2024 General Assembly

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Quick links on this page: Audio Content, Country Reports, Committee Papers, Papers,

The 8th General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille was held in Auckland, New Zealand in May 2024. Our thanks are extended to BANZAT, The Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust for organising and hosting the event.

Audio Content

• Livestream recordings of the General Assembly Proceedings
• Day 1 Session 1
1. Welcome from the ICEB President, Judith Dixon
2. Health and Safety Briefing
3. New Zealand National Anthem
4. Welcome from The Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust, Maria Stevens, BANZAT Chairperson
5. Introduction of delegates and observers, the roll call
6. Keynote address: Jonathan Mosen, MNZM, Wellington, New Zealand—Safeguarding the Legacy, Investing the Inheritance
7. Vote of Thanks: Judith Dixon
• Day 1 Session 2
1. Confirmation of the Minutes Secretary for the Eighth General Assembly, Frances Mary D’Andrea (U.S.)
2. Approval of the Agenda
3. Speaking protocol
4. Voting rules
5. President's report, Judith Dixon
6. Report on the 2020 Resolutions, Judith Dixon
7. First report of 2024 Resolutions Committee, Christo de Klerk, (South Africa)
8. Adoption of Minutes of Seventh General Assembly held virtually, October 2020
9. Timescale for Minutes of Eighth General Assembly
10. Nominations Committee: first report, presentation of the slate, Debbie Gillespie (Canada)
11. Treasurer's Report (Including Finance Committee Report), Jen Goulden (Canada)
• Day 1 Session 3
1. Country Report Australia
2. Country Report Canada
3. Country Report Ireland
4. Country Report New Zealand
• Day 1 Session 4
1. Country Report South Africa
2. Country Report United Kingdom
3. Country Report United States
• Day 2 Session 5
1. Health and Safety Briefing
2. In Memoriam: A time for each ICEB member country to briefly speak about key contributors to braille who have died since the Seventh General Assembly in October 2020
3. ICEB Bylaws Committee Report: Discussion of revised Constitution and the recommendation from the Executive Committee that it be adopted, Mary Schnackenberg, CNZM (New Zealand)
4. Public Relations Committee Report: Maria Stevens (New Zealand)
5. Promotion discussion
• Day 2 Session 6
1. ICEB Research Committee Report, Natalie Martiniello (Canada)
2. Membership discussion
• Day 2 Session 7
1. ICEB Code Maintenance Committee Report - Matthew Horspool (United Kingdom)
2. Paper 1: Gentle and Howse—Braille in the 21st Century
3. Paper 2: Bischke and Redford—Unified English Braille (UEB): The Transition to UEB and Its Impact Across the United States
• Day 2 Session 8
1. Paper 3: Richards and Jarvis—Wesseling Awards: Celebrating Braille Music
2. Paper 4: Goulden—Expanding the Frontiers of Literacy, Developing Braille Codes for Languages Other Than English
• Day 3 Session 9
1. Health and Safety Briefing
2. Paper 5: Argote-Perez—BRAILLECOR: Learning Method: A New Approach to Braille Teaching for both Blind and Sighted People, Suitable for any Alphabet and Language
3. Paper 6: Herzberg—Teaching Students in Grades 2-5 How to Access, Interpret, and Create Tactile Line Plots, Pictographs, and Bar Graphs
• Day 3 Session 10
1. CMC Technical Committee Report – Clive Lansink (New Zealand)
2. World Braille Council, Accessible Books Consortium, and Marrakesh Treaty: Martine Abel-Williamson, QSM, President, World Blind Union
3. ICEB Music Committee Report – Jordie Howell (Australia)
• Day 3 Session 11
1. Midnote Address: Dr. Jonathan Godfrey, ONZM, Palmerston North, New Zealand—Get a job that you love and never work another day in your life
2. Vote of Thanks: James Bowden
3. Paper 7: Richards and Griffiths—Braille Music Our Way: Introducing a new and unique approach to music literacy through Braille
4. Paper 8: Morley Wilkins, Kyrkjebø, and Hu—Tools and techniques to advance music braille production, file-sharing and use
• Day 4 Session 12
1. Health and Safety Briefing
2. Nominations Committee second report, Debbie Gillespie (Canada)
3. Presentation 1: Stilson and Free—The Journey of the Monarch, Why Partnerships, Innovation, and a New Braille Standard Were Essential to Creating a Dynamic Tactile Display
4. Presentation 2: Dang and Le Anh—Sao Mai Braille
5. Presentation 3: Foulkes, Seger, and O'Callaghan—Braille Literacy and Tactile Learning: Developing Educational Materials for Students who are Blind or Low Vision
6. Presentation 4: Holloway—Accessible 3D models and interactive tactile learning tools, Monash University Inclusive Technologies and the Australia and New Zealand Accessible Graphics Group (ANZAGG)
7. Presentation 5: Sloane—HumanWare products
8. Presentation 6: Skilton—Pacific Vision International
9. Presentation 7: Cohen—Surtitles with braille and speech using mainstream software, New Zealand Opera
• Day 4 Session 13
1. Braille Technology Committee report, James Bowden (United Kingdom)
2. Paper 9: Free and Stilson—An International Effort to Update Braille for a Dynamic and Personalized Future
3. Paper 10: Holloway, Butler, Reinders, Cracknell, and Marriott—Refreshable Tactile Displays, Research to Help Guide Reform to Tactile Graphics Access
• Day 4 Session 14
1. UEB at 20: Code Maintenance Committee Discussion, Matthew Horspool (United Kingdom), Clive Lansink (New Zealand)
• Day 5 Session 15
1. Health and Safety Briefing
2. Paper 11: Dunnam—Writing Braille: Two Centuries of Tools and Techniques, and How We Can Strengthen Them for the Future
3. Paper 12: Horspool—Multi-Line Braille Displays, So What? Considering the practical use and ongoing development of multi-line braille displays from a user perspective
• Day 5 Session 16
1. Resolutions Committee report: Discussion and adoption of Eighth General Assembly resolutions
2. Introduction of incoming ICEB President and Executive Committee
3. Closing comments and thank-yous

Country Reports

• Australia Country Report 2024 - Australia Word file, Australia braille file
• Canada Country Report 2024 - Canada Word file, Canada braille file
• Ireland Country Report 2024 - Ireland Word file, Ireland braille file
• New Zealand Country Report 2024 - NZ Word file, NZ braille file
• South Africa Country Report 2024 - South Africa Word file, South Africa braille file
• United Kingdom Country Report 2024 - UK Word file, UK braille file
• USA Country Report 2024 - USA Word file, USA braille file

Committee Reports

• President's Report 2024 - President's Word file, President's braille file
• Nominations Committee Report 2024 - Nominations Word file, Nominations braille file
• Music Braille Committee Report 2024 - Music Word file, Music braille file
• Constitution and Bylaws Report 2024 - Constitution Word file, Constitution braille file
• Treasurer’s Report 2024 - Treasurer Word file, Treasurer braille file, Financial tables in Excel, Financial tables in braille
• Promotion and Publicity Report 2024 - PR Word file, PR braille file
• Braille Technology Report 2024 - Technology Word file, Technology braille file
• UEB Code Maintenance Committee Report 2024 - CMC Word file, CMC braille file
• UEB CMC Technical Report 2024 - CMC Technical Word file, CMC Technical braille file
• Research Committee Report 2024 - Research Word file, Research braille file

Papers

• Paper 1: Gentle and Howse—Braille in the 21st Century
Paper 1 Word file, Paper 1 Braille file
• Paper 2: Bischke and Redford—Unified English Braille (UEB): The Transition to UEB and Its Impact Across the United States
Paper 2 Word file, Paper 2 Braille file
• Paper 3: Richards and Jarvis—Wesseling Awards: Celebrating Braille Music
Paper 3 Word file, Paper 3 Braille file
• Paper 4: Goulden—Expanding the Frontiers of Literacy, Developing Braille Codes for Languages Other Than English
Paper 4 Word file, Paper 4 Braille file
• Paper 5: Argote-Perez—BRAILLECOR: Learning Method: A New Approach to Braille Teaching for both Blind and Sighted People, Suitable for any Alphabet and Language
Paper 5 Word file, Paper 5 Braille file
• Paper 6: Herzberg—Teaching Students in Grades 2-5 How to Access, Interpret, and Create Tactile Line Plots, Pictographs, and Bar Graphs
Paper 6 Word file, Paper 6 Braille file
• Paper 7: Richards and Griffiths—Braille Music Our Way: Introducing a new and unique approach to music literacy through Braille
Paper 7 Word file, Paper 7 Braille file
• Paper 8: Morley Wilkins, Kyrkjebø, and Hu—Tools and techniques to advance music braille production, file-sharing and use
Paper 8 Word file, Paper 8 Braille file
• Paper 9: Free and Stilson—An International Effort to Update Braille for a Dynamic and Personalized Future
Paper 9 Word file, Paper 9 Braille file
• Paper 10: Holloway, Butler, Reinders, Cracknell, and Marriott—Refreshable Tactile Displays, Research to Help Guide Reform to Tactile Graphics Access
Paper 10 Word file, Paper 10 Braille file
• Paper 11: Dunnam—Writing Braille: Two Centuries of Tools and Techniques, and How We Can Strengthen Them for the Future
Paper 11 Word file, Paper 11 Braille file
• Paper 12: Horspool—Multi-Line Braille Displays, So What? Considering the practical use and ongoing development of multi-line braille displays from a user perspective
Paper 12 Word file, Paper 12 Braille file
• Presentation 1: Stilson and Free—The Journey of the Monarch, Why Partnerships, Innovation, and a New Braille Standard Were Essential to Creating a Dynamic Tactile Display
Presentation 1 Word file, Presentation 1 Braille file
• Presentation 2: Dang and Le Anh—Sao Mai Braille
Presentation 2 Word file, Presentation 2 Braille file
• Presentation 3: Foulkes, Seger, and O'Callaghan—Braille Literacy and Tactile Learning: Developing Educational Materials for Students who are Blind or Low Vision
Presentation 3 Word file, Presentation 3 Braille file

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Page content last updated: September 29, 2024.