The Australian Government’s Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs have approved a grant from the National Disability Conference Initiative to provide assistance towards travel, accommodation and registration costs for consumers to attend the 2012 Round Table Conference.

Theme:

Universal Access: Are We There Yet?

Dates:

Saturday 28 April to Tuesday 1 May 2012.

Venue:

Association for the Blind of Western Australia Inc

61 Kitchener Avenue

Victoria Park, Western Australia

Conference Dinner and accommodation venue:

Mercure Perth Hotel

10 Irwin Street

Perth, Western Australia

Important dates to remember

• FaHCSIA Funding Applications close Wednesday 29 February 2012.
• Accommodation bookings are required by the Mercure no later than Tuesday 27 March 2012
• Conference registrations close  Friday 16 March 2012.

Please follow the links below for further information:

• 2012 Round Table Conference Program
• 2012 Round Table Conference Registration Form
• FaHCSIA funding management information
• FaHCSIA funding application form

Should you have any queries, or require assistance completing the application form, please do not hesitate to contact me.  My contacts details are:

Telephone: 0417 101 418

email: admin@printdisability.org

Please note:

• There is no guarantee that any application for FaHCSIA funding will be approved.
• Late applications cannot be accepted.

Please note: Any topics and general resolutions for discussion and voting that members wish to have addressed at the AGM, must be advised to the Round Table Executive Committee as soon as possible to enable all Round Table members to have this information at least 14 days prior to the AGM.

To you, a rewarding career is one that brings benefit not only to yourself, but to others as well. Work amongst like-minded professionals in our friendly team providing world-leading services and support for the blind, partially sighted and deafblind.

The accessible format production team at the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind converts print texts into a variety of alternative formats including large print, Braille and accessible multimedia. Creating an accessible format includes interpreting any visual material and writing text equivalents or creating tactile or enlarged images.

We are looking for someone with good text editing and proof-reading skills to train as a Braille producer, converting print text into Braille and creating tactile diagrams. Knowledge of Braille is not essential as full training is provided. However, you will need some experience of tertiary study and a good grounding in Maths or Science to help with the production of textbooks for school students. Experience with computer graphics packages such as Adobe Illustrator would also be an advantage.

Have you always wanted to learn more about Braille? Are you intrigued by how a blind or partially sighted person reads tables and diagrams? Do you like lots of variety and a chance to really make a difference? If you answered yes to all those questions then this could be just the job for you.

To learn more about this position download the job description (.doc, 123kb). To apply please go to job application form. If you are unable to access the website please email hr@rnzfb.org.nz or phone our recruitment hotline on 09 355 6913.

Applications close on 15 February 2012

The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind is committed to a policy of EEO and Biculturalism.

At the 2010 Round Table conference in Auckland, New Zealand, Dr Mike Steer spoke about the history of Australian disability policy. Because he couldn’t attend the conference in person, his presentation was made by pre-recorded video.

Thanks to the support and assistance of our member organisation Media Access Australia, this video is now available to view with captions.

Dr Steer’s PowerPoint slides from this presentation, together with an accessible transcript, are also available on the Round Table blog.

• 2012 Conference Programme
• 2012 Conference Registration Form

2012 Round Table Conference Information (via a link to the Round Table Blog) under – the heading Conference Program and Registration
- Program
- Registration Form
- FaHCSIA Funding Information and Application Form
- Trade Exhibitors Information and Registration Form

Theme: Universal Access: Are We There Yet?

Dates: Saturday 28 April and Tuesday 1 May 2012.

Venue: Association for the Blind of Western Australia Inc

Conference Dinner and accommodation venue: Mercure Perth Hotel

Round Table is pleased to advise that a grant from the National Disability Conference Initiative has been approved by the Australian Government’s Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. This funding provides assistance towards travel, accommodation and registration costs for a restricted number of consumers to attend the 2012 Round Table Conference. Attendees seeking this support are requested to submit applications by 29 February 2012.

• There is no guarantee that any application will be approved.
• Late applications cannot be accepted.

Please find attached:

• 2012 Round Table Conference Programme
• 2012 Round Table Conference Registration Form
• FaHCSIA funding application form
  (application for assistance with conference costs for self-funded individuals)
• FaHCSIA funding management information
• Trade Exhibitor’s Information
• Trade Exhibitor’s Registration Form

Please Note:

• Exhibitors Registrations close Friday 24 February 2012
• FaHCSIA Funding Applications close Wednesday 29 February 2012.
• Conference Registrations close Friday 16 March 2012

Your assistance with circulating this information as widely as possible would be appreciated

Should you have any queries or require the documentation in an alternate format please do not hesitate to contact me.

Closing date for nominations is the 31st December 2011.
Please Note: Late nominations will not be accepted.

Further information and the nomination form are available on the Round Table
Web site

Should you have any queries regarding the award process, or require the
documentation in an alternative format, please do not hesitate to contact
me.

Press Release

December 5, 2011

For Immediate Release

CONTACT: Judy Dixon, Chair
Braille Authority of North America
Phone: 202-707-0722, Email: jdix@loc.gov

BANA Honors Joseph Sullivan with Braille Excellence Award
at Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference

The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) will proudly honor Joseph Sullivan, President of Duxbury Systems, with its Braille Excellence Award on December 7th at the opening session of the Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference in Louisville, KY. BANA created this award in honor of Louis Braille’s 200th birthday and awarded it for the first time in 2009. Mr. Sullivan is the second recipient of this prestigious award that recognizes people or organizations that have developed or contributed to a code, have developed code materials or software that supports codes, and/or who represent the highest standards of braille production.

As the chief architect of the original Duxbury Braille Translator, now the world’s premier braille translation software, Joseph Sullivan has made a remarkable and lasting contribution to the production and availability of braille, yet his contributions and commitment neither begin nor end with this accomplishment. Through his decades of professional work and extensive volunteer service, he has not only increased world-wide access to braille and expanded the ability to produce braille, but he has consistently focused on expanding our field’s capacity to produce quality, accurate braille.
Mr. Sullivan’s efforts for the past 30 years have focused on bringing braille codes more directly into alignment with print while retaining readability and on enabling more efficient, accurate braille production. The current version of the Duxbury Braille Translator now supports 130 languages.
Mr. Sullivan is currently the president of Duxbury Systems, Inc. He is a mathematician by schooling (Boston College H.S. 1958, Boston College A.B. Mathematics 1962, Northeastern University M.S. in Mathematics 1968) and has designed software for most of his working life. He earlier worked at the U.S. Navy’s David Taylor Model Basin, at Bunker-Ramo Corporation, and at MITRE Corporation before helping found Duxbury Systems. At MITRE, Joe was part of the team that developed DOTSYS III, the first braille translator written in a portable programming language.
Joe Sullivan’s remarkable commitment to braille and to those who rely on it has been the hallmark of his career and his contributions. His work has increased both the availability and the accuracy of braille production around the globe. His work has truly brought braille to the world.

BANA invites you to join us in honoring Joe Sullivan. You can leave messages of congratulations on BANA’s Facebook wall at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Braille-Authority-of-North-America/120201874707328.

For additional resource information, visit www.brailleauthority.org

The mission and purpose of the Braille Authority of North America are to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics. BANA promotes and facilitates the use, teaching, and production of braille. It publishes rules, interprets, and renders opinions pertaining to braille in all existing codes. It deals with codes now in existence or to be developed in the future, in collaboration with other countries using English braille. In exercising its function and authority, BANA considers the effects of its decisions on other existing braille codes and formats; the ease of production by various methods; and acceptability to readers.