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World Braille Days 2023

NNELS, CCB, BLC, CELA, PRCVI, and AERO are collaborating to bring a month-long celebration of braille.

Braille Boost for WBD 2023!

Need to get back into the swing of things after the holidays with braille reading, writing, and tactile graphics? How about a little Vitamin B-R-L?! Join us for a month of fun with Braille Boost – a variety of braille-focused pursuits including dot-to-dot fun, word searches, and tactile graphics activities. TSVIs and braille transcribers can download and emboss activities for big World Braille Month fun with their students. Register today! Materials for primary, intermediate/middle, and secondary learners will be available in contracted and uncontracted UEB.

Target Audience: K-12 Students, TSVIs, braille transcribers

Format: Downloadable package of braille – tactile graphic activities

Date/Time/Length: January -- All Month Long!

Materials will be available in English.

The following WBD workshops will be presented on Zoom with automatic captioning.

The ABCs of Braille: Basics for beginners

This workshop has already taken place. Please find the ABCs of Braille: Basics for Beginners webinar recording on Braille Literacy Canada's YouTube Channel.

Learning braille can be intimidating – but it doesn’t have to be. Whether you are an adult learner just beginning this journey, or those who support new braille learners, this welcoming and informative session is for you. Join us for an introduction to basic braille and an overview of commercial and library resources available for new adult braille learners. Learn about available technologies to help get started. And hear insights and strategies from adults who have begun to learn braille later in life because of a later-life onset of a visual disability, as well as those supporting new braille learners. Braille can open a whole new world for readers. It’s never too late to start learning!

Target Audience: All welcome! This session might be particularly useful for you if you are: A person adjusting to vision loss and thinking about learning braille; A family member or friend supporting new adult braille learners; A professional supporting people learning braille; A Reluctant but curious non-braille reader.

Format: Information session + panel

Session is in English.

You can download the presentation slides here:

Living with braille

What is the relevance of braille in our times? How can braille enhance our lives and open doors to new opportunities? Join us for a session exploring the various ways in which braille can make a difference in daily living, work, school and play. You will hear from various pannelists reflecting on the impact braille has played in their careers, education and other aspects of their lives.

Target Audience: All French speakers

Format: Information session + panel

Date/Time/Duration: Wednesday, January 18, 2023. 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (90 minutes)

The session is in French; it will be recorded and made public after the event.

Celebrailliation Time!

A variety night showcasing braille. Join us on Saturday January 21 for a Celebralliation of in honour of World Braille Day. We want to hear from all talented braille enthusiasts. Record for us a story, a song, a spoken word piece, a poem, some jokes, with the theme of braille. You can audio or video record these or send them in BRF or written form to braille@nnels.ca Entries must be no longer than 3 minutes each. We reserve the right to choose which entries can fit into our allotted time. There will be door prizes! Special thanks to our door prize sponsors: Canadian Assistive Technology and Humanware.

Target Audience: Braille enthusiasts

Format: Variety Night

Date/Time/Length: Saturday, January 21, 2023. 1:00 pm Eastern (90 minutes)

Session is predominantly in English, but some entries may be in French. This session will not be recorded.

Let’s Keep in Touch: Productive Allyship for Braille in Post-Secondary

From books to braille signage, extra-curricular, health services, and every part of the post-secondary experience, disability offices, administrators, library staff, professors, and anyone interested in the post-secondary experience can join this World Braille Day event to see how they can be an ally for braille in all aspects of the post-secondary experience.

Target Audience: Centres for Accessible Learning offices, administrators, library staff, professors, and anyone interested in the post-secondary experience. Public library staff may find some cross over topics of relevance.

Format: Information session + Panel

Date/Time/Length: Wednesday, January 25, 2023. 1:00 pm Eastern (90 minutes)

Session is in English; it will be recorded and made available publicly after the event.

 

Braille Literacy Canada logo. Black text on a white background: braille literacy canada curves around an image at the top; littératie braille canada curves around the icon at the bottom. The icon is a black square with a white circle cutting out a black dot
Canadian Assistive Technology logo. Yellow background with red (Canadian) and black (Assistive Technology) text. In the right corner is a black and red letter C that ends with a red maple leaf.
Canadian Council of the Blind logo. Blue text on a white background: Canadian Council of the Blind on the left and Le Consel Canadien Des Aveugles on the right. Two blue outline figures are in the centre with interlocked arms.
CNIB Beyond Print in black text. Left of the text is an open book, the left side is yellow with braille and the right side is white with horizontal lines. Black headphones surround the book.
Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA)  logo. Black text on a white background. A red and burgundy starburst triangle pattern surrounds the 'C' in CELA on the right side of the logo.
Humanware logo. Human is in dark grey text, the word ware and the TM symbol is orange text. Below, in the dark grey, is the text see things. differently. Above the Humanware text is an orange dot and semi-circle.
The NNELS logo. NNELS is written in grey text on a white background. A red hexagon design is beneath NNELS.
The PRCVI logo. This logo contains PRCVI written in blue text, followed by PRCVI written in sim braille.