Press Release

June 2018
For Immediate Release

Contact: Jennifer Dunnam, Chair
Braille Authority of North America
612-767-5658
chair@brailleauthority.org

BANA Approves Two Guidance Documents,
Announces New Treasurer and Board Members

The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) held its spring 2018 meeting April 9-11 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel. The meeting was hosted by the Alternate Text Production Center of the California Community Colleges (ATPC) and immediately preceded the annual meeting of the California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI).

During its three-day meeting, the BANA Board reviewed semiannual reports from its eighteen general and technical committees—each of which works on specific charges from the Board—and acted on recommendations from these committees. Portions of the Monday and Tuesday meetings were dedicated to further development of BANA's strategic planning.

The Board approved two guidance documents entitled Graphing Calculator Guidelines and a revision of Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code within UEB Contexts, which will be released in the near future. A document approved during a previous BANA meeting, Provisional Guidance for Transcription Using the Chemistry Code within UEB Contexts, is now available in print and BRF versions on the BANA website. This website posting also includes a link through which comments can be addressed to the authoring committee.

Jessica (Jessi) Rivera, representing Associated Services for the Blind, was elected BANA treasurer to replace Jaclyn (Jackie) Sheridan, who for personal reasons cannot complete her term of office. BANA welcomed two new Board members—Whitney Gregory from Braille Solutions, Region 4 Educational Service Center and Tina Seger from Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Horizons for the Blind has also appointed a new Board member, Cynthia (Cindy) Skandera.


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.

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