Unified English Braille Update Issue 17 September2017
Mandy White
Braille subject Lead
Welcome to the seventeenth edition of UEB Update, issued at the beginning of each school term. In this update we have a focus on maths – a new UEB maths course, guidelines on improving maths transcription and new maths resources from Ireland and Scotland along with lots of other interesting items. Please click on the links that are underlined in each paragraph for further information on the topics covered.
New UEB resources
Abi complete course
The RNIB practice reading course of 40 different stories covering the adventures of Abi, a young blind girl are now all available in UEB and can be purchased in a single pack for £115
RNIB maths certificate course (UEB)
This distance learning course is designed for sighted learners who have completed the RNIB Certificate in contracted Unified English Braille and want to learn how to braille basic maths. It is 5 months of self-study and starts in October
Feeling Ready to Read
A quick reminder that Feeling Ready to Read, the pack of tactile graphic materials designed to develop pre-braille skills is nowavailable on Bookshare. For anyone unable to produce the diagrams, RNIB can do this at a cost per sheet. Unfortunately there are no plans to make this available in hard copy due to its complexity.
Making it easier to transcribe Maths
UKAAF has recently added a really useful document to its website giving comprehensive guidance on how to correctly create mathematical symbols in word so that braille software produces accurate mathematical braille. No more using of the letter x to represent multiply and dashes to represent subtract! The official title of the document is Generating Mathematical symbols using Math Autocorrect or Unicode
International UEB resources
Ireland produces new UEB maths guide
The Irish National Braille and Alternative Formats Association (INBAF) have recently published the “Irish UEB Technical Guidelines for Primary and Secondary Level”. This is a guide to UEB maths signs as they appear in the curriculum and includes references to the ICEB publications; The Rules of Unified English Braille and Guidelines to Technical Material
North American checklists for teachers
One of the recommendations of The ABC braille study was to monitor the introduction of contractions so that children aren’t overwhelmed with new vocabulary. To this end there are several checklists that teachers use to help keep track of student progress. One is entitled ‘Assessment of Braille Literacy Skills’ and has recently been updated for UEB. There are also a couple of teacher-made checklists (and a lot of other UEB resources) that can be downloaded for free from the Braille Authority of North America (BANA)website
International Council on English Braille (ICEB)
ICEB has recently completed a survey on possible changes to the representation of apostrophes and quotation marks in UEB. The results are noted on the ICEB website.
The code maintenance committee has also agreed a new UEB symbol for the mathematical sign – triple vertical bar
More braille news
Free on line courses and booklets in adapting maths and science
Royal Blind in Scotland have recently added two new on line courses to their learning hub which cover adaptations for the teaching of maths and science to blind and partially sighted pupils. They include additional photographic exemplification and quizzes to test understanding. There are two related booklets which are also available for free download
Podcast Connects the Dots for the Braille Community
How did a student win £1,000 using Braille? What do QTVIs really think of the latest BrailleNote at school? Is the Orbit Reader low cost Braille display really worth waiting for? These questions and more are answered in the first few episodes of BrailleCast – a new, regular podcast celebrating the value of Braille. For more information and to listen, visit follow @BrailleCast on Twitter, or search for BrailleCast on iTunes or your favourite podcast directory.
Braille themed creative writing competition – winners yet again!
Continuing a fine and winning tradition, James Scholes from the UK has been awarded the fine works prize, junior section in the ONKYO essay competition. He wins $500 for his essay entitled Rural Dots about the struggles of a teacher in Mexico to learn braille as a youngster. To read James’s essay and the other entries from the UK finalists head to the RNIB website
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
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