Hi everyone,
Someone on another list I'm on posted the following article. Thought some
may find it interesting.
Jeanne
Braille Transcribing Certification Program Turns 100
In 1919, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped was a distant dream. The Library of Congress had provided a
reading room for the blind since 1897, but after twenty-two years of
acquisitions it still housed only a small collection of 300 books
representing
a variety of raised character systems. Demand, meanwhile, was rising, as the
end of World War I brought home a new generation of disabled veterans.
"The number of blind veterans was relatively small, but they changed
public perceptions of blindness," said NLS braille production specialist
Tamara Rorie. Young, heroic, and in the spotlight, the returning veterans
sparked increased interest in volunteering to assist the blind. Gertrude
Rider, who had been managing the Reading Room for the Blind since 1912,
began
a volunteer transcription program in 1918-the same year that the US settled
on
a standard six-dot system for braille. With the standard newly created,
there
was no existing program to train and certify transcribers, and so in 1919
Rider began issuing certifications to her volunteers.
"We've always had a commitment to have excellent braille for the
books
we transcribe," Rorie explained. "The certification program has been how
we've
ensured that."
The certification gained a boost in 1921, when the American Red
Cross
joined the Library of Congress in formalizing the volunteer transcription
program. The two organizations jointly published the first braille
transcription manual later that year. By 1925, 900 people had received
certifications; ten years later, the number had ballooned to 3,000.
The American Red Cross withdrew its participation in 1942, but the
braille transcription certification program continued to thrive at the
Library
of Congress. Today, it is managed under contract by the National Federation
of
the Blind (NFB) on behalf of NLS. Students seeking a literary braille
transcribing certification complete a series of twenty lessons, either
submitting them to NFB for grading by correspondence or working directly
with
a local teacher who provides feedback. The course takes an average of 9-12
months to complete. Students who complete their literary certification are
eligible to pursue further certifications in math or music braille. A
separate
certification is offered specifically for proofreading.
In its twelve years with NFB, the braille certification program has
undergone some significant changes, including the transition to UEB, the
expansion of the proofreading certification to include sighted as well as
blind students, and increased acceptance of translation software and
electronic braille. "When we began managing the program, all submissions
were
required to be completed on paper," explained Jennifer Dunnam, who has
managed
the program at NFB since 2007. "We began accepting electronic submission for
everything except the final assignment in 2007. It took a while before most
people were submitting electronically, but now electronic submissions are at
90 or 95 percent."
That final assignment-lesson 20-requires students to submit a trial
manuscript of 35 pages in hardcopy braille. "When people send us their
manuscripts, they say it's like sending their kids off to college," said
Dunnam with a laugh. "Back in the day, it was mostly volunteers who did this
work, often stay-at-home moms. The world today is less geared toward
volunteering, but braille transcription remains a labor of love, and people
get very excited about the program. A few weeks ago, we got flowers from
someone who had just earned their certification."
The program awards an average of 250 certifications a year,
including
about 25 in Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and a dozen in Music
Braille.
With fewer volunteers with the free time to devote to the vigorous and
lengthy
process of earning a braille transcriber certification available than in
decades past, transcribing has shifted to a surprising new source of
students:
prisons.
"More than half of the people we certify are incarcerated," said
Rorie. "Today, there are 40 prisons with transcriber certification programs,
and that number is growing. Learning braille transcription gives
incarcerated
students a sense of acknowledgement and respect, and employment prospects
after their release. The majority of people who work in braille are
independent contractors working from home, so criminal history is less of a
barrier than in other fields."
Delores Billman, who has coordinated the transcribing program at
Texas's Mountain View Unit since 2000, concurs. "It gives them a reason to
get
out of bed, but more importantly, it gives them a skill they can use after
leaving." Her program-the largest currently operating-has spots for 100
people, but it's not uncommon for her to receive 500 applications for those
unpaid positions. Transcribing is also an attractive skill to teach from the
perspective of the prison's administration. NLS supplies the course material
and issues certifications free of charge, sparing the prison the costs
associated with training prisoners in other skills with commercially issued
certifications.
Deborah Neal became one of Billman's trainees in 2005. "I had
applied
for the computer maintenance program, which shared a space, but it closed,"
Neal said. "That's how I learned about the braille program. When I first
heard
them explain it, it stretched my heart. It was deeper than a job-it was my
way
of giving back. I was scared at first about learning something new, but Ms.
Billman pushed us. She would throw me into something, and I'd just learn
it."
Neal completed a certification in Nemeth as well as literary
braille,
and describes it as "my favorite code out of them all." Released in 2011,
she
now works full time as a braille transcriber, and has trained three other
transcribers using the NLS certification program. She keeps in touch with
other women she met in Mountain View Unit, some of whom also make their
living
as transcribers.
"It's good to have a program that gives incarcerated people a sense
of
purpose and rehabilitation," Dunnam says, "as long as the primary goal
remains
producing high quality braille." For a hundred years, the NLS braille
transcribing certification program has maintained that standard.