Press Release
September 2016
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jennifer Dunnam, Chair
Braille Authority of North America
612-767-5658
chair@brailleauthority.org
The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) will hold its fourth and final UEB Transition Forum October 6, 2016, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. This forum will immediately precede the 148th Annual Meeting of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Delegates from more than 30 agencies and organizations from throughout the braille community have been invited to share successful strategies and ways of supporting each other as they continue to move through the implementation of Unified English Braille (UEB). BANA will report the results of a recent survey of forum delegates regarding experiences they encountered in their transition to UEB. BANA conducted the survey to determine what has gone well, where the challenges lie, and how BANA can provide support.
Delegates to the forum are appointed by each respective agency. Observers are welcome to audit the proceedings. Individuals are asked to notify BANA if they plan to observe.
The BANA Board meets face-to-face semiannually. The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) will host BANA’s fall meeting, which will be held November 3–5 in Atlanta, Georgia. Details about that meeting will be announced in a separate press release.
You can follow the work of BANA by signing up for BANA-Announce, a one-way email list that disseminates news and information. To join this list, send a blank email message to bana-announce-subscribe@brailleauthority.org and follow the directions in the confirmation email that will be sent in response. You can also follow BANA on Facebook and Twitter!
The Board of BANA consists of appointed representatives from seventeen member organizations of braille producers, transcribers, teachers, and consumers.
The mission of the Braille Authority of North America is to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics.
The purpose of BANA is to promote and to facilitate the uses, teaching, and production of braille. Pursuant to this purpose, BANA will promulgate rules, make interpretations, and render opinions pertaining to braille codes and guidelines for the provisions of literary and technical materials and related forms and formats of embossed materials now in existence or to be developed in the future for the use of blind persons in North America. When appropriate, BANA shall accomplish these activities in international collaboration with countries using English braille. In exercising its function and authority, BANA shall consider the effects of its decisions on other existing braille codes and guidelines, forms and formats; ease of production by various methods; and acceptability to readers.