This podcast series highlights activities of the Braille Authority of North America.
BANA is the standard-setting body with regard to braille codes and formatting guidelines for both literary and technical material. It makes the rules for how braille is written and formatted in the U.S. and Canada.
Episode 12 of the BANA Braille Bits podcast celebrates BANA's 50th Anniversary with special guest, Darleen Bogart. Darleen is the longest-serving member representative of the BANA Board, first as an observer at the very first meeting in 1976. In this special episode, Darleen shares highlights from those early board meetings, and talks about how BANA has shaped the world of braille over the years.
29 Jun 2026
BANA BrailleBits--Episode 11
In this 11th episode of BANA Braille Bits, hosted by BANA Chair, Jen Goulden, we highlight BANA's newest member organization, the Foundation for Blind Children located in Phoenix, Arizona. Our guest, Brian Voeller, Director of Accessible Learning Services, talks about the goals of FBC, highlights some of its braille on demand programs, and shares details of the braille resources FBC provides for the community.
4 Nov 2025
BANA BrailleBits--Episode 10
In this tenth episode of BANA Braille Bits, hosted by BANA Chair, Jen Goulden, we highlight Perkins School for the Blind, which is based in Watertown, Massachusetts. Wendy Buckley is the Perkins representative on the BANA Board and the current BANA Vice-Chair. Wendy talks about the history of Perkins, its goals supporting students, and projects focusing on community engagement.
22 Sept 2025
BANA BrailleBits--Episode 9
In this ninth episode of BANA Braille Bits, hosted by BANA Chair, Jen Goulden, we highlight the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI), which is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Hollie Knight represents CIDI on the BANA Board and is a Braille Media Specialist. Hollie shares information about CIDI's mission towards braille, the resources it provides, as well as some upcoming goals and activities.
25 Mar 2025
BANA BrailleBits Episode 8
In this eighth episode of BANA Braille Bits, hosted by BANA Chair, Jen Goulden, we hear from Dave Williams, Chair of The Braillists Foundation (https://www.braillists.org/)in the United Kingdom. Dave provides an update on various events celebrating the 200th anniversary of the invention of braille.
Dave is also an Inclusive Design Ambassador for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
For more information on Braille 200 events, visit https://www.rnib.org.uk/about-us/braille-200/what-is-braille-200/.
8 Oct 2024
BANA BrailleBits Episode 7
In this seventh episode of BANA Braille Bits, we hear from Dr. Judy Dixon who serves as President of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) and who also represents the American Council of the Blind (ACB) on the Braille Authority of North America (BANA). Host Tamara Rorie, BANA Representative from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) and Past BANA Chair, interviews Judy who shares highlights from ICEB’s 2024 8th General Assembly held in Auckland, New Zealand, in May. Judy also details information on the work of ICEB, the status of the ICEB rulebook, and resolutions passed at this quadrennial ICEB General Assembly.
For more information about ICEB, you can contact Dr. Dixon at the following email addresses: info@iceb.org for general questions concerning ICEB or ueb@iceb.org (mailto:ueb@iceb.org) for questions on UEB.
18 Dec 2023
BANA BrailleBits. Episode 6
Hosted by Tamara Rorie, representative of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, this episode of BANA Braille Bits highlights one of BANA’s Member Organizations, Hadley. Danette Johnson, the team leader of the Braille and Rehab teams at Hadley, shares how the mission of Hadley is to create personalized learning opportunities that empower adults with vision loss or blindness to thrive at home, at work, and in their communities. She also gives us exciting information on current and upcoming projects.
For more information on Hadley, call 800-323-4238 or visit hadleyhelps.org
1 Aug 2023
BANA BrailleBits Episode 5
Hosted by Tamara Rorie, representative of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, this episode features an interview with Jen Goulden, current Chair of BANA, who represents the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Jen talks about BANA’s role, its member organizations, and gives a glimpse into what’s in store for 2023-2024.
26 Oct 2020
BANA Braille Bits Episode 4
This episode features an interview with Darleen Bogart, CNIB National Braille Convenor and long-time representative on the BANA Board. She looks back at the establishment of and early days of the Braille Authority of North America in 1976. Darleen reflects on the composition of BANA, projects and means of communication over the years. She brings the history of BANA forward and updates us on her current activities.
4 Jan 2020
BANA Braille Bits Episode 3
This episode features an interview with Dr. Robert Englebretson by Dr. Sandra Ruconich, chair of BANA's Outreach Committee. Dr. Englebretson is the recipient of the 2019 Darleen Bogart Braille Excellence Award. Dr. Englebretson is Chair of the Linguistics Department at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
From 2005 to 2010, he served as the International Council on English Braille's U.S. Representative to UEB Committee for Foreign Languages and Linguistics, under the auspices of which he developed IPA Braille. IPA Braille presents an up-to-date braille notation for the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet, primarily aimed at braille-reading students and professionals in the language sciences, as well as braille transcribers wishing to produce braille versions of linguistics texts.
BANA Awards Darleen Bogart Braille Excellence Award to Dr. Robert Englebretson
3 Jan 2020
BANA Braille Bits Episode 2
An interview with the chair of BANA, Jennifer Dunnam. Discussion about the organization and some of the exciting work that is happening, as well as thoughts about braille and its future.
5 Feb 2019
BANA Braille Bits Episode 1
This podcast is an overview of the Braille Authority of North America (BANA). Sandy Ruconich, Vice-chair of BANA, is interviewed so you can learn a little about our organization: who we are, what we do, and how long we've been around.
BANA is the standard-setting body with regard to braille codes and formatting guidelines for both literary and technical material. It makes the rules for how braille is written and formatted in the U.S. and Canada.
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