[Nfbc-info] Petition to preserve the nemeth Uniform Braille system

[Antonio Guimaraes]

Dear reader,

I would like to bring your attention to a petition concerning changes
to the Braille system in the United States.

The Braille Authority of North America will vote to adopt the Unified
English Braille this November. The body will likely retain the Nemeth
code for use in math and the sciences, but will change Braille in this
country to reflect adoption of the Unified English Braille used in
other countries.

BANA has given little effort and thoughtful consideration to Dr.
Abraham Nemeth’s most recent \work to make American Braille uniform.

It is my opinion that BANA is more concerned with unification of
Braille with other English-speaking countries than the impact changes
will have on education of all blind people who will study math and
science.

However, uniformity is vastly more important than unification. This is
especially true considering that the Nemeth code is unique to the
United States, and enables blind children to excel in their chosen
career paths in the hard sciences.

The Nemeth Uniform Braille System, NUBS, is the most up-to-date
revision to the Nemeth code in use today. It makes American Braille
usage uniform, and incorporates changes to the Nemeth code revision of
40 years ago.

BANA is moving towards adopting an older, outdated version of the
Nemeth code available.

Please sign a petition to preserve NUBS, and move blindness education
on a path to excellence. Let’s bring the Nemeth system into the 21st
century. Let’s give blind people a competitive edge. Let’s move
together towards one Braille system for all Americans. Let’s preserve
NUBS.

The petition is available here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/braille-authority-of-north-america-adopt-a-braille-code-that-supports-general-and-technical-readers

Sincerely,

Antonio Guimaraes