Handid Braille Services
Multi-Language Braille Transcription, Proofreading, & Printing. Accessibility Consulting.
Specializing in braille for languages other than English, especially languages that do not use the Latin alphabet. (We're really good at Unified English Braille too!)
Supporting People Who Are Blind and Low Vision, and The People Who Support Them!
About Handid
Handid is a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with a mission to provide braille and other forms of accessible media to organizations with clients who are blind and low-vision, and individuals who read braille. We work with clients globally on six of the seven global continents. (The holdout is Antarctica.)
Handid specializes in braille for languages other than English, especially those that use symbol systems other than the Latin alphabet. (We do English too!)
Handid maintains technologies and processes that meet HIPAA and GDPR regulations for security and privacy.
At Handid, our vision is a world where accessible media is always available.
Donations are tax-deductible in the USA, and are applied to reduce or remove costs to our individual clients.
Global Reach
Working with clients on six of the seven global continents.
Multi-Language Braille
Specializing in non-Latin alphabet languages — Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, and many more.
HIPAA & GDPR Compliant
State-of-the-art security and privacy standards across the entire toolchain.
501(c)(3) Non-Profit
Donations are tax-deductible and directly reduce costs for individual clients.
Get In Touch
Click the "Contact Us" link at the top of this webpage, or send an E-mail to [email protected] to ask about your project, or to request consultation over your and your patron's needs for braille and accessible media.
[email protected]What is Handid up to?
Pharmaceutical Packaging Braille
Handid Braille Services now provides specialized transcription and proofreading services for pharmaceutical packaging around the world! This specialized use of braille includes our ability to produce braille in multiple languages, including adding multiple languages when a product is distributed across regions where multiple languages are spoken.
Jumbo Braille Now Available
Handid Braille Services now offers production of Jumbo Braille! Jumbo Braille is an enlarged and more widely-spaced version of braille that is useful for individuals with sensory limitations such as neuropathy.
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award
On the closing day of the 2024 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Handid Braille Services was presented with the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award for its work in braille for languages other than English. Fewer than 30 individuals and organizations have received this award in the 85-year history of NFB.
Navajo Braille Added
Handid Braille Services has just added Navajo braille to its list of languages!
NFB Committee Appointment
Don Winiecki, principal at Handid Braille Services, has been appointed by Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) to serve on NFB's Committee for the Advancement and Promotion of Braille (CAPB).
Mediterranean & Middle East Hotel Partnership
Handid Braille Services has partnered with hotel chains throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East to ensure its documents are available to guests in Unified Arabic Braille and Unified English Braille.
New York Public Library Exhibition
Handid Braille Services has provided braille transcriptions for the New York Public Library that are used in a museum-quality exhibition of the library and its history!
CBS2 Television Feature
Don Winiecki was featured in a television news piece on CBS2 in Boise, Idaho, highlighting Handid's work transcribing 29 different languages into braille.
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award — 2024
On the closing day of the 2024 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind, Handid Braille Services was presented with the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award for its work in braille for languages other than English. Fewer than 30 individuals and organizations have received this award in the 85-year history of NFB.
Languages We Serve Every Month
Handid is increasing the languages for which we can produce braille transcriptions, including both contracted (grade 2) and uncontracted (grade 1).
Every Month
- Arabic (Unified Arabic Braille)
- Chinese braille (Simplified and Traditional)
- English (Unified English Braille)
- Farsi/Persian braille
- Hebrew braille
- Japanese braille
- Russian braille
- Tagalog braille
- Vietnamese braille
Additional Languages (Recent Month)
- Armenian braille (East and West)
- Burmese braille
- French braille
- Hmong braille
- Indonesian braille
- Korean braille
- Laotian braille
- Portuguese braille
- Spanish braille
Why Is Braille Transcription Important?
49.1 million
individuals globally are blind (2020)
33.6 million
experience severe visual difficulties globally
7.7 million
people in the U.S. experience blindness or low-vision
70%+
unemployment rate for blind individuals ages 21–64
44%
unemployment rate for braille readers — significantly lower
According to the journal "Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science," in 2020, 49.1 million individuals globally are blind and 33.6 million experience severe visual difficulties. The National Federation of the Blind reports that almost 7.7 million people in the U.S. population experience blindness or low-vision.
In the U.S.A., the unemployment rate for non-institutionalized individuals between 21 and 64 years of age who are blind is over 70%. However, braille readers experience a much lower unemployment rate of 44% and report more active participation in their communities.
Thus, there is substantial evidence that braille provides a person who is blind or low-vision with skills and opportunities that help them live lives more similar to sighted counterparts than possible for those who do not read braille.
Braille enables an individual to actively study content in detail — absolutely essential in mathematics, science, and technology subjects. It also allows an individual to read at their own pace and to go back and review passages more easily.
The "Americans with Disabilities Act" (ADA) provides a legal requirement for certain materials to be produced in braille, including way-finding signage, elevator control panels, essential documents, and more.
Donate Tax Deductible Funds
Support Handid Braille Services with a secure, tax-deductible donation via PayPal. You can donate with PayPal, a credit card, or a debit card. Add your address on the last page of the donation process to subscribe to our newsletter and keep up with the latest news from Handid Braille Services. After you complete your donation you will automatically be presented with a printable "tax letter" verifying your contribution.
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