Gary ODonoghue – Braillecast

We were delighted to have been joined by Sean Randall for the second in a two-part series. Sean is something of a computing and IT mastermind and now works at New College Worcester, training many of their students in the use of assistive technology including screen readers and braille displays.

This session covered sources of reading material that are more mainstream in nature, including apps or specialist software used to read. These included:

Amazon Kindle
Local libraries
Smaller publishers (e.g. Smashwords

This session was recorded on Tuesday 23 November 2021. For further information please visit the Braillists Foundation Media Page.

00:00 / 49:33

On 4 January, people across the world celebrated World Braille Day. This day, which marks the birthday of Louis Braille, is an important one for blind people and those connected to the blind community, so the Braillists Foundation couldn’t let it pass without recognising it and the significance of braille.

The Foundation hosted a panel discussion, inviting three braille users to speak about their lives with braille. More importantly, perhaps, they also shared their thoughts on how braille may adapt to the changing needs of the blind community in future.

The session also included a short audio presentation sharing the voices and perspectives of braille users from around the world, from the UK all the way to New Zealand.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Braillists Foundation for allowing us to publish this recording, and to the three excellent panellists for giving up their time to be part of the session:

Saima Akhtar, recent graduate in English and Creative Writing from Birmingham City University
Gary O’Donoghue, Washington Correspondent at the British Broadcasting Corporation
Dr Fred Reid, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Warwick

00:00 / 57:42

Leisure Reading with Refreshable Braille, Part 2 (Extra 34)

A Celebration of World Braille Day (Episode 22)