To inform decision-making around the adoption of the Unified English Braille (UEB) code in the United Kingdom, a suite of research was carried out. This study involved a variety of braille stakeholders--student braille readers (in full time education), adult braille readers, braille teachers, and braille transcribers. Participants were sent…

A new means of measuring the movement properties of the braille-reading finger is described and exemplified in an experiment in which experienced readers of braille encountered sentences comprised of keywords in which word and orthographic frequencies were manipulated. These new data are considered in theoretical and practical terms. (Contains 2…

When Braille Institute in Los Angeles conceived The Braille Challenge contest more than a decade ago, the goal was to create an innovative way to promote braille literacy. Now that more than 4,500 students over the last 12 years from across the United States and Canada have chosen to participate in The Challenge, it is safe to say that it has been…

A report analyzing how accommodated tests, and students with disabilities and the assessments they take, are addressed in state test security policies -- a subject about which little is known. This analysis was conducted to partially fill this gap. The report provides a snapshot of how accommodated tests for students with disabilities, alternate…

This article examines the Alphabetic Braille Contracted Braille Study in relation to the dimensions of collaborative research: extent, intensity, substance, heterogeneity, velocity, formality, and productivity. It also discusses the dimensions of financing research and researchers' attitudes. The overall consensus is that the study would not have…

Introduction: This research examined the perspectives of teachers of students who are visually impaired regarding the use and effectiveness of high-tech assistive technology purported to assist visually impaired students in advanced mathematics. Methods: The data for this study were collected via a mixed-methods online survey distributed through…

Introduction: This exploratory study determined whether transcribing selected test items on an adult life and work skills reading test into braille could maintain the same approximate scale-score range and maintain fitness within the item response theory model as used by the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) for developing…

This study was designed to address three hypotheses: (1) The reading speed of both readers of French braille and readers of French print will be faster in the silent condition; however, this gain in speed will be larger for print readers; (2) Individuals who acquired braille before age 10 will display faster reading speeds at lower error rates…

Rehabilitation professionals working with students with disabilities and the families of those students face unique challenges in providing inclusive services to special education student populations. There needs to be a focus on adaptive teaching methods that provide quality experience for students with varying disabilities to promote student…

Introduction: The purpose of the study presented here was to understand and describe the misconceptions of students with visual impairments about sound and instructional techniques that may help them to develop a scientific understanding. Methods: Semistructured interview-centered pre-and posttests were used to identify the students' conceptual…

Introduction: This research attempted to establish the content validity of several performance statements that are associated with basic knowledge, production, and reading of braille by beginning teachers. Methods: University instructors (n = 21) and new teachers of students with visual impairments (n = 20) who had taught at least 2 braille…

Inclusive education in the Republic of South Africa has been codified and written down in the form of White Papers. From the legislative point of view, the situation is clear. The reality however shows that the implementation of the law is still at its infancy. Students with visual impairments are practically confined to being educated in…

Introduction: Students who read braille use assistive technology to engage in literacy tasks and to access the general curriculum. There is little research on the ways in which technology has changed the reading and writing practices and preferences of students who use braille, nor is there much research on how assistive technology is learned by…

In this study, a detailed error analysis was performed to determine if patterns of errors existed in braille transcriptions. The most frequently occurring errors were the insertion of letters or words that were not contained in the original print material; the incorrect usage of the emphasis indicator; and the incorrect formatting of titles,…

This study examined the understanding of chemical equations developed by three students with blindness who were enrolled in the same secondary-school chemistry class. The students were interviewed while interpreting and balancing chemical equations. During the course of these interviews, the students produced diagrams using Braille symbols that…