About Us

A picture of the Three editors, Ellie, Lexy and Theo at an editorial meeting before Covid.

Introduction

We are a newspaper edited by braillists for braillists. There are 3 editors (Ellie, Lexy and Theo).
If you are a young braillist we recommend you subscribe for all the latest news and updates.
We are 3 blind children, Ellie, Lexy and Theo, who thought it would be fun to set up a newspaper for young braillists.
You can find out more about us, the Tactile Times and more in the sections below.

What's in the newspaper

In the newspaper, there are several sections including Events coming up, Tech, Jokes and Sport. If you would like to find out more about our issues, why not download or read one right now?
It is easy to get started. We have made it as easy as we can to navigate within the newspaper, even on devices lacking support for heading navigation. You can just find == to go to the next article or +++ to go to the next section. Each section is also numbered.
To browse the current issue of the Tactile Times right now, click here [issues archive] to go to our issues page. For our newer issues, you have the choice of reading them online or downloading a Word copy. For some of our older issues, you will be given the choice between a Word download or viewing them on Google Drive. We recommend you only use the Google Drive option if you have problems with downloading files.

Why have we made the Tactile Times?

We have made the Tactile Times Newspaper so young braillists (aka young school-age blind and visually impaired people) can access all the events coming up and latest news in one place rather than having to go to several websites to find this information. We felt that there was a gap that had to be filled, as there was no newspaper specifically for young braillists, until the Tactile Times was created.
The Tactile Times was particularly helpful for keeping people together during the various Covid lockdowns over the last two years.
If you would like more information, feel free to browse our FAQs or, if they don't answer your question, get in touch with us here. Although the newspaper is mainly aimed at young braillists, anyone is allowed to subscribe. However, you need to be a young braillist to Contribute an article.

When was the Tactile Times formed?

The Tactile Times was formed in 2018 and our first issue was published in August 2018. At that point we only had a Gmail address, and no website.
Originally, we had to try and find potential new subscribers at events and other physical occations. Since then, a lot has happened.
In 2019, this website was created, giving young braillists the opportunity to find out about us through a basic, fully-accessible website. At that time it had just the one issue, and four pages.
Covid lockdowns really brought the Tactile Times to life in a major way, inspiring us to create several more pages on our website and publish several more issues and updates throughout the lockdowns.
After things started returning to a vague normal, school started physically again. Because of this, the Tactile Times is once again a holiday project. As school is getting more and more challenging (moving into Year 10), it is likely that emails may not be answered until there is time available to reply. We thank you for your understanding.

Publicity

There are now a few articles online about the Tactile Times that introduce it in a way that may be helpful for new visitors to this website.
Links to them can be found on our publicity page .

Sports

We run a Fantasy football league Strava club for anyone who is interested in joining. These are a great way for interested young braillists to compare their scores.
There are some major differences between the two, so here is a table comparing the differences.

Function/fact	Strava club	Fantasy football league
It is used to compare exercise stats with other young braillists on Strava	Yes	No
It is used to compare points in fantasy football.	No	Yes
Anyone who visits our website can join.	Yes	Yes
The code/link changes every year.	No	Yes, there is a new code for each fantasy football season
You can only join at certain times of year	No, you can join any time	Yes, you can only join near the beginning of a season
It can be used to post updates	Yes	No
You need an email account to join	Yes	Yes
You can join with your Google or Apple account	Yes	Yes
There is an app that you can use to access it available for iOS and Android	Yes	Yes
You have to re-join every year.	No	Yes, and you also have to pick a new Fantasy football team