UKAAF: Unified English Braille Update Issue 6 January 2014
Mandy White
Braille subject Lead
14th January 2014
Welcome to the sixth edition of UEB Update from UKAAF (the UK Association for Accessible Formats), issued at the beginning of each school term. In this update we have information on training courses in UEB, updated braille reading schemes, new reference material in UEB and lots more. Please click on the links that are underlined in each paragraph for further information.
UEB upgrade course
RNIB have had an overwhelming response to the one day course being offered to upgrade from Standard English Braille (SEB) to Unified English Braille (UEB). There are still a few places left. Please visit the RNIB website to check availability in your area.
Technical Course
RNIB will also be running a one day course after Easter for people wanting to learn more about UEB for secondary level maths and science. Booking will open at the end of January and UKAAF will be emailing everyone on the UEB mailing list with further details.
Exam boards
A new version of the exam timetable is now available on the UKAAF website. It includes updated information on the situation in Wales for qualifications (not curriculum tests). Unfortunately we still do not have any information from SQA in Scotland.
RNIB Braille reading schemes and the Braille Primer
RNIB expect the braille reading scheme 'Take Off' and the RNIB primer to be available for purchase from the RNIB shop within the next 6 weeks. Reading Together and the Abi books will be available towards Easter as will the adult reading scheme Fingerprint.
Foreign Languages
The UKAAF coding group has now finalised some guidelines on foreign languages and UEB. A small group of language teachers will be discussing the outstanding issue of the best method for dealing with exams and school text books. If you teach languages to braille users and would be free to join a teleconference on the 30th January (from 1pm to 2pm), then please email ,uk for further details
A new edition of The Rules of Unified English Braille
The long awaited new rulebook for Unified English braille has arrived. It is available for free download via the UKAAF website. However as it is 340 pages long and in 6 volumes of braille, you may want to purchase the hard copy. It is available from the RNIB shop in braille or print for £19.95.
NB if you are enrolled on the RNIB UEB upgrade course you will receive a copy of the 2013 rulebook as part of your course material so do NOT need to purchase a copy from the RNIB shop
Coming soon - UKAAF are pleased to advise that we have worked with ICEB to provide a more navigable PDF of the rulebook. It contains around 2,500 clickable links which allow you to move quickly to sections you wish to access, it will be available on either the ICEB website or via the UKAAF web site.
Summary of changes for uncontracted braille users
We have added a new document to the UKAAF website, for people only using uncontracted braille. The document summarises all the changes made to upgrade SEB to UEB without including the information on contractions, sequencing etc which only apply to contracted braille.
Dolphin Video
UKAAF member, Dolphin computer Access has produced an excellent video on UEB. Just 3 minutes long it summarises the benefits and differences of UEB and how you can you use it.
UEB and Braille software
By the time you read this, Duxbury will likely have produced a new version (11.2) of their Duxbury Braille Translator for Windows. There have been many improvements made overall, especially for mathematical braille using MathType in Word for Windows, the most recent being inclusion of Expanding Integrals. Needless to say UEB has been at the forefront of development and the release will include the latest available rules, etc.
For more information please contact George Bell, UKAAF Board member on either 01604 792777 or .
Get in touch
We'd love to hear your views on UEB and what you want from these email updates. Get in touch with Mandy White, UKAAF Braille Subject Lead by emailing .
Mailing preferences
If you no longer wish to receive our UEB Update, unsubscribe by emailing your request to . If you have been forwarded this email by someone you know and you'd like to join our mailing list for yourself, then please register your details on the UKAAF website
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