RNIB

Alt text? Don’t worry, Santa’s elves have your back! Writing great alt text is simpler than you think. Got questions? Ask our alt text elves! [Image Description: A bright pink instructional graphic titled “How to sleigh alt text.” It includes colourful headings labelled Identify Who (in pink), Expression (blue), Description (green), Colour (red), and Interesting Features (grey). On the right side, a sample alt text description in various colours reads: “Santa Claus looking happy as he waves at the camera. He wears a traditional red suit and hat and has a long white beard and glasses. There are colourful lights twinkly behind him.” Below the text, a photo of Santa Claus is shown, waving with a big smile against a background of twinkling, colourful holiday lights.]

Happy #WorldBrailleDay! 🎉 Celebrate this important day and Louis Braille’s birthday with our very own braille-iant quiz master Dave! He's here to test your braille knowledge. How many did you get right? #Braille200 [Video description and transcript: a bright yellow background with footage of our quiz master Dave, who wears a plaid brown shirt, highlighted in pink in the corner. It says “braille quiz” with a question mark at the top. As Dave reads out each question and the answers, they appear on-screen. When he reveals the correct answer, it goes green.] Hello, hello, hello and a very warm welcome to our Braille quiz. I'm Dave Williams, your Braille quizmaster. Fantastic to be with you. We have 6 questions, and remember, they're only easy if you know the answers. Alright, without any further ado, let's go. Question number one. What is Braille? A: a language, B: a tactile code, or C: a secret code. Braille is in fact a tactile code enabling blind and partially sighted people to read and write by touch. And the 4th of January, of course, is World Braille Day, an opportunity to celebrate all things Braille. Good game, good game. Alright, number 2. Who invented Braille? A: Gareth Braille, B: Louis Braille, or C: Bobby Braille. Our survey said B: Louis Braille, he invented the tactile code 200 years ago. Question #3. How many dots is in a standard Braille cell? Is it A: 4, B: 5, or C: 6? Give us a clue. Well, I did. There are 6 questions. So the answer is C: 6 dots. A standard Braille cell has three dots down each side arranged in a rectangle. Think of an egg box or the number six on a dice. Question #4. Out of those six dots in a standard Braille cell, how many combinations are there? A: 64, B: 72, or C: 83. Is that your final answer? A: 64 is the correct answer. There are 64 combinations of dots in a Braille cell to represent all letters of the alphabet, numbers, punctuation and other special symbols. Number 5 then. Which legendary musician extensively speaks about the use of Braille? Is it A: Elton John, B: Stevie Wonder, or C: Phil Collins? The answer is of course, B: the legend that is Stevie Wonder. He most recently spoke with RNIB Connect Radio, and famously presented a Grammy Award to Ed Sheeran in 2016 using Braille in front of a TV audience of millions. And our final question. Number six. Where might you find Braille in everyday life? I've started, so I'll finish. A: Medication packaging, B: Hand level signage including trains and lifts, or C: both. The answer is both, and many more places besides, including greeting cards, board games and well, you get the idea. Braille is all around us. Thank you so much for taking part in our Braille quiz. We hope you enjoyed it and we also hope you weren't the weakest link. Goodbye.]

You might have seen braille, but what is it? Braille is a tactile code that allows blind and partially sighted people to access literacy by reading and writing. It’s based on six dots, arranged in two columns of three, and there are 64 possible combinations used to represent the alphabet and numbers. Uncontracted braille translates each individual print letter, number or punctuation mark into a braille sign. Contracted braille has the same letters, punctuation and numbers, but adds special signs to represent common words or groups of letters. Today, technology has enabled braille to be more portable and adaptable. Refreshable braille displays can be connected to computers, tablets and other devices so that text can be read using rounded plastic pins raised to form braille characters. Braille is available in nearly every language and is used all over the world and is still widely used, giving blind and partially sighted people independence, privacy and a sense of security when reading and writing. Here at RNIB, we've continued to fight for braille and the rights of blind and partially sighted people to have access to information and the opportunity to express themselves in written word. Do you use braille? #Braille200 [Image description: "What is braille?" in text with a visual representation of the braille above, separated by a pink line. The text "Remember - braille is read by touch, this is just a visual representation" and the Braille 200 logo is in the corner, with a visual representation of braille, and RNIB and EBU logos.]

Can't believe we haven't reminded you not to use emojis as bullet points this year! (It causes havoc for people using screen readers.) Share to help us get the word back out there.

“Braille is knowledge, and knowledge is power” – Louis Braille Ahead of #WorldBrailleDay, which marks the anniversary of Louis Braille’s birthday, here’s a snapshot of the pioneer behind the tactile code. Louis Braille lost his sight in a childhood accident. Aged 10, he was sent to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth where he was first introduced to the idea of using a coded system of raised dots. Charles Barbier, a captain in Napoleon's army, visited the school to demonstrate his "night writing"; a tactile system designed for soldiers to send and receive messages at night without speaking. It used raised dots and dashes rather than letters. Louis quickly realised how useful Barbier's system could be, but thought it was too complicated. By 1824/25, aged just 15, Louis had developed the tactile system now known as braille. It's a huge part of many blind and partially sighted people’s lives. Here’s to the next 200 years of braille 🙌 #Braille200 [Image description: "Who is Louis Braille?" in text with a visual representation of the braille above, separated by a pink line. The text "Remember - braille is read by touch, this is just a visual representation" and the Braille 200 logo is in the corner, with a visual representation of braille, and RNIB and EBU logos.]

less talking about adding alt text in 2025 more actually adding alt text in 2025

To celebrate 200 years since the invention of braille, we’ll be bringing back our braille name generator next Tuesday! Follow us on BlueSky, Threads and Twitter so you don’t miss it! But our generator needs a name and we want your help! Cast your vote below ⬇ #Braille200

New year, new resolutions! Why not promise to be a brilliant ally to blind and partially sighted people in 2025? Here are some ideas to get you started. Which one will you choose? Find lots of ways to be helpful to blind and partially sighted people in 2025, here: https://rnib.in/BeHelpful [Image description: Title reads “Choose your 2025 resolution.” Underneath there are six options, each accompanied by an icon in a black circle. They are: “Learn braille” with an icon of a book with braille in. “Use alt text” with an icon showing an image and some writing. “Do a run for RNIB” with an icon of a running shoe. “Book an eye test” with an eye icon. “Do some volunteering” with an icon of a person with their hand raised and a heart in the middle of their chest. “Read our Be Helpful guide” with an icon showing two speech bubbles. The first contains a question mark and the second contains three dots, as if an answer is coming.]

It’s easy to forget everything you’ve achieved in 2024. We’ve pulled together just a small handful of the many incredible things our services, supporters and volunteers have accomplished this year. Whether you’ve supported us, collaborated with us or stayed with us to learn about how to be more inclusive, thank you. ❤️ [Image description: Image 1: A five box tick list, with text in the following order. 1. “2,500 people have volunteered for us!” 2. “Celebrated 30 years of our Eye Care Liaison Officer service (ECLO)” 3. “Supported over 800 blind and partially sighted people to stay in employment” 4. “Inspired 25,000 to sign our Out of Sight petition” 5. “We have almost 1.2M items in our RNIB Bookshare collection of accessible education resources” Image 2: List continues with text in the following order. 1. “Our Sooty Boxes have helped raise over £13 million for our services!” 2. “Having more than 400 people fundraise by walking, trekking, running, or skydiving to support us” 3. “We’ve supported 50 organisations start their journey to become a Visibly Better Employer” 4. “We had our highest fundraising total for London Marathon ever! Over £250,000 raised by 96 runners” 5. “We’ve produced over 4 million accessible documents, from magazines to ballot papers”]

Why is audio description in a theatre so important? Lisa George, who plays the Fairy Godmother at Wyvern Theatre, explains why. She has NAION (non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy) which causes damage to the optic nerve as a result of insufficient blood supply. Want to catch a pantomime with audio description near you? Find one here: https://lnkd.in/et56fjkx Or, if you’re looking to make your own stage show more accessible, reach out to our Business Services Team, here: https://lnkd.in/eX4H4yd6. [Video Transcription: This is my main fairy costume. It's actually made of two pieces. So there is a really, really heavy skirt, and then at the back it's like a corset, but there is a zip to the left hand side of my left sleeve where that zips open for quick changes. It's got nice puffed sleeves with purple gauzy netting on the top. And it has three nice big bows at the front, going down, descending and around the neck. It's like a ruffle. So this is my wig, it's pink. It has flecks of purple going through it like a big bun. It's almost like a sausage piece. And then the hair goes over it and then it's bouffant at the back and it's all messy. And then I have a string of lilac beads criss-crossing all across the hair. These are my fabulous shoes. So it's funny because they've got like a purple netting on it, which is very similar to my dress with lots of little sequins, it's got little, daisies, purple daisy flowers on. It has a purple and silver bow. It has a nice little button here. As a double protection, I have an elastic piece to keep the shoes on my feet. And it also has a really beautiful silver, glitter heel. And these are my glasses that I wear. They're a bit dirty, but they've got a nice pink and silver sparkly bit across the top. These are what I took from Coronation Street. I did ask them if I could take them because they're prescription glasses for me, which I got for the part of Beth when I was doing the sewing work. And I asked if I could take these with me. so I could wear as Fairy Godmother. So yeah, I just think they add to the costume.]