February 2025

Braille Authority of North America Board Meeting 

Monday, February 24, 2025, 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time

1. Call to Order: Jen Goulden

Jen called the meeting to order at 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time.

2. Roll Call: Amber Pearcy

  • Jen Goulden, CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind), Chair
  • Wendy Buckley, Perkins School for the Blind, Vice Chair
  • Amber Pearcy, National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress (NLS), Secretary
  • Marie Zaldivar, Alternate Text Production Center (ATPC)
  • Judy Dixon, American Council of the Blind (ACB)
  • Frances Mary (FM) D'Andrea, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
  • Kyle DeJute, American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
  • Mary Nelle McLennan (MN), Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)
  • Tracy Gaines, California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI)
  • Hollie Knight, Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI)
  • Tina Seger, Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
  • Diane Spence, National Braille Association (NBA
  • Jennifer Dunnam, National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
  • Georgie Sydnor, National Braille Press (NBP)
  • Susan (Sue) Reilly, Administrative Assistant
  • Aquinas Pather, associate member Allyant
  • Holly Bullock, associate member Crawford Technologies

Observer:

  • Callie Brusegaard, U.S. Representative to ICEB

Not attending:

  • Danette Johnson, Hadley, Treasurer

  • Emily Coleman, Associate Member Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB)

3Approval of Minutes from Last meeting: Amber Pearcy

Amber reported that after sending the draft of the January 27 meeting minutes to the board, she did not receive any requests for changes or edits to the document.

MSC: Amber moved to approve the minutes from the January 27, 2025 meeting. Tracy seconded. Motion carried. 

4. Production Updates from APH: Kyle DeJute

Kyle reported that the Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics, 2022, will be for sale by September at the latest. It is possible that Chemical Notation Using the Nemeth Code, 2023 will be for sale in March. There are no updates on the production of the hard copies of The Rules of Unified English Braille, 2023, or Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, 2022.  

Jenifer reported that she does not have an update on the Nemeth Committee’s progress in fixing the BRF files of the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, 2022 .

5. Spring 2025 Meeting: Mary Nelle McLennan 

Mary Nelle will send the board information for booking the hotel, as well as other helpful information in preparation for the spring 2025 meeting. The meeting will be held at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.  

6. ICEB Update: Callie Brusegaard

Callie reported that there was excellent turn-out for the ICEB town hall discussing the updates to the UEB Rulebook. 

The Code Maintenance Committee is discussing options for a strike-through sign, which was suggested by BANA’s General Committee on Unified English Braille.

The UEB Rulebook will be translated into multiple non-English languages.

ICEB has been asked for permission to translate the UEB rulebook into several languages other than English by braille authorities in several countries; Callie reported that ICEB has granted these permissions. 

The ICEB Technical Committee will meet this week to discuss eBraille, braille display repair, and some of the resolutions from the General Assembly in New Zealand. Observers are welcome.

7. Standardized Tests: Kyle DeJute/Frances Mary D’Andrea

Kyle reported that the Standardized Tests Committee is working through the creation of a section in the standardized test guidelines on transcriber-generated material. The committee is sharing certain information related to this section with the Braille Formats committee, as information in this section will apply to the updates occurring in the braille formats guidelines. Furthermore, the Braille Formats committee is willing to share any pertinent information regarding their updates with the standardized tests committee. 

8. GCUEB: Wendy Buckley

Wendy reported that the GCUEB is also sharing information with the Braille Formats committee. The committee is working on a document to revise the terminology used to describe UEB Math/Science and UEB with Nemeth.

MSC: Wendy moved to Charge the General Committee on Unified English Braille to review the position statement terminology UEB Math/Science and UEB with Nemeth for potential revisions. FM seconded. Motion carried.

Kyle commented that this document will inform the direction of the Standardized Tests Committee in their documentation of possible codes for transcription. 

9. Braille Signage: Jen Goulden

Kim Charlson is willing to continue serving as chair of the committee. She feels that this make sense because she is the person answering the majority of the questions submitted. Kim also believes that some of the charges for this committee need to be either revised or discarded because they fall outside of the scope of the committee; she will submit an updated report for the spring meeting. 

Debbie Gillespie is happy to remain on the committee as a consultant to answer questions related to braille signage in Canada, but she does not wish to remain a co-chair.

A question was raised about the feasibility of compiling answers to some of the most commonly asked braille signage questions for the BANA website, and there was agreement that such a compilation of material could be helpful, particularly if it is placed in a more prominent location on the website.

10. Braille Formats: Hollie Knight

Cindi Laurent has asked if larger changes in the Braille Formats Guidelines, such as changes in the transcription of blocked paragraphs, could be presented for pre-approval by the board before a change is made which will impact a large portion of the document. The board would want ample time to review the proposed changes. This process will also benefit the Standardized Tests Committee. It was requested that samples and justifications/explanations be submitted with the report at the spring meeting. Furthermore, the impact of the changes should be provided to the board.

MSC: Jennifer moved to charge the Braille Formats Technical Committee to prepare a document listing items for which they would like preapproval of concept in advance of the full review process. The document should include rationales, samples, and discussion of possible impact of the changes and should be submitted as part of their report for the spring meeting. Diane seconded. Motion carried. 

11. Fall 2025: National Braille Press 

National Braille Press is looking into different options for meeting spaces and hotels. Several options of dates will be provided to the board within the next couple of weeks.  

12. Next Meeting: Jen Goulden

The next teleconference will be held on Monday March 31, 2025 at 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time. 

13. Adjournment: Jen Goulden

Jen adjourned the meeting at 1:55 P.M. Eastern Time.

Upcoming Meetings:

•          Fall 2025: NBP

•          Spring 2026: AFB

•          Fall 2026: CIDI

•          Spring 2027: CTEBVI

•          Fall 2027: Hadley

•          Spring 2028: ATPC 

•          Fall 2028: ACB

•          Spring 2029: CNIB 

•          Fall 2029: Clovernook

•          Spring 2030: NFB 

•          Fall 2030: NLS

•          Spring 2031: Perkins

•          Fall 2031: NBA

Respectfully submitted,

Amber Pearcy

March 3, 2025