From www.artshub.com.au - October 5, 2023 10:37 PM
Braille offers another accessibility option for readers, but what are the latest news and innovations for the system?
6 Oct 2023

WRITING AND PUBLISHING

‘As well as books, you can have various other materials produced in Braille, such as business cards, menus, newsletters, brochures and certificates.’ Photo: Shutterstock.

How is Braille produced and how are these tiny dots distributed throughout the community? There seems to be renewed interest in this form of communication.

There will be a new series of children’s books, funded by Vision Australia, which will be the first children’s Braille books to be sold in Australian mainstream bookstores and taught in primary schools. The books will feature both Braille and text, and tell the stories of Australians who have low vision or blindness. There have been three published so far – Surfing in the Dark, about record-holding cycling Paralympian and world champion surfer, Matt Formston, Cooking up a Storm, which focuses on Craig Shanahan, who owns and operates a café, and Dressed for Success, which tells the tale of designer Nikki Hind, who has her own fashion label, Blind Grit.

As Vision Australia says, ‘Each book in the series features an Australian role model who champions resilience and encourages inclusion to inspire all children to live the life they choose.’

A little-known service that Vision Australia also provides is its work in the Feelix Library for preschoolers. ‘Braille is stuck over the pages of actual picture books, with a clear vinyl sticker. There’s a tactile version of the story, which is hand crafted and an audio version of the story, which has been recorded in our studios and placed onto a portable audio player that the children can use independently,’ says Victoria Rogers, the coordinator of Feelix, Children and Young Adults Library Services.

Workshop events at the State Library of Victoria: (In)visible Libraries are also scheduled for later this year, seeking to illuminate how language is created for those who are blind or visually impaired. Poetry books in print and Braille will be available and visitors will be able to hear from (In)visible Libraries poets in residence for a daily poetry reading

ArtsHub asks the 125-year-old, Brisbane-based organisation, Braille House, to take us through the process of providing this particular literacy option. It offers transcription services, a library and lessons in touch reading.

What exactly is Braille?

Braille is a tactile mode of communication, a system of raised dots named after Frenchman Louis Braille (4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852). It is not considered a language so much as a code. Though the system remains largely unchanged, Braille House notes that almost two centuries after its invention, there have been innovations including ‘refreshable Braille devices, Braille computer terminals, a RoboBraille email delivery service and Nemeth Braille, a comprehensive system for mathematical and scientific notation’.

As well as books, it’s possible to have various other materials produced in Braille, such as business cards, menus, newsletters, brochures and certificates.

How are books chosen to be transformed into Braille?

Management Coordinator Renee Cohen tells ArtsHub it’s a curated system; not all books suggested are transcribed. ‘We have a book panel that chooses the books. They go through a process and meet monthly to choose books that are of literary merit or have been put to the panel from staff, authors or anybody that would like to have a particular book transcribed. The book panel then discuss and decide.’

‘Generally, publishers or authors do not come to us. The odd self-published author does and they would need to provide the book and the above process would apply. Hopefully, they would also supply a file for transcription if their book is chosen to be transcribed. We sometimes also get grants to produce books that will be transcribed for our library. We have also had people donate books and then pay to have the books transcribed and the books then are gifted to the Braille House library.’

It’s the only Braille library in Queensland that mails books out to the public and the only one in the country that provides monthly Braille editions of magazines like The Australian Women’s Weekly, Australian Reader’s Digest and Australian Geographic.

According to its website, Braille House currently has over 730,000 titles in 80 languages in a range of accessible formats, plus over 8000 music scores in Braille. There are picture books, junior, young adult and adult Braille books, as well as eBraille.

What’s the process for book transcription?

‘The transcription process is lengthy,’ says Cohen. ‘We either need to have the entire book typed or get a file from a publisher. If the entire book needs to be typed, the transcription process could be up to a year. Typed, formatted, SimBraille printed (SimBraille is Braille printed, not embossed, so a sighted person can see it) proofread, corrections completed, embossed, bound and then catalogued. If a file is provided, then the typed step would be removed. However, some files when converting from a PDF don’t come across altogether correctly and need more time to proofread back to the printed book.  

‘Children’s twin-vision books are typed, and Braille label embossed,’ adds Cohen. ‘The Braille label is cut, then is adhered into the book. The costs for an average twin-vision book can be up to $350 to complete. A Braille novel could run into the thousands of dollars. One of the Harry Potter titles is 12 volumes long.’

Advances in technology have also enabled the ability to emboss Braille onto both sides of a page.

Cohen explains that unless they are specifically created for someone else for a fee, all books that are transcribed at the organisation are kept in the Braille House library for borrowing by members. Library membership is free.

Desley has been a borrower at Braille House’s library for 13 years, even before they had a computer system. An avid reader who enjoys all different genres, from a murder mystery to a family drama to a biography, she tells ArtsHub how she loves that Australian writers are represented in her reading. Although she says it would be great if the library mailed out books more than once a week, Desley believes the system works very well.

Can print users learn to read braille?

Courses are offered at Braille House or via correspondence for those who want to learn Braille for themselves or to help those who are vision impaired. This is a particular good service for carers, education aides, and family and friends.

It should be noted, however, that not everyone can learn Braille. As the organisation points out, because it is read with fingers, ‘It requires a level of sensitivity … to distinguish the raised dots. Some illnesses (such as diabetes) or harsh use of hands/fingers in work or leisure pursuits (such as farming or rock climbing) can diminish sensitivity.’

Thuy On is Reviews Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the books editor of The Big issue for 8 years. Her first book, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was published by University of Western Australia Press (UWAP). Her next collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Twitter: @thuy_on