Braille Authority of North America Spring Meeting, 2017 Minutes

Sunday, March 12, 2017 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday, March 13, 2017 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Hosted by California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Meeting in Burlingame, CA

1. (Agenda item #2) Welcome from California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Cristin Lockwood, president of California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI), welcomed the BANA Board.

2. (Agenda item #1) Call to Order: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam called the meeting to order at 1:11 PST and thanked CTEBVI for hosting the meeting.

3. Seating of BANA Members

Vivian Seki was welcomed as the newly appointed representative of Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Tamara Rorie was welcomed to her first face-to-face meeting as the representative for National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress (NLS).

4. Self-Introductions: Representatives and Observers

Attending:

  • Jennifer Dunnam, National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Chair
  • Sandra (Sandy) Ruconich, American Council of the Blind (ACB), Vice Chair
  • Dawn Gross, Alternate Text Production Center (ATPC), Secretary
  • Jackie Sheridan, National Braille Press (NBP), Treasurer
  • Frances Mary (FM) D'Andrea, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), Immediate Past Chair
  • Cathy Senft-Graves, American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
  • Jessica (Jessi) Rivera, Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ASB)
  • Mary Nelle McLennan, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)
  • Tracy Gaines, California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI)
  • Saul Garza, Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
  • Darleen Bogart, CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind)
  • Vivian Seki, Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired
  • Maryann Bartkowski, Horizons for the Blind
  • Diane Spence, National Braille Association (NBA)
  • Tamara Rorie, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress (NLS)
  • Wendy Buckley attended on behalf of Kim Charlson, Perkins School for the Blind
  •  
  • Jen Goulden, for associate member Crawford Technologies
  •  
  • Susan (Sue) Reilly participated in her role as administrative assistant.

Observers:

  • Angelina Waters, Arizona
  • Bonnie Read, Saskatchewan, Canada
  • Catherine Quigley, Arizona
  • Grant Horrocks, California
  • Judi Biller, California
  • Lorraine Banks, Toronto, Canada
  • Randy Davis, Georgia
  • Sharon Anderson, California

5. Meeting Arrangements: Tracy Gaines

Tracy Gaines explained the arrangements for the BANA meeting and that there would be an outing to San Francisco for those interested on Sunday evening. Tracy thanked Grant Horrocks for coordinating the setup and meals.

6. Board's Liability Statement: Dawn Gross

Dawn Gross, BANA Secretary, read the following Indemnification Statement: "BANA indemnifies its Officers and Board of Directors and holds them harmless from all claims of every kind, including court expenses, attorneys' fees, and the claimed amount arising from the performance of their duties as Officers and Directors except for their own acts of dishonesty and gross negligence." (Adopted March 30, 1987)

7. Agenda Approval: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam asked to amend the agenda by moving the Early Literacy Materials Production (ELMP) report to item 10, the General Committee on Unified English Braille report will be presented on Monday. The Mathematics Committee report (agenda item 13) and the In Camera discussion by the Membership Committee (agenda item 21) will be moved to Monday, Strategic Planning (agenda item 20) will take place on both Monday and Tuesday.

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded the motion that the amended agenda be approved. The motion passed unanimously.

8. Chair's Comments: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam proceeded to explain some of the typical procedures that take place during a BANA meeting. These include the fact that the administrative assistant is present to help with note-taking, and that the BANA secretary takes minutes. Frances Mary D'Andrea records "to do" items for all members, and sends that list to the board immediately following the meeting.

Summarizing the agenda, Jennifer stated that the board will deal with many documents in addition to the strategic planning sessions that will take place each afternoon.

9. International Council on English Braille: Frances Mary D'Andrea, Jennifer Dunnam, Ruth Rozen, Sue Reilly, Judy Dixon

Frances Mary D'Andrea reported that there are several items under discussion and nearing vote at ICEB. These items will be discussed during the General Committee on Unified English Braille report. Board members were asked to read Attachments 2 and 3 and be ready to discuss potential clarifications to The Rules of Unified English Braille. Attachment 3 was inadvertently excluded from the printed agenda, Jennifer Dunnam emailed it to the board for consideration.

10. (Agenda item #18) Ad Hoc Committee on Early Literacy Materials Production: Bonnie Read

Cathy Senft-Graves, liaison to the ELMP committee, summarized the report, which is on file. Bonnie Read was in attendance and was able to answer questions posed by the board.

All UEB symbols have been incorporated into the ELMP document and brought into line with Braille Formats 2016. Some recommendations from the initial board review still need to be incorporated before sending the revised document to the board for review. The committee expects that the documents/responses will be ready by April 15, 2017. It was recommended that a small board panel be created to review the document.

MSC Cathy Senft-Graves moved and Darleen Bogart seconded that a panel be appointed to review the ELMP Committee's responses to the board review. The panel is to consist of Dawn Gross, Jennifer Dunnam, FM D'Andrea and Cathy Senft-Graves. The motion passed unanimously.

By general consensus it was agreed that the panel will review the document and present a recommendation to the board for approval by the end of May. Cathy Senft-Graves will be the panel convener.

With the removal of Ann Kelt in Fall 2016, the committee is requesting to not add another member to the Ad Hoc Committee at this time, since the document is very close to being completed.

11. Braille Formats Technical Committee: Cindi Laurent

Saul Garza, liaison to the Braille Formats Technical Committee summarized the report, which is on file.

MSC Saul Garza moved and FM D'Andrea seconded that the disposition of Charge 305 be changed from "TBA" to "Ongoing". The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 305 (11/5/16): Respond to inquiries regarding Braille Formats 2016.]

Mary Nelle McLennan expressed her gratitude to Saul Garza, Cindi Laurent and Susan Christensen for their dedication in completing Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription 2016. Saul Garza praised Mary Nelle McLennan for coordinating the process.

Per Mary Nelle McLennan, Publications Committee chair, the pre-release version of Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription, 2016 was made public on the BANA website one week prior to the Spring 2017 meeting. A comment box was added to the webpage to allow users to submit errors, comments, and/or questions. Cindi Laurent is replying to comments.

Norma MacDonald has moved to New Zealand, a new Canadian representative will be needed.

12. Tactile Graphics Technical Committee: Aquinas Pather

Diane Spence, liaison to the Tactile Graphics Technical Committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

Revision of the tactile graphics guidelines is underway. The committee has identified the changes to be made but the work to make those changes has not been completed. During the face-to-face meeting in November, the committee reviewed the entire document for UEB and Nemeth in UEB context; see report for details. The committee's goal is to have all the new graphics created and the changes made to the Points files of the Tactile Graphics Supplement by October 1, 2017 so that it can be sent to the board for review.

In regards to Charge 279, the Tactile Graphics Committee has composed wording and is requesting that the BANA Board forward their suggestion to the ICEB Code Maintenance Committee. The UEB symbols that they are requesting to be changed are:

  • 1. Open hollow dot which represents a point not included in a solution shown on a number line
  • 2. The symbols for left and right brackets on a number line which represent interval notation on a number line.

The Tactile Graphics Committee has provided a definition of the problem, the rationale as to why the change is needed and a list of the proposed symbols. It is important to receive an answer regarding the requested symbols before the Tactile Graphics Committee can move forward with the preparation of the UEB number lines for the document.

MSC Diane Spence moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded that the wording from the Tactile Graphics Committee be shared with the General Committee on UEB to consider making a recommendation to the BANA Board that these symbols be added to the list of items being compiled for recommendation to the ICEB Code Maintenance Committee. The motion passed unanimously.

Discussion turned to a question that was forwarded from the UEB Committee to the Tactile Graphics and Mathematics Committees regarding where to place the Nemeth Code switch indicators for keys used in tactile graphics. Diane Spence explained that three options were given because three different kinds of keys were shown. There is no preference for one over the other; it would depend on what is inside the key.

13. (Agenda item #14) Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests: Diane Spence

Diane Spence, liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests, summarized the report, which is on file.

Jennifer Dunnam stated that the Guidelines for Production of Standardized Tests in Braille, 2016 is ready for review. The Technical Review Committee has compiled a list of questions for the technical review. The review will start after the board meeting; Jennifer Dunnam will establish the due date of the review.

14. (Agenda item #15) Music Braille Technical Committee: Dan Geminder

Jennifer Dunnam with the assistance of Tamara Rorie, recently appointed liaison to the Music Braille Committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

The Outreach Call regarding the Music Braille Code was well received.

Discussion ensued regarding the Music Committee's request that the BANA Board approve the posting of an html version of the Music Braille Code to provide a navigable print version for braille readers. Many disclaimers would need to be posted to let consumers know that this version is not for reproduction. Images are not needed because the simbraille is present.

MSC: Sandy Ruconich moved and Tamara Rorie seconded that Dan Geminder proceed with the removal of images from the Music Braille Code html file and prepare it for publication with the necessary disclaimers. The motion passed unanimously.

15. (Agenda item #16) Crafts and Hobbies Technical Committee: Camille Caffarelli

Maryann Bartkowski, liaison to the Crafts and Hobbies Technical Committee, summarized the report of the Crafts and Hobbies Technical Committee, which is on file.

The Committee has decided to use UEB for the chess code rather than algebraic code, the official print based notation. Jennifer Dunnam has learned a bit about chess and braille and has found a couple of other braille reading chess players, not involved with the ongoing discussion, to review the proposed guidelines. The feedback Jennifer received has been positive.

MaryAnn Bartkowski read emails between Jennifer Dunnam and Camille Caffarelli regarding algebraic notation vs UEB and print based notation, Portable Game Notation (PGN), in braille. Vivian Seki from Hadley indicated that Hadley's chess course is based on EBAE algebraic notation. Vivian will put Jennifer in touch with the instructor, James Thoune.

UKAAF has taken the position that they will not change their chess code to one based on UEB. BANA's purpose is to make sure that people playing chess electronically can use braille to play in a non-ambiguous way. It was suggested that an introduction be added to give people a sense of why BANA has chosen to use UEB for chess and then distribute the proposed guidelines to braille reading chess players for review. Jennifer Dunnam will help the committee create an introduction, FM D'Andrea will let the committee know that simbraille needs to be added to the glyphs document. Hadley has a list of braille readers that have taken the Hadley chess course and has offered to send out a questionnaire or survey. The following motion resulted:

MSC Maryann Bartkowski moved and Vivian Seki seconded that the Crafts and Hobbies Committee and the General Review Committee work together to develop questions for the review of the proposed chess code by braille reading chess players. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Cathy Senft-Graves seconded that the disposition of Charge 311 be changed from "TBA" to "Ongoing." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 311 (11/6/16): Update the brf and print examples of the Guidelines for Transcribing Knit and Crochet Patterns be aligned with UEB.]

16. (Agenda item #17) Foreign Language Task Force: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam, liaison to the Foreign Language Task Force, presented a verbal report.

The Foreign Language Task Force began working with the NBA Foreign Language Committee, in Fall 2016. Principles for the update of the guidance were proposed, the chair of the NBA Foreign Language Committee is reviewing Braille Formats 2016 and working on an update to the guidance. There is no concrete progress at this moment.

17. (Agenda item #19) Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry: Cary Supalo

Frances Mary D'Andrea, liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry, summarized the report, which is on file.

The Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry is requesting to make a change to the provisional guidance that has been sent to the Publications Committee for posting to the BANA website. The board agreed that it would approve adding the changes to the current document as long as they were received in the next week or so. The Committee needs to send new clean Word and brf documents. The following motion resulted:

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Tracy Gaines seconded that the proposed language in the report for 6.17 be approved for addition to the Provisional Guidance for Transcription Using the Chemistry Code within UEB Context. The motion carried with all members voting in the affirmative except Darleen Bogart, who abstained.

There was discussion about renaming the provisional guidance, this matter was tabled and will be picked up later in the meeting. FM D'Andrea, Jennifer Dunnam, and Darleen Bogart will meet and have a discussion about changing the name of the provisional guidance document.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Jackie Sheridan seconded that the disposition of Charge 307 be changed to "Waiting." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 307 (11/6/16): Respond to inquiries regarding the "Provisional Guidance for Transcription Using the Chemistry Code with UEB Context" and to consider feedback to be incorporated into any future updates.]

18. (Agenda item #23) Braille Research Committee: Frances Mary D'Andrea

FM D'Andrea, co-chair of the Braille Research Committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

By general consensus the board agreed to correct the record regarding Charge 103, the charge was completed Spring 2016.

FM D'Andrea and Cathy Senft-Graves discussed the APH research on UEB for technical materials. More information will be shared with the board as it becomes available.

19. (Agenda item #24) Outreach Committee: Sandy Ruconich

Sandy Ruconich, chair of the Outreach Committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

The Outreach Committee hosted a conference call regarding the 2015 revision of the Music Braille Code. It was a productive call, the cost of the call came in just under $500.

The committee is considering a webinar to meet a larger audience at a lesser cost. There was discussion of the different call types available, it was suggested that BANA consider purchasing GoToMeeting to be used for webinars and committee meetings. It was mentioned that GoToMeeting has accessibility issues; Vivian Seki recommended Blackboard Collaborate, she will get back to the board with information regarding cost, etc.

There was discussion about the Outreach Committee and others needing to go through the BANA materials to determine what needs to be revised and then revise them. The Publications Committee will make the documents accessible and load them to the website.

Sue Reilly took inventory of the BANA exhibit trunk and removed items that are no longer needed and added the BANA banner. CTEBVI has offered to house the trunk, relieving the Braille Institute of the responsibility.

20. (Agenda item #10) General Committee on Unified English Braille: Frances Mary D'Andrea

FM D'Andrea, chair of the committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

Discussion of the following UEB Rulebook amendment took place:

  • Proposed UEB Rulebook amendment from ICEB CMC
    • 2.6.3
      • A letter or letters-sequence is considered to be "standing alone" when the following common punctuation and indicator symbols intervene between the letter or letters-sequence and the following space, hyphen or dash:
        • comma, semicolon, colon, full stop (period), ellipsis, exclamation mark or question mark
        • closing parenthesis (round bracket), closing square bracket or closing curly bracket (brace bracket)
        • closing quotation mark of any kind
        • nondirectional quotation mark of any kind
        • apostrophe [also see Section 2.6.4]
        • typeform terminator of any kind
        • capitals mode terminator
        • closing transcriber's note indicator
        • line indicator
        • or any combination of these.

        Example:

        [an Emily Dickinson poem transcribed in linear format:]

        The sun kept setting, setting still;
        No hue of afternoon
        Upon the village I perceived
        From house to house 'twas noon

        ,! sun kept sett+1 sett+ /2_
          ,no hue ( afn_ ,^u !
          village ,i p]cvd_ ,f h\se
          to h\se 'twas noon

There was no opposition to voting in favor of this amendment when it comes to a vote by the ICEB Code Maintenance Committee.

Jennifer Dunnam spoke of ICEB's proposed rule revision regarding use of the line indicator being used to separate tables in a linear format. It will be stated as one option, whether or not to use the line indicator to separate tables shall be determined by the individual countries formatting guidelines. Jennifer will send the example to the board for consideration, the example will be discussed on Tuesday morning.

The General Committee for UEB will meet soon to discuss Attachment 2 of the report to determine whether or not the committee wants to move forward with proposing the list to the Code Maintenance Committee of ICEB.

Of concern to the committee chair is the Guidelines for Technical Materials which has been slated for updating. Bill Jolley recently stepped down and is not able to lead the update effort. ICEB is now seeking somebody else to take on the task. Contact FM if you know someone that is interested in working on the rewrite. There is also concern about the number of items that ICEB has on its list and that they are not being addressed in a timely manner.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 308 be changed to "Ongoing". The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 308 (11/6/16): Compile code-related issues for consideration by the BANA Board to recommend to the ICEB CMC for their action.]

21. (Agenda item #22) Publications Committee: Mary Nelle McLennan

Mary Nelle McLennan, chair of the committee, summarized the report, which is on file. She referred to the Status of BANA Documents in Process and BANA Publications Workflow documents which are included in the agenda packet.

At the January face-to-face meeting the committee identified several steps to go through to make feedback work:

1. Identify a direct method of having constituents ask questions of specific committees via the website. Discussion of comment box location and dropdown boxes ensued. Comment boxes will be located in multiple locations, accessibility of dropdown boxes will be addressed.

Diane Spence voiced the concern that people with code questions could contact the committees before contacting NBA's Ask an Expert, especially now that the Ask an Expert forum is open to members only. The BANA committees could be inundated with questions.

2. Determine and document the process, responsibility, and expected timeframe for responses.
3. Determine process for vetting segments to be posted.
4. Determine a consistent format and frequency with which we publish these rulings.

Jennifer Dunnam indicated that the number of questions being asked has increased. Publications will need input from all of the committee chairs on how they want this to work out.

A suggestion was made to look at some of the past rulings by committees that have been approved by the board and post those on the website. Further discussion stated that criteria should be set for the types of questions that should be asked and will be answered by the BANA committees. BANA could answer code related questions but refer immediate project type questions to NBA's Ask an Expert. Perhaps answers can be posted once a month. The following motion resulted:

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Jessi Rivera seconded that a Code Questions Task Force be created to explore and develop guidelines and a process for accepting and responding to questions about BANA codes and guidelines from the public. This is to be completed by the Fall 2017 BANA meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and FM D'Andrea seconded that the following be appointed to the task force: Tamara Rorie (chair), Diane Spence, Vivian Seki, Jessi Rivera, Darleen Bogart, Jackie Sheridan, and Jennifer Dunnam. The motion passed unanimously.

BANA Website

Anyone who sees anything needing to be corrected or added to the BANA website please send Mary Nelle McLennan and Sandy Smith an email. Items will be vetted and necessary changes or additions will be made.

BANA Workflow

During the face-to-face meeting, the committee worked on the Authoring Guidelines and the BANA Publications Workflow documents. Due to the many extraordinary circumstances of the transition to UEB, BANA has gotten out of sync with the document creation process, specifically: 1) preparing files for the review process, and 2) when copyediting gets done. It is important to note that documents need to go through two copyedits. One prior to technical review and one after the authoring committee has submitted the final manuscript to the BANA Chair for board review. After the board review, the publications committee will incorporate changes resulting from the review; the authoring committee will be consulted as necessary.

The Publications Committee will refine the Authoring Guidelines and the BANA Publications Workflow documents prior to presenting to the BANA Board for consideration of incorporating into the BANA Policies.

22. (Agenda item #21) Membership Committee (In Camera): Kim Charlson

Kim Charlson was unable to attend the meeting, Jennifer Dunnam presented the report. The board entered into an in camera session, the following motion resulted:

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Saul Garza seconded the motion to accept the Membership Committee's proposal that AMAC Accessibility Solutions and Research Center's application be accepted as a full member of the Braille Authority of North America. The motion passed unanimously.

At the conclusion of the in camera session Jennifer Dunnam presented the remainder of the Membership Committee Report.

MSC Maryann Bartkowski moved and Mary Nelle McLennan seconded that Saul Garza be appointed to the Membership Committee. The motion passed unanimously.

Discussion of the revised membership packet ensued. The revision of the packet and application process has been completed, Kim Charlson will send the packet to the board for review. The board will discuss the packet and have a vote prior to it being posted on the website.

23. (Agenda item #22) Publications Committee: Mary Nelle McLennan

Discussion returned to the report of the Publications Committee.

Cathy Senft-Graves reported that APH is close to having the specifications complete to produce the print and braille hard copies of Music Braille Code, 2015. Once the specifications are complete the documents will be fit into the workflow at APH. A production start date cannot be given at this time.

It was decided by general consensus that Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription, 2016 will be produced in hardcopy braille and print by APH.

Guidelines for Transcribing Knit and Crochet Patterns and Chess Guidelines will be added to the "Status of BANA Publications Projects" tracking sheet.

24. (Agenda item #25) General Committee for Review Process: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam, chair of the committee, summarized the report of the General Committee for Review Process, which is on file.

The technical review of Guidelines for Production of Standardized Tests in Braille, 2016 will be sent out shortly after this meeting. The Graphing Calculator Guidelines technical review responses have been sent to the Mathematics Technical Committee for response. Jennifer will forward the technical review responses to the board. The next document requiring technical review will be the Chess Guidelines.

25. (Agenda item #26) BANA Appointments Committee: Tracy Gaines

Tracy Gaines, chair of the committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

It is recommended that board liaisons have a conversation with their committee chairs prior to the Fall board teleconference to determine if there are vacancies to fill or if committee members need to be replaced. This should give the Appointments Committee time to look for possible considerations prior to the Fall face-to-face board meeting. The names submitted as potential members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Early Literacy Materials Production will be kept for future consideration.

26. (Agenda item #28) Ad Hoc Committee on Braille Signage and Labeling: Jackie Sheridan

Jackie Sheridan, liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee on Braille Signage and Labeling, presented a verbal report.

Eugene Lozano is still willing to chair the committee. However, the committee is having communication difficulties. On the committee are: Eugene Lozano, Jackie Sheridan, Becky Barnes-Davidson, Kim Charlson, Judy Dixon, Miriam Dixon, Saul Garza, and Debbie Gillespie. Kim Charlson will check the listserv to make sure that all committee members are on it.

27. (Agenda item #32) Directory Update: Sue Reilly

Sue Reilly has been making changes to the directory as needed, she will be ready to post it soon after the meeting. She has also compiled an Excel workbook containing tabs for each year going back to 2013, it is a record of who served on the board and committees on a year by year basis.

28. (Agenda item #29) Secretary's Report: Dawn Gross

Dawn Gross, BANA secretary, read the email motions and votes that had taken place since the Fall 2016 meeting. They are as follows:

12/11/16

MSC Ruth Rozen moved and Kim Charlson seconded the motion that the Fall 2016 minutes be approved.

Voting deadline was December 15, 2016, 5:00 p.m. EDT

Voting Yes: ACB (Sandra Ruconich); ASB (Jessica Rivera); Clovernook (Saul Garza); CNIB (Darleen Bogart); Hadley (Ruth Rozen); Horizons (Maryann Bartkowski); NBA (Diane Spence); NBP (Jackie Sheridan); NLS (Tamara Rorie); Perkins (Kim Charlson).
Voting No: AFB (Frances Mary D'Andrea); APH (Cathy Senft-Graves).
Not voting: AER (Mary Nelle McLennan); ATPC (Dawn Gross); CTEBVI (Tracy Gaines); NFB (Jennifer Dunnam). The motion carried.

1/9/2017

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Mary Nelle McLennan seconded the motion that we amend the previously approved Fall 2016 minutes so that in 11. Mathematics Braille Technical Committee, under the motion to accept item 1 of the Mathematics Braille Technical Committee Rulings by Committee, that item reads as follows: "Wording has been added to Basic Guidance section 3a to clarify which numbers and/or letters may be transcribed in UEB: Freestanding, unmodified numbers and/or letters can be transcribed in UEB. If a freestanding number or letter is combined with anything other than an ordinal or an internal comma (e.g., a minus sign, a decimal point, etc.) it is transcribed according to Nemeth Code."

Voting deadline was Thursday January 12 at 5:00 Eastern.

Voting Yes: ACB (Sandra Ruconich); AER (Mary Nelle McLennan); AFB (Frances Mary D'Andrea); APH (Cathy Senft-Graves); ASB (Jessica Rivera); ATPC (Dawn Gross); Clovernook (Saul Garza); CNIB (Darleen Bogart); CTBVI (Tracy Gaines); Horizons (Maryann Bartkowski); NBA (Diane Spence); NFB (Jennifer Dunnam); NBP (Jackie Sheridan); NLS (Tamara Rorie); Perkins (Kim Charlson).
Not voting: Hadley (Vivian Seki) (but the chair notes that the non-vote is only because the chair did not get things worked out in time to make it possible for her to vote). The motion carried.

2/17/2017

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and FM D'Andrea seconded the motion to appoint Tamara Rorie as the liaison to the Music Braille Committee.

Voting deadline was Tuesday, February 21, 2017.

Voting Yes: ACB (Sandra Ruconich); AER (Mary Nelle McLennan); AFB (Frances Mary D'Andrea); APH (Cathy Senft-Graves); ASB (Jessica Rivera); ATPC (Dawn Gross); CNIB (Darleen Bogart); CTEBVI (Tracy Gaines); Hadley (Vivian Seki); Horizons (Maryann Bartkowski); NBA (Diane Spence); NBP (Jackie Sheridan); NFB (Jennifer Dunnam); Perkins (Kim Charlson).
Not voting: Clovernook (Saul Garza); NLS (Tamara Rorie). The motion carried.

29. (Agenda item #13) Mathematics Braille Technical Committee: Dorothy Worthington, Chair

Dawn Gross, liaison to the Mathematics Braille Technical Committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

The Mathematics Committee has received the results from the technical review of the Graphing Calculator Guidelines. They will be discussing how they would like to report back to the board during a conference call on March 24, 2017.

The Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, 1972 Revision has been scanned. Dawn Gross is working to incorporate all of the previously approved updates into Word files for the committee to work from. Dawn will work with the Publications Committee to ensure that the authoring process is started correctly.

Dawn Gross will initiate a meeting between Dorothy Worthington, Saul Garza, and Cathy-Senft Graves to work on rewording the hanging proposed changes from the Fall 2016 meeting.

MSC Dawn Gross moved and Maryann Bartkowski seconded that the Mathematics Committee be charged to incorporate the approved changes from the Fall 2016 meeting into the existing Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code within UEB Contexts and write a change log to be included at the beginning of the updated document. The motion carried with all members voting in the affirmative except Darleen Bogart, who abstained.

Once revised, the document title will be Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth code within UEB Contexts, Fall 2016.

MSC Dawn Gross moved and Cathy Senft-Graves seconded that the disposition of Charge 306 be changed from "TBA" to "Ongoing." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 306 (11/6/16): Work with the Publications Committee on making the list of changes available to the community.]

30. (Agenda item #27) Bylaws Committee: Darleen Bogart

Darleen Bogart summarized the report of the Bylaws Committee, which is on file.

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Saul Garza seconded that the change to Bylaw 5.2.4 be accepted. The motion passed unanimously.

Bylaw 5.0 Structure

5.2.4: Attendance at Board meetings is required. If the designated representative of a full member organization is unable to attend a face-to-face meeting or an interim meeting held by conference call of the BANA Board, the member organization will appoint an alternative representative to attend the meeting and fulfill the responsibilities of the designated representative. A consistent pattern of non-attendance by a representative or alternate may result in the organization being considered delinquent and may therefore be dropped from the membership on the Board. The affected organization shall be notified of such action by registered mail.

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and FM D'Andrea seconded that the disposition of Charge 313 be changed to "Ongoing." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 313 (11/6/16): Consider the level of observers' participation at meetings.]

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and FM D'Andrea seconded that the disposition of Charge 312 be changed to "Done." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 312 (11/6/16): Consider the member attendance at the interim Board meetings held by conference call and reflect it in the bylaws.]

MSC Tracy Gaines moved and Darleen Bogart seconded that the Bylaws Committee be charged with reviewing the Policies and Procedures to consider adding language regarding the committee liaison notifying the Appointments Committee when there is a need for a new committee member. The motion passed unanimously.

The Bylaws Committee requested a charge to look at the responsibilities we have for meetings that would bring us in line with the Federal 501(c)3 standards. This would include open meetings and observer participation. The discussion led to the following motion:

MSC Tamara Rorie moved and Darleen Bogart seconded that the Bylaws Committee be charged with reviewing the 501(c)3 standards and providing a proposal for our meetings and how observer participation is handled within those standards. The motion passed unanimously.

31. Certificates of Appreciation: Dawn Gross, Kim Charlson

Jennifer Dunnam will look into how to acknowledge Athena Graham for proofreading the many simbraille examples in Braille Formats. 2016.

32. (Agenda item #33) BANA's Listservs: Kim Charlson

The Signage Committee listserv will be looked at to determine that all members are on the list.

33. (Agenda item #34) BANA's Archives: Frances Mary D'Andrea

FM D'Andrea has been diligent about sending all meeting materials to the archives at APH after each meeting. A Dropbox folder has been set up with Anne Rich at APH to archive electronic files. Discussion of archiving the materials created for the Transition Forum will be added to the Fall 2017 Agenda. Discussion returned to the Fall 2016 meeting and our need to find a new server for BANA files.

34. (Agenda item #20) Strategic Planning: Mary Nelle McLennan

Mary Nelle McLennan and Jackie Sheridan led the board members through a number of activities designed to narrow the strands developed at the Fall 2016 meeting.

35. (Agenda item #30) Treasurer's Report: Jackie Sheridan

Jackie Sheridan, BANA treasurer, led the board through a review of the 2016 year-end financial statements and the 2017 year-to-date budget and statement of activities, which are on file.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Jackie Sheridan seconded to approve the Treasurer's Report. The motion passed unanimously.

There was some discussion about the timing of the financial review, Jackie indicated that the review will be performed this month by an accounting firm that Sue Reilly is familiar with. There is concern that the lack of review could affect BANA's 501(c)3 status. The IRS 990-N (e-Postcard) has been filed.

Per Bylaw 4.3 (4-98, 11-02, 11-08) Financial Review Within ninety (90) days of the close of the fiscal year, a financial review will be conducted of BANA's account books by an agency publicly chartered or certified to perform such audits.

36. (Agenda item #10) General Committee on Unified English Braille: Frances Mary D'Andrea

Discussion returned to the ICEB proposed expansion of the standing alone rule and adding the line indicator to the list of ending intervening symbols. Should this addition be made, the line indicator could be used as a separation between columns in a linear format:

  • 15.1.3 NEW SUBSECTION
    • 15.1.3

      • When columned or tabular material is changed to a linear format in braille, the line indicator may be used to mark the breaks between the columns. Whether or not to use the line indicator in this way is determined by the format guidelines of the agency or braille authority. The line indicator is unspaced from the text in the preceding column and is followed by space before the text of the following column.

        Example:

        Child

        Brenda Rose
        Laura

        Sept. 16,
        1952

        Medicine
        Hat

        AB

        Canada

         

        ,*_ ,br5da ,rose ,laura_
          ,sept4 #af1 #aieb_ ,m$ic9e
          ,hat_ ;,,ab_ ,canada
        444

Jennifer Dunnam will cast a vote for the U.S. in favor of this motion.

37. (Agenda item #38) Upcoming Meetings

37.1 Fall 2017: Hadley: Vivian Seki

The Fall 2017 meeting will be hosted by Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Winnetka, IL. It is to take place November 2-4, 2017 (two full days plus one half day). Thursday and Friday will be held at Hadley, Saturday at the Renaissance hotel. Hadley is handling the travel from the hotel to Hadley. Preliminary room rates for the Renaissance are $109 per night. Vivian Seki will prepare airport information and share with the board.

37.2 Spring 2018: ATPC: Dawn Gross

The BANA Spring 2018 meeting will be hosted by the Alternate Text Production Center April 9-11 (two full days plus one half day), the preliminary meeting location is Camarillo. For those wishing to attend, the CTEBVI conference takes place April 12-15. Pre-conference activities and sessions are to be held on Thursday, April 12th.

37.3 Board Teleconferences

The BANA Board teleconference is scheduled for Wednesday, August 9, 2017, 1-2:30 p.m. EDT.

38. (Agenda item #39) Future BANA meetings:

  • Fall 2018: ACB
  • Spring 2019: CNIB
  • Fall 2019: Clovernook
  • Spring 2020: NFB
  • Fall 2020: NBA
  • Spring 2021: NLS
  • Fall 2021: APH
  • Spring 2022: ASB
  • Fall 2022: AER
  • Spring 2023: Perkins
  • Fall 2023: NBP
  • Spring 2024: Horizons
  • Fall 2024: AFB
  • Spring 2025: CTEBVI
  • Fall 2025: AMAC

39. (Agenda item #20) Strategic Planning: Mary Nelle McLennan

Mary Nelle McLennan and Jackie Sheridan led the board members though brainstorming activities to develop actions that BANA can take to address the two chosen strategic imperatives. The strategic questions and resulting work groups are:

BANA's Strategic Question on Two Technical Codes: What actions BANA should take to address perspectives and issues concerning two technical codes?

Work Group Co-chairs: Saul Garza and Diane Spence. Personnel: Darleen Bogart, Kim Charlson, FM D'Andrea, Jennifer Dunnam, Sandy Ruconich, Cathy Senft-Graves, Jackie Sheridan

BANA's Strategic Question on Providing Codes and Resources: What actions should BANA take to more effectively develop, maintain, and update codes and resources and provide them to the community in a timely manner?

Work Group Co-chairs: Tracy Gaines and Jessi Rivera. Personnel: Maryann Bartkowski, Jen Goulden, Dawn Gross, Mary Nelle McLennan, Tamara Rorie, Vivian Seki, AMAC Representative.

Listservs will be set up for each workgroup.

40. (Agenda item #19) Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry: Cary Supalo

Discussion returned to the title of the Provisional Guidance, a more descriptive title would clarify what the provisional guidance is about. The following motion resulted:

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Tracy Gaines seconded that the provisional chemistry document be retitled to Provisional Guidance for Chemistry Notation Using Nemeth in UEB Contexts. The motion passed unanimously.

By general consensus it was agreed that the Provisional Guidance for Chemistry Notation Using Nemeth in UEB Contexts will be provided on the website in enhanced pdf and brf formats.

41. (Agenda item #35) Press Releases: Sandy Ruconich

Sandy Ruconich, BANA Vice chair, will create press releases for the following items: 1) the Spring 2017 meeting in conjunction with CTEBVI and 2) the new BANA member, AMAC Accessibility Solutions and Research Center. A press release will be issued for the Provisional Guidance for Chemistry Notation Using Nemeth in UEB Context when it is ready.

42. (Agenda item #19) Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry: Cary Supalo

Talk returned to changing the date on the Provisional Guidance for Chemistry Notation Using Nemeth in UEB Context to Spring 2017.

43. International Reports

There is a tactile reading conference in Stockholm, Sweden April 5-7, it is modeled after the Getting in Touch with Literacy conference. FM D'Andrea is going to present on the Braille Challenge Grant.

The 2018 ICEB Executive Committee meeting will be held in Dublin, Ireland.

44. (Agenda item #40) Around the Table Organization Updates (time permitting)

The Around the Table Organization Updates are not recorded in the minutes.

45. BANA's Social Media: Sue Reilly

Sue Reilly provided statistics on BANA's Facebook page. BANA representatives with ideas for social media content should contact Jennifer Dunnam and Sue Reilly.

46. (Agenda item #22) Publications Committee: Mary Nelle McLennan

MSC Sandy Ruconich moved and Mary Nelle McLennan seconded that the disposition of Charge 309 be changed to "Waiting." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 309 (11/6/16): Collect questions posed to, and their formal responses from BANA committees, and vetting those for posting on the BANA website.]

47. (Agenda item #41) Adjournment: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam thanked CTEBVI for their hosting of the meeting. Thank you to Wendy Buckley for representing Perkins.

Jennifer Dunnam adjourned the meeting at 3:39 PST.

Respectfully submitted,
Dawn Gross, Secretary