The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) is the standardizing body of

English Braille English Braille, also known as ''Grade 2 Braille'', is the braille alphabet used for English. It consists of around 250 letters ( phonograms), numerals, punctuation, formatting marks, contractions, and abbreviations (logograms). Some English Bra ...

orthography in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It consists of a number of member organizations, such as the

Braille Institute of America The Braille Institute of America (BIA) is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Los Angeles providing programs, seminars and one-on-one instruction for the visually impaired community in Southern California. Funded almost entirely by pri ...

, the

National Braille Association The National Braille Association, Inc. (NBA) is a 501c3 non-profit organization headquartered in Rochester, New York, centered on a mission to provide continuing education to those who prepare braille, and to providing braille materials to perso ...

, and the

Canadian National Institute for the Blind The CNIB Foundation (french: Fondation INCA) is a volunteer agency and charitable organization dedicated to assisting Canadians who are blind or living with vision loss, and to provide information about vision health for all Canadians. Founded ...

. In late 2012 BANA announced the gradual phasing in of

Unified English Braille Unified English Braille Code (UEBC, formerly UBC, now usually simply UEB) is an English language Braille code standard, developed to permit representing the wide variety of literary and technical material in use in the English-speaking world today ...

for general use.

Nemeth Code The Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics is a Braille code for encoding mathematical and scientific notation linearly using standard six-dot Braille cells for tactile reading by the visually impaired. The code was developed by Abraham Nemeth. Th ...

(1972) will continue to be used for mathematics and science,

Music Braille Code Braille music is a braille code that allows music to be notated using braille cells so music can be read by visually impaired musicians. The system was incepted by Louis Braille. Braille music uses the same six-position braille cell as literar ...

(1997) for musical notation, and

IPA Braille Code IPA Braille is the modern standard Braille encoding of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as recognized by the International Council on English Braille. A braille version of the IPA was first created by Merrick and Potthoff in 1934, and ...

(2008) for linguistics.

Member organizations

The following organizations are members of the BANA:

Full members

* Alternate Text Production Center of the

California Community Colleges The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 secti ...

(ATPC) *

American Council of the Blind The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is a nationwide organization in the United States. It is an organization mainly made up of blind and visually impaired people who want to achieve independence and equality (although there are many sighted ...

American Foundation for the Blind The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is an American non-profit organization for people with vision loss. AFB's objectives include conducting research to advance change, promoting knowledge and understanding, and shaping policies and practice ...

American Printing House for the Blind The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) is an American non-for-profit corporation in Louisville, Kentucky, promoting independent living for people who are blind and visually impaired. For over 150 years APH has created unique products an ...

* Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind & Visually Impaired * Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired *

* California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired * Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired *

CNIB The CNIB Foundation (french: Fondation INCA) is a volunteer agency and charitable organization dedicated to assisting Canadians who are blind or living with vision loss, and to provide information about vision health for all Canadians. Founded ...

(Canadian National Institute for the Blind) *

Council of Schools and Services for the Blind The Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB) is a consortium of specialized schools in Canada and the United States whose major goal is improving the quality of services to children who are blind and visually impaired. COSB is a me ...

Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired Hadley is a non-profit serving adults with vision loss offering practical help, connection, and new ways to approach everyday tasks made more difficult with changing vision. Workshops, Call-in Discussion Groups, and thHadley Presents Podcastex ...

* Horizons for the Blind *

* National Braille Press, Inc. *

National Federation of the Blind The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is an organization of blind people in the United States. It is the oldest and largest organization led by blind people in the United States. Its national headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland. Overvie ...

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) is a free library program of braille and audio materials such as books and magazines circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States and American citizens living abroad by po ...

Associate members

* Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust * Crawford Technologies * T-Base Communications

References

External links

* Braille organizations {{org-stub