Issue Number 7
May 2023
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Welcome to the 7th edition of the Tactile Times, which is a flash update to update you about a few important things coming up!
We are Ellie, Lexy and Theo, three young braillists who thought it would be fun to put together a free biannual way for children and young people who are braillists, to share news, event information, tips, opinions and ideas. We hope you like what we have put together.
This issue is a quick flash edition to do two things. We wanted to:
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Are you interested in creative writing? Would you like to get recognised for your work? The CNIB have just launched their creative writing contest, and this year it’s open to UK entries too.
The competition is now open to primary and secondary students in the UK, and you’ll need to write a short story, essay or poem in hard copy braille. There are lots of cash prizes!! So why not get writing?!
The deadline is the end of May so this is probably more for people without exams.
More info at https://www.victa.org.uk/victa-calendar/braille-creative-writing-contest/
P.S. If you write something, send it to us too, and have it published in the next edition of the TTN (contributions can be sent to: [email protected]).
Have you heard of Quizlet? If so, it's probably not in a good way as we've found it incredibly inaccessible.
The core functionality of Quizlet is to help you revise words using all sorts of methods which are great for sighted people, but what about blind people? Until now they've missed out, but today that is changing.
You can have a go making your favourite Quizlet set accessible at:
https://quizlet.tactiletimes.org
Your Quizlet will open in a fully-accessible table with correct language tagging - more details at the link above.
Please note that this is still in the testing phase, and we rely on a fairly complex system for importing new Quizlet sets and making them accessible, so there may be times when the service for adding new Quizlet sets is temporarily down. If this happens please bear with us as we work to get it back up and running as quickly as we can. And, by the way, please do send us any feedback too.
Taking place on 18 May, and all the details are on this link: Home - GAAD (accessibility.day)
It was co-founded by Jennison Asuncion, who’s a bit of a legend in the blind tech accessibility world. There are lots of interesting events, all over the world. You’ll have to hunt through to find one you like.
You might be interested in the event Sight and Sound are doing in partnership with the BATA at 12:30 pm that day tackling accessibility of financial services. If so, you can register for that one at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IoHWah69Q92JwTUJHeTvUw#/registration
This is an annual event, which takes place in Mile End Stadium in East London.
Date: Saturday 24 June, in London
This year VICTA are offering up to £50 travel expenses for young people who live outside London to take part.
Lookfest also has a new venue (Humble Farm in Monmouthshire).
Dates: Friday 7th July 14:00 – Sunday 9th July at 12:00.
Simply the best Festival for VI and blind people, families, and children. The last Lookfest was in 2019, and we’ve been waiting for the next one ever since. So much fun!!
See all the details on this link: LOOKFest: Tickets on sale now! – LOOK – Supporting Visually Impaired Young People to Thrive (look-uk.org)
Sight Village is back, and at a new venue (Eastside Rooms, 2 Woodcock Street, Birmingham, B7 4BL)
Dates: Monday 17th July 10:00 – 16:00, and Tuesday 18th July 9:30 – 15:00.
A great list of exhibitors, from: ‘UltraCane,’ to OrCam, to Sight and Sound, and VisionAid Technologies, and many more…
See all the details on this link: Sight Village Central - Queen Alexandra College (qac.ac.uk)
Dates: Tuesday 25th July – Thursday 27th July
For 11 – 16 year olds who are blind or vision impaired. 2 nights and 3 days of activities including: football, swimming, paddleboarding, arts and crafts, cooking, tandem riding.
See all the details on this link: Summer Activity Break - New College Worcester (ncw.co.uk)
We will be putting out an issue this summer, likely towards the end of August. So send us something interesting to put in the issue!
More details about contributing can be found at: https://tactiletimes.org/contribute
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If you would like to send in a short article, joke or game, or if you have any questions or suggestions, please do get in touch using the details below.
Email: [email protected]
Website: tactiletimes.org
You can subscribe for free online at: https://tactiletimes.org/subscribe
You can find an archive of past issues at: https://tactiletimes.org/issues
We hope you enjoyed reading this quick update from us.
This update is © Copyright Tactile Times 2023. You are welcome to send others the whole document but please don’t copy out parts to use for other purposes.