CONTACT: Frances Mary D'Andrea, Chair
Braille Authority of North America
Phone: 412-521-5797
Email: literacy2@mindspring.com
The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) will host an Open Forum on Saturday, April 13, at the Arlington Public Library in Arlington, VA. BANA invites all who are interested in braille and its future. Braille readers, teachers, and students as well as producers and distributors of braille are encouraged to join this round-table discussion.
This venue will provide an opportunity for participants to discuss many aspects of braille and to learn more about the workings of BANA. Members of the BANA Board will discuss the planning underway for the transition to Unified English Braille (UEB). BANA is seeking input from the various communities involved in braille, and forum participants are invited to share their views and suggestions surrounding transition planning.
The Open Forum will be held Saturday, April 13, from 10:30 A.M to 12:00 noon at the Arlington Public Library, which is located at 1015 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22201. A meet-and-greet time with snacks will begin at 10:00 A.M. To reserve your space at the Open Forum and to help ensure accurate counts for handouts, contact BANA Chair Frances Mary D'Andrea at 412-521-5797 or by email at literacy2@mindspring.com.
The spring meeting of the BANA Board will precede the Open Forum and will be held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on April 11 and 12.
For additional resource information, visit www.brailleauthority.org
The Board of BANA consists of appointed representatives from fifteen member organizations of braille producers, transcribers, teachers, and consumers.
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.