Press Release
December 2023
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jen Goulden, Chair
Braille Authority of North America
613-552-4191
chair@brailleauthority.org
BANA Presents Braille Excellence Award
The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) announces Dr. Sarah Morley Wilkins as the 2023 recipient of the Darleen Bogart BANA Braille Excellence Award. This recognition, originally created in honor of Louis Braille's 200th birthday, is awarded to 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. Previous recipients include Dr. Abraham Nemeth, Joseph Sullivan, the BANA Tactile Graphics Committee, Darleen Bogart, Dr. Larry Smith, and Dr. Robert Englebretsen.
Dr. Morley Wilkins' early work in tactile graphics and as Director of the National Centre for Tactile Diagrams for RNIB added important research about techniques for creating and interpreting tactile graphics, with and without audio description. She most recently has served as Project Manager for the DAISY Music Braille Project. In this role, she led the international group in support of music braille software that supports the BANA Braille Music code as well as other international music braille formats, improved standard music file formats for accessibility, and supported the development of accessible and interactive software tools for blind musicians. This work has reinforced the importance of braille music in the US, Canada, and other countries and led to the development of a Music Braille Production Network to assist in helping agencies in the US, Canada, and around the world to create, procure, and share music braille files.
The Darleen Bogart BANA Braille Excellence Award was presented at the Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference in December 2023, in St. Pete Beach, Florida.
The mission of the Braille Authority of North America is to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics.