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<b><a name="_GoBack"></a>Implementation of Unified English Braille
(UEB)<br>
The following statement was approved by the BANA Board on November 9,
2014.<br>
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On November 2, 2012, the United States members of the Braille Authority
of North America (BANA) voted to adopt Unified English Braille (UEB) to
replace English Braille American Edition in the U.S. Based on extensive
dialog and planning that involved more than 30 organizations as well as
individual consumers, teachers, and transcribers, BANA established
January 4, 2016, as the date by which the United States will implement
UEB.<br>
BANA is working toward implementation of UEB in four phases:<br>
2013: Information yearBANA developed and disseminated information about
UEB and gathered input from constituents.<br>
2014: Infrastructure yearBANA and other organizations planned for
procurement and production of braille materials in UEB and developed
training materials.<br>
2015: Instructional yearReaders, producers, and educators will become
proficient in UEB.<br>
2016: Implementation yearAll new transcriptions will be produced in UEB;
educators will teach the code. Devices and software will fully and
accurately incorporate UEB. <br>
As of the implementation date in 2016, UEB, Nemeth, Music, and the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) will be the official codes for use
in the United States. BANA is providing guidance on how to incorporate
the Nemeth Code into UEB context with the intent that the Nemeth Code
will continue to be integral to braille in the United States. The
document <i>Provisional Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code
within UEB Contexts</i> is available as PDF and BRF files on the BANA
website at<b>
</b><a href="http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html">
www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html</a>.<br>
BANA recognizes that in order to make an effective transition to UEB,
states and organizations will need to develop customized implementation
plans. To maximize efficiency and impact, BANA encourages widespread
collaboration and sharing of expertise, resources, and training. <br>
BANA continues to post and update information and materials about UEB at
<a href="http://www.brailleauthority.org">www.brailleauthority.org</a>
. <br>
This document, <i>Implementation of Unified English Braille (UEB),</i> is
posted on the BANA website at
<a href="http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html">
www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html</a>. <br>
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<i>The Board of BANA consists of appointed representatives from seventeen
member organizations of braille producers, transcribers, teachers, and
consumers.<br>
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. <br>
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The purpose of BANA is to promote and to facilitate the uses, teaching,
and production of braille. Pursuant to this purpose, BANA will promulgate
rules, make interpretations, and render opinions pertaining to braille
codes and guidelines for the<b> </b>provisions of literary and technical
materials and related forms and formats of embossed materials now in
existence or to be developed in the future for the use of blind persons
in North America. When appropriate, BANA shall accomplish these
activities<b> </b>in international collaboration with countries using
English braille. In exercising its function and authority, BANA shall
consider the effects of its decisions on other existing braille codes and
guidelines, forms and formats; ease of production by various methods; and
acceptability to readers.<br>
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_______________________________________________<br>
BANA-Announce mailing list<br>
BANA-Announce@brailleauthority.org<br>
<a href="http://www.brailleauthority.org/mailman/listinfo/bana-announce" eudora="autourl">
http://www.brailleauthority.org/mailman/listinfo/bana-announce<br>
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