A FORMER student at New College Worcester has taken up a top position at a braille coding group.

The United Kingdom Association for Accessible Formats (UKAAF) has revealed that James Bowden is the new chairman of the UKAAF Braille Coding Group.

A braille developer for access technology specialists Dolphin Computer Access, Mr Bowden, of Droitwich Road, Barbourne, Worcester, studied at the specialist school and college for blind and partially sighted students.

His new role involves the development of literary and technical braille codes used in the UK. The braille coding group will also cooperate with braille organisations and authorities from around the world, including the International Council on English Braille.

UKAAF’s aims and objectives are to aid service providers, transcribers, educators and end users in setting a minimum standard for accessible formats, including braille.

The wider aim of the organisation is to enable print disabled people to have an equal opportunity to access information in its many forms.

UKAAF chairman Pete Osborne said: “It is people like James, with their wealth of knowledge and experience, that we need involved in setting standards that are achievable and realistic while maintaining the quality of braille produced.”

Mr Bowden, aged 37, said: “For me, the amazing thing about braille is that in itself the concept of six raised dots is so simple, but it is so versatile. It can represent everything from basic letters, numbers and punctuation, to different languages, to complex mathematics, from space-saving contractions to music.

“You can have braille on paper or books, on refreshable braille displays for computers, on labels and even objects as diverse as playing cards, product packaging and outside maps.

“I started learning braille at my local primary school and then continued at Linden Lodge School.

But it was at New College Worcester – or as it was known then Worcester College for the Blind – where I was introduced to a wider range of braille codes and became a firm advocate of braille.

Like me, New College are really passionate about braille. Braille is literacy and can significantly increase quality of life.”

Mr Bowden took a degree in mathematics and computer science at St John’s College, Cambridge.

“In fact, my final year dissertation was on braille transcription,” he said. “I am one of those people who are blessed to know both print and braille, but use speech and refreshable braille when working with computers. I use Dolphin SuperNova on a daily basis both at work and at home.”

The supernova is a full screen reader offering magnification, speech and braille support, giving people with visual impairment the freedom to access Windows in the way that suits them best.

“I’ve now been with Dolphin for 14 years and work in their development department,” Mr Bowden said.

He said that the availability of accessible information is passionately backed by people with visual impairments.

“Some people seem to have arguments against braille, but I firmly believe that braille has a vital role to play in the lives of visually impaired people and am excited about the possibilities for braille in the future,” Mr Bowden said.

Mr Osborne said: “The passion and commitment shown by James is typical of that of many people who either use or produce accessible formats. If we consider the wider picture of those people who are print disabled, who every day face the problems of information that they are unable, or find it hugely difficult to access, then you can understand why we need a standard of information that they have a right to expect.

“With the help of James and others working across the range of accessible formats mentioned, we can and will achieve this.”

BRAILLE: HOW IT WAS INVENTED ALMOST 200 YEARS AGO

THIS system of writing and reading used by many blind people was invented almost 200 years ago.

While several types of written communication systems were tried during a 10-year period beginning in 1825, the one invented by a blind teenager was adopted. Some modifications have been made to it over the years but the braille code in use today is virtually the same as it was in 1834.

Louis Braille was born January 4, 1809, in a small village near Paris.

His father, a leather worker, often used sharp tools in his work. While playing in his father’s shop when he was three, Louis injured his eye on an awl. In spite of good care, infection set in and soon left him completely blind.

When Louis grew to school age, he was allowed to sit in the classroom to learn by listening.

Louis was very bright and creative, and when he was 10, he was sent to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris.

While a student, he began to use his creativity to invent an easy and quick way for blind people to read and write. Louis heard of a system of raised dots developed by Charles Barbier de la Serre, a French army captain. Barbier originally created a code of raised dots and dashes as a way to allow soldiers to write and read messages at night without using a light that might give away their positions.

He later adapted the system and presented it to the Institution for Blind Youth, hoping that it would be officially adopted there.

It was based on phonetics and consisted of groups of 12 dots arranged in two columns of six dots each.

Louis worked with Barbier’s basic ideas to develop his own simplified system that we know today as braille. He based the code on the normal alphabet and reduced the number of dots by half.

Louis Braille published the first braille book in 1829. In 1837, he added symbols for maths and music. He died of tuberculosis on January 6, 1852.

Today, in virtually every language around the world, the code named after Louis Braille is the standard form of writing and reading used by blind people.