Unified English Braille Update

Issue 4: April 2013

Welcome to the fourthedition of UEB Update from UKAAF (the UK Association for Accessible Formats). In this update we have details of an additional UEB information day, updates on maths and languages,a braille essay competition for you to enter and more…

Information Days

UKAAF has held a number of very successful UEB information days across the country over the past few months and by popular request we will be adding one last date to the programme. RNIB have kindly agreed to host the event in Birminghamon Tuesday 25th June as an additional Braille Network meeting. The day will cover the main changes to the code, the implementation timetable and other related topics. This will be the last of the information days and will cost £40. For more details please email

Technical subjects

UKAAF has set up a sub group looking at technical subjects and UEB. Initially members have been focussing on the requirements for maths, both reference materials and training for teachers. They are currently reviewing a maths course developed by our Australian colleagues.

Uncontracted braille

Just a reminder that implementation of UEB will affect both contracted and uncontracted braille. In fact all the changes noted in the UKAAF document 'UEBSummary' relate to uncontracted braille, apart from section 2 (contractions) and section 9 (grade 1 indicator).

Foreign Languages

UEB is a code for the English Language however its implementation does raise a number of questions around how foreign languages will be treated particularly where English and a foreign language are found in the same book such as text books. If you teach or transcribe foreign languages into braille and would like to give your views by answering a few brief questions on your preferred approach, then UKAAF would like to hear from you. Please email to receive the summary paper.

Load2Learn and UEB

As many of you will no doubt know the excellentLoad2Learn resource is now free. It is a repository of learning resources for pupils who have sight difficulties and the good news is that over half the tactile diagrams are already available, titled and labelled in either contracted or uncontracted UEB.

Other news

This year the European ONKYO essay competition is inviting entries from anyone of any age who has an interest in braille; users, teachers, transcribers or even anyone who wishes they knew braille. There are cash prizes to be won and the UK has been very successful in previous years. The closing date is the 20th May and further details can be found on the RNIBwebsite
UKAAF is a group of committed and passionate people who want to improve the quality of all accessible formats. This year our Annual General Meeting will be held in Birmingham on the 12th June and everyone is very welcome. If you would like more information on this event then please email for further details.

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