Braille Authority of North America Board Meeting
Monday, May 13, 2024, 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time
1. Call to Order: Jen Goulden
Jen called the meeting to order at 1:03 P.M. Eastern Time.
2. Roll Call: amber Pearcy
The following board members were in attendance:
Jen Goulden, CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind), Chair
Mary Nelle McLennan, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), Vice Chair
Amber Pearcy, National Braille Press (NBP), Secretary
Danette Johnson, Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Treasurer
Tamara Rorie, National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress (NLS), Immediate Past Chair
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)
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
Jennifer Dunnam, National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
Wendy Buckley, Perkins School for the Blind
Susan (Sue) Reilly, Administrative Assistant
- Aquinas Pather, associate member Allyant
Emily Coleman, Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB)
Holly Bullock, associate member Crawford Technologies
Not attending:
Diane Spence, National Braille Association (NBA)
3. Approval of Minutes from Last meeting: Amber Pearcy
Amber asked if there was any additional feedback on the minutes from the spring meeting; there was not.
MSC: Amber moved to approve the minutes from the spring 2024 meeting. Tamara seconded. Motion carried.
4. Chemistry Update: Jen Goulden, Holly Bullock,
Jen reported that the BRF and the printable PDF of the Chemistry Code have been posted to the BANA website.
Holly reported that Crawford has received alt-text for the majority of the document and is only waiting to receive the last few chapters.
Kyle would like to confirm with Holly that APH has the final files, which they will use to create specifications for production of the hard copy braille document. Jen suggested that APH should use the files from the Website. In addition, Holly will send Kyle the files that Crawford has been using.
5. Documents Posted: Jen Goulden
Jen reported that the following documents have been posted to the BANA website:
Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics, 2022
Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, 2022
Chemical Notation Using the Nemeth Code 2023
Graphing Calculator Guidelines for use with UEB
The two files relating to braille formats, Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription 2016, March 2024 Updates and errata for Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription, 2016, as well as the new section relating to languages other than English should be ready to post soon. The Guidelines for Transcribing Knit and Crochet Patterns still needs to be prepared for posting to the website.
Mary Nelle thanked Holly for her help in correcting some of these documents.
Tina let the board know that the old business card document is still on the website.
Amber asked about the existence of a BRF file of the signage document. There is a BRF, but the links on the website are unclear. Sue said that this issue can be fixed so that there is one link for both the BRF and the PDF versions, but there is a complication with the software used for posting that prohibits this right now.
This led into a brief discussion about the eventuality of a large software upgrade for the website.
6. Equation Editor: Jen Goulden
Jen informed the board that Sam Dooley has developed an HTML equation editor for Nemeth. He is working on inputting the updated Nemeth Code into the editor, and in doing so, there is a partial HTML portion of the Nemeth Code now available on his website. Jen will get more information in writing along with a link so that the board can look at the website.
He is interested in creating an editor for UEB Technical provided that he has assistance and funding.
7. Music Committee: Hollie Knight
Hollie reported that Jenny Wheeler is willing to serve as chair of the Music Braille Technical Committee. She has been a transcriber for 20 years, and she also has a background in oboe performance.
Jen will contact Karen Gearreald to ask whether she will assist Jenny as she acclimates to her new role as committee chair.
Tracy mentioned that this appointment differs from our usual process of asking potential committee members to apply to the Appointments Committee. It was agreed that Hollie will send Jenny’s information to Tracy so that it is in the files of the Appointments Committee.
MSC: FM moved to appoint Jenny Wheeler as chair of the Music Braille Technical Committee for a term ending in December 2025. Kyle seconded. Motion carried.
Hollie and Jen will reach out to Jenny to let her know about the appointment.
8. ICEB Resolutions: Jennifer Dunnam
Jennifer reminded the board that the ICEB delegates will be asked to vote on the resolutions at the upcoming General Assembly. Resolutions up for a vote cover a range of important topics in the braille field, such as UEB math, Software improvements for print-to-braille translation, international access to Braille Music, ensuring the accuracy of Wikipedia articles about braille,, and the formation of an International Book Consortium to make better use of the materials received through the Marrakesh Treaty.
The board has no concerns or revisions to recommend.
In other ICEB-related news, Judy reported that on behalf of BANA, she will invite the Executive Committee to hold the 2026 Midterm meeting at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA.
Regarding the forthcoming third edition of The Rules of Unified English Braille, Kyle does not see a reason that APH cannot produce the hard copy braille document. The PDF should be ready by the week of the General Assembly. The BRF may be slightly delayed. However, no files will be posted until the BRF is ready.
9. GCUEB: Wendy Buckley
Wendy reported that the committee would like a charge to begin updating the Math Guidance Document.
MSC: Wendy moved to charge the General Committee on Unified English Braille to update the Provisional Guidance for Transcribing Math in UEB document. FM seconded. Motion carried.
Updates to UEB information on the website: The committee has gone through the website and is making recommendations about which items should be completely removed and which items are of historical significance. There is a recommendation of creating a designated spot on the website for these documents. Judy suggested that they could possibly go on the ICEB website into their archives. While this is a possibility, most of them are BANA-specific; therefore, the board agreed that it is appropriate to create a section on our website. There are also documents about Nemeth and Braille Formats which should probably have a home in this location of the website.
MSC: Jennifer moved to charge the General Committee on Unified English Braille to work with the Digital Assets Committee to streamline the information about UEB on the BANA website, discarding and archiving the documents that are not current, as appropriate. FM seconded. Motion carried.
10. “No Translation” document: Jennifer Dunnam
Jennifer reported that the Electronic Braille Committee has almost finished creating the document. She will send this document to the board so that it can be approved at the next teleconference.
11. Fall 2024 Meeting: Jen Goulden
In Diane’s absence, Jen reported that Diane will be sending information to the board soon about hotel reservations for the fall meeting.
12. Next Meeting: Jen Goulden
Jen proposed that we meet on June 24 at 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time. Our August meeting will be held on August 19 at 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time. Amber will send out meeting invites.
13. Miscellaneous:
Sue reported that Tracy has been appointed as the new executive director of CTEBVI, and Sue will serve as president for a year.
14. Adjournment: Jen Goulden
Jen adjourned the meeting at 2:12 P.M. Eastern Time.
Respectfully submitted,
Amber Pearcy
June 6, 2024