Braille Mail
August 2011
Hello all
Welcome to this edition of the Braille Mail, the newsletter produced by the RNZFB's Braille Awareness Consultant, Lisette Wesseling, with news about all things braille. It is available on the Telephone Information Service (TIS) at option 351, by email, or in braille. If you want to change the way you receive it, please contact Lisette whose details are at the end of this newsletter.
Braille Competition for School Students
Apple iPods to be won
Please help us spread the word!
The Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust (BANZAT) is holding an exciting competition for students who read braille in years 1-10. The purpose of the competition is to help students appreciate the practical benefits of braille and increase confidence through public speaking.
Students will be asked to prepare a short speech, which they must deliver in front of a group of people using braille notes. The speech will be recorded on video and sent to the judges along with a copy of their braille notes. For full details, students should see the information which has been sent to all resource centres. Alternatively, you can contact Steve Bellamy on phone: 09 2683214 or email: steve.bellamy@blennz.school.nz
If you know a braille reader in years 1-10, please encourage them to enter. The closing date for entries is Friday 7 October.
Storylines Family Days in Auckland and Wellington
The Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand will be holding its annual family days throughout August. These events allow children and their families to meet New Zealand authors, hear live story tellers, and engage in other literary and craft activities. RNZFB will have a stand at the Auckland and Wellington events this year. Children and their families will be able to read and touch tactile books, as well as engage in braille challenge activities. The Foundation will also be sharing information with teachers and parents about our Education Packs, which include a touch reading component. The Auckland stand will be hosted by Robin Nation, who is a Special Formats Producer at the Foundation. The Wellington stand will be hosted by Aven Pecor, producer of tactile books at the Kelburn Visual Resource Centre, Lisette Wesseling and Lauren Williams from the Foundation. If you're in the area, we'd love to see you, so feel free to come and say hello at either stand.
Story Lines Family Day Wellington: 21 August, 10-3 PM in Capital E on Civic Square.Story Lines Family Day Auckland: Sunday 28 August 10-3 PM in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
For more information on other events around the country please visit www.storylines.org.nz
Accessible Signage Guidelines
Last year, the Foundation published our Accessible Signage Guidelines online. These were endorsed by the Association of Blind Citizens New Zealand (ABCNZ), the Guide Dog Society (NZ) Inc. and BANZAT. For the first time, the signage industry and building owners had some very practical guidance about installing braille and tactile, high contrast print signage.
An illustrated version of the Accessible Signage Guidelines is now in the final stages of design. Several photographs and illustrations have been included to clarify some of the technical aspects of the guidelines. None of the text has been changed, but the added visual elements help to make the guidelines clear and easy to understand by a sighted audience unfamiliar with braille and access issues. The illustrations have been checked with expert RNZFB staff for quality and accuracy. The PDF version will be downloadable for free from the Foundation's website.
Over the next 6 months, a targeted email campaign will alert as many organisations as possible about these guidelines. If you frequently use a building with poor quality signage, or no accessible signage at all, please contact Lisette. We will be happy to contact them on your behalf. Alternatively, you may want to bring up the subject of accessible signage yourself with the building owner. Sometimes, the message is more effective and powerful coming from you, the actual user of the building. Feel free to direct them to our website where they will be able to download an illustrated copy of the guidelines from 29 August.
Braillists' Discussion List
This is an email list for discussions and dissemination of information relating to braille, particularly as used in New Zealand. We encourage anyone who actively uses or works in the field of braille to join this list and participate fully in any discussions. You are also welcome to just observe.
Many of you are already on this list, but if you are not, or if you know anybody else who wishes to join, you are very welcome. If you would like to join, send a blank message to nzbrl-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
You will receive a confirmation message from Yahoo, and you can join the list by just replying to this message. Note that you will be invited to set up a Yahoo account to get the full benefit of the list, but you do not need to do this in order to send and receive emails.
That's all for now. Please feel free to contact Lisette about anything braille at the details below, or leave a voice message on the TIS on option 359. This includes changing the way you receive the Braille Mail. Till next time.
Kind regards
Lisette Wesseling
Braille Awareness Consultant
Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind
Phone 04 380 2139
Email: braille@rnzfb.org.nz
