South Africa

• Members-at-large, Darleen Bogart, Canada; and Isobel Yule, United Kingdom.

The executive accepted the invitation to hold its interim executive meeting in 1997 in South Africa and the General Assembly in 1999 in the United States. I have completed my four year term as Secretary but will continue as Chairman of the UBC Research Project Committee, and am also a member of the by-laws committee.

ICEB'S headquarters are at CNIB in Toronto. The archives are also located at CNIB.

A summarized version of the ICEB General Assembly Resolutions follows:

Be it resolved that this General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille:

• 1. Ratify the terms of the agreement made with the International Braille Research Center, formerly the Braille Research Centre, with regard to procedures for evaluating the Unified Braille Code;

• 2. Strongly recommends that all other committees of the Unified Braille Code Research Project follow the example of Committee II with regard to rules of procedure and mechanisms of communication with a view to achieving the target dates for the completion of their work so as to ensure that the momentum of the project is maintained;

• 3. Instructs the Unified Braille Code Research Project Committee, as a matter of urgency, to produce, on disk, for international distribution a short, non-technical document of about 6,000 words describing and explaining the main features of the Unified Braille Code and giving adequate examples;

• 4. Instructs the Unified Braille Code Research Project Committee to prepare sample braille materials from printed technical texts that will clearly demonstrate the use of the Unified Braille Code in algebra, complex fractions, calculus, and computer notation; each section to be at least ten consecutive print pages in length; such material to be available on disk to participating countries by February 1,1996; and a similar transcription of notation for chemistry to be added when that portion of the code is completed;

• 5. Instructs the Executive Committee to set up a working group to devise and prepare graduated teaching materials in the Unified Braille Code for school-aged children to be made available on disk to all participating countries;

• 6. Instructs the Unified Braille Code Research Project Committee to investigate the simplification of the rules that now govern the use of contractions with regard to pronunciation and word structure to establish consistency in their use;

• 7. Instructs the Executive Committee to make strenuous efforts to involve other countries in which there is a substantial use of English Braille, in the work of ICEB generally and the Unified Braille Code Project in particular;

• 8. Instructs the Executive Committee to appoint a committee to explore 8-dot braille, separate from the UBC Project, and this committee to submit a report to the Executive Committee recommending further action;

• 9. Instructs the By-Laws Committee to give urgent attention to find ways of providing continuity within the Executive Committee.

• 10. This General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille wishes to put on record its warm thanks to the Royal London Society for the Blind for providing such generous hospitality and valuable resources for carrying out the work of this Assembly.

• 11. This General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille wishes to put on record its deep appreciation to the observers for their participation and thoughtful consideration in providing appropriate assistance.

Report of the President

by Euclid J. Herie

With this report to the sixth Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Braille Authority I will have served three years as President. Personal and other commitments have brought me to the reluctant conclusion to request the election of a new President at this Annual General Meeting.

May I take this opportunity to thank the CBA Board of Directors and the membership for your confidence and support during my term. I must especially thank the members of the Executive Committee for their tremendous commitment and continuing contribution. Special appreciation is extended to The Canadian National Institute for the Blind for the contribution of staff time, materials and related expenditures that totalled over $15,000 in the past two years. Thank you also to Reta Irwin for taking on this added responsibility.

My colleague, Mr. Julien Tremblay, Acting Executive Director of Institute Nazareth et Louis-Braille (INLB) has been equally supportive. I wish to thank Julien for his personal interest and the continuing commitment of the INLB to the advancement of French Braille in the Province of Québec and elsewhere.

The detailed reports of the Standing Committees will be self-explanatory but do reflect very significant activity in the past year. Significant financial support from the Canadian Braille Literacy Foundation has enabled the Standing Committees to become far more active on a variety of projects either already under way or newly initiated. As a matter of record, the Foundation has contributed $108,446 for the period 1993-1996.

Your Executive Committee held seven meetings, three by teleconference and four two-day sessions.

I am pleased to report that in response to the mandate given to the Executive Committee two years ago we have now completed the Strategic Plan for The Canadian Braille Authority. A Financial Plan has also been prepared that will serve as an excellent resource in developing the Strategic Plan of action on the initiatives contained within the Strategic Plan. I wish to acknowledge and thank Ms Kathryn Swenson and the Board members for a great deal of thought and hard work in completing this assignment. The text of the Strategic Plan is available to CBA members upon request.

A promotional brochure has been developed and will serve as an information piece and will assist in our membership program.

Several major reports have resulted from the work of our Standing Committees. Information on these reports, including publication and distribution will be provided to our membership and to other interested stakeholders.

The written reports of the Officers, Committees and Working Groups are available and I would urge that you take time to read them, consider the content and share the information with others. This is the best way that we can create real interest in the work of the Canadian Braille Authority, be accountable to our members, and reach out to new prospective members who share our excitement and the vision reflected in this new Strategic Plan.

To conclude, let me quote from my closing remarks from my previous report to you. "It is my belief that we are experiencing a new awakening - a renaissance in respect to braille literacy, not only in Canada, but amongst other countries and international organizations. It is therefore fortunate that we have the well established Canadian Braille Authority to contribute and to shape this new braille renaissance. International research, computers, public awareness, human rights and legislation are having an enormous combined impact that holds unprecedented hope with the promise that in the future - all may read!"

In Support of the Slate and Stylus

by Wendy Edey

I was having lunch with a group of blind professionals, lawyers, professors, and administrators when a most unusual conversation broke out. Someone asked how many pages of notes I had taken from the morning's CBA committee meeting. The answer was seven, and my arm was not tired. I had used a slate and stylus. The next question was: "What kind of paper do you use?"

Actually, I use rejected letterhead, discarded by my former employer because of a printing error. The stylus pierces it with very little effort, and the braille stands up for many readings. Class notes hand-embossed on this paper earned me a Master's degree.

It turned out that almost everyone at the table had been taught to use a slate and stylus on heavy braille paper. After labouring for years, each person had experimented with lighter paper. My letterhead suggestion was well received. Some of my colleagues had found looseleaf was not quite tough enough to hold the dots for more than one or two readings.

It grieves me to hear that blind students are not always taught the slate and stylus. My slate is equivalent to the sighted person's pen. My notes are not beautiful, but they are mine. With their support I have completed favorably with sighted writers as a student and an employee.

I have a talking computer and a Perkins brailler, but I carry in my purse the slate I was given in school thirty years ago. It is not difficult to use a slate and stylus. It is even less difficult if you use paper which is sturdy but light. For most purposes, the effort of embossing braille on standard braille paper is unnecessary.

Promotion of and Access to Braille Committee

by Mel Graham, Chair

Everyone associated with the Canadian Braille Authority will know that our committee's current mandate involves the management of a cross-country network, known informally as the Student Braille Literacy Task Force. As mapped out on Grey Cup day of 1994, we are active at various levels: national, where the committee does the co-ordinating; provincial, where the size of the province warrants a caucus; and within the home communities of task force members, where we give presentations to interested service clubs and educational institutions. A one-page newsletter that our Ottawa-based secretariat circulated among task force members last Spring indicated that much initiative was in evidence within the group,particularly in regard to taking up braille literacy to folks likely to have a decision-making role within local communities in the area of education.

In connection with the project as a whole, the committee has planned for a meeting in January. At that time, we will take on the task of comprehensively reviewing and, where necessary, re-setting our resources to better meet our goals. We are confident that with the benefit of the experience of this past year, we can inject a new spurt of energy into our enterprise. We have had to admit that keeping a group of independent-minded folks both highly motivated and active, in a country the size of Canada, has proven to be more of a challenge in some ways than we had anticipated. I know we can count on the dedication of our task force members to supplement any planning deficiencies on the co-ordination side, to carry the message that braille is the indispensable literacy factor for many future adults who now attend classes as K to 12 students with a visual impairment.

We are taking as much advantage as we can of the provincial elections that have come our way this year. In Manitoba, all candidates who identified themselves as their party's official spokes-persons on disabled people's affairs were forced into dealing with the question of braille as an essential literacy medium during public forums. In Ontario, all candidates who ran for the three principal parties were asked to commit themselves to further work in this area. As luck would have it, the one that placed first showed virtually no interest in meeting with the Ontario caucus of the task force to seek ways to further guarantee that blind and visually-impaired Ontario students will not be short-changed in this vital area.

Finally, it is with regret that I report the death of Mr. Frank Belle of Regina. Frank's job as our man in Saskatchewan passes over to someone with years of devoted service to blind residents of his province and an individual equally enthusiastic about Braille, Mr. Herb Essenberg of Saskatoon. Welcome on board, Herb.

English Braille Standards Committee

by Edie Mourre, Chair

This committee has asked for another extension on the Phase I of Tactile Research Project. We are still working on the final draft of the report and hope to have it ready for executive approval soon.

The committee has reviewed the National Literary Braille Competency Test developed by the Library of Congress. A copy of this test will be forwarded to Jim McClellan's committee as well and the comments and recommendations of both our committees will be forwarded to the executive in January 1996.

The Directory of Braille Producers in Canada is in the final phase of production. It will then be submitted to the executive and hopefully it should be ready for distribution in January 1996.

The committee is in the process of investigating if any standards regarding braille production have been developed anywhere in Canada. Upon receipt of these standards, the committee will be developing a CBA set of standards for braille production (physical) and will be submitting our recommendations to the executive in January 1996.

French Braille Forum

by Gilbert Losier, Chair

In May 1995, in Montreal, about twenty-five people, including braille users, teachers, producers, researchers and managers, gathered to discuss French braille and their future links with the Canadian Braille Authority.

We gave some information on the Authority, talked about the various roles, the needs and the mission.

A recommendation was made that a French Braille Working Committee should be established to analyse and review the mandate, propose an official French Braille Committee, and define the links with the CBA.

We will keep you informed of further developments.

Membership Committee

by Judy Rannard, Chair

The Canadian Braille Authority continues to maintain a membership of a core group of individuals devoted to braille. There are one hundred and seven members across our country at this time. Of these, approximately thirty are currently serving on the Board of Directors or on committees. In addition, there are fifteen corporate members who make significant contributions through their membership.

They are:

• Canadian Council for the Blind

• National Library of Canada

• Services Converto-Braille Cyphihot-Galarneau

• Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille

• CNIB - New Brunswick

• CNIB - Manitoba Division

• CNIB - Nova Scotia - Prince Edward Island

• CNIB - National Office

• Saskatchewan Department of Education, Training and Employment

• Manitoba Department of Education and Training

• New Brunswick Department of Education

• British Columbia Ministry of Education

• W. Ross Macdonald School - Ontario

• APSEA Resource Centre - Atlantic Provinces

• Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired - British Columbia

As well, small group memberships from Braille Communication Inc. and Braille Edition and Transcription Inc., both from New Brunswick, add much valued support.

It is anticipated that the tabling of the Strategic Plan at the Annual General Meeting will reveal a vision as to how the activity of membership recruitment can be more actively engaged.

Braille Teaching and Learning Committee

by Jim McClellan, Chair

The Standing Committee on Braille Teaching and Learning is a newly formed committee, derived from the Standing Committee on the Promotion of Braille Teaching, Learning and Access. In response to the more focused mandate of the new committee, the membership of the committee has been reduced from eight to five members. The members of the committee are:

• Jim McClellan (Chairperson), Coordinator, Special Education Branch, Alberta Education

• Debbie Sitar, Vision Consultant, Manitoba Education and Training

• Claire Babineau , Itinerant Teacher, School District No. 5, New Brunswick

• Brian Hanschel , Vision Consultant, Education Consultants for the Sensory Impaired, Alberta

• Neil Graham , Student, University of Manitoba

The committee was successful in its application to the Canadian Braille Literacy Foundation for funding to conduct Phase II of the Tactile Braille Project. Phase II will compliment Phase I of the project which was conducted by the Committee on English Braille Standards. It is anticipated that Phase II of the project, which focuses on the teaching and learning of tactile representations, will be completed by June 30, 1996.

The survey report, Services to Children and Youth Who Use Braille, remains in draft form. The original survey was conducted in the Fall of 1993 and updated in the Spring of 1995. However, since most of the data is still based on 1993 figures, the report will be updated and forwarded to the CBA executive for decision regarding its disposition and action on the recommendations.

The committee is continuing its work on teaching standards. We have received a copy of the National Literary Braille Competency Test. The test is currently under review by the committee with the intent to provide recommendations as to its suitability for Canadian teaching standards.

The committee is also conducting a preliminary study of current Canadian qualifications for rehabilitation teachers. The results of this study will supplement the information gathered through the Services to Children and Youth Who Use Braille survey.

Braille Technology Committee

by C. Francis Drake, Chair

The Technology Committee continues to work on the projects set forth in the last report. We are continuing to work on the production of braille from electronic formats held by publishers and require a face to face meeting of the committee. However, we have discovered that many materials required for brailling for educational use predate electronic formats.