By Afifah Adi
Edited by Harith Syafiee
Last Sunday, I decided to sacrifice my morning sleep and got up to attend an 8.30 am to 5 pm programme that I, for some reason, had signed up days prior, despite having an already hectic schedule.
The name of the programme sounded nice, sue me. Beyond Blindness: The Link Between Us (BLINK) is a programme that invites students to contribute to the blind community by typing books into the computer that will then be converted into braille books—which I only knew by the time I stepped foot in the venue.
Somehow, I thought it was going to be about learning the Braille alphabet, and I was looking forward to it. But that was not the case, and I found myself in a very nice air-conditioned room with my fingers typing on the keyboards like rent was due. I feel like it turned out to be the “Who Types it Faster?” contest instead, with the heavy sound of keyboard typing from other participants (and I would like to think I won). I managed to finish typing three books by the time the programme ended at 5 p.m., and my fingers felt incredible (really).
But what exactly did we have to do? Firstly, there is a certain written format that we need to follow in order for the words in a book to be smoothly converted into the Braille alphabet. It will undergo a specialised software for transcribing the written format into Braille, and it can only be done for stuff that is written online or in a Word document.
Therefore, our task was to type the words from physical books into a Word document, save and submit them to a folder the organiser shared. What we have written will later be proofread to ensure no spelling mistakes and that the format is observed closely to avoid problems once the document runs through the software.
Despite not being what I initially expected to learn, it was still a good programme as I was exposed to the process of how braille books are made. I was also informed about how important braille books are for blind people to have more materials to read and for their education, and I’m glad I could make a small contribution to the community.
I also made a few friends during the programme, and it was nice to meet other people who share the same interests as me. Since my friends didn’t want to tag along, I had to force myself to be a bit more open and friendly when interacting with other participants so I wouldn’t end up being the only odd one out. The good news was that most participants came alone as well.
Another thing that I would like to point out is the free meals they distributed to participants. Since it started from morning until evening, we were provided free breakfast, lunch, and evening tea, which was awesome. I heard there would be the exact same programme coming up in May, so do look out if you’re perhaps interested after hearing my silly rant.
Disclaimer: Not a paid promotion!
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