About

Handid works in multiple languages including English, Arabic, Armenian, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Thai, Lao, Tagalog, Hmong, Vietnamese, Japanese, and more.

We maintain state of the art security systems that meet HIPAA and GDPR requirements. Our entire workflow ensures security and confidentiality of your materials. All of our members are trained in required processes to maintain that!

History

Don Winiecki, principal at Handid, became interested in braille when members of his family experienced severe loss of vision. He simply can't imagine not being able to read and he was motivated to form Handid Braille Services when he learned that braille and other forms of accessible media are often not available for even the most rudimentary documents of modern society.

Because those documents facilitate full participation in society, Handid focuses on public-facing organizations like health care institutions, insurance companies, civic organizations, schools, museums, and others. However, we are very happy to provide braille to anyone!

While learning braille, Don learned that no matter how it is produced -- using a "slate and stylus" (analogous to paper and pencil), a special purpose braille typewriter, or a computer -- it is a very handwork intensive process. The name "Handid" arises from this. When producing braille, our "hands did it!" so "Hand-did" or "Handid."

Credentials

Don Winiecki, principal at Handid, holds certification from the U.S.A. Library of Congress in braille transcription. 

He is a member of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and an active member of the NFB "Committee on the Advancement and Promotion of Braille." 

Additionally, Don is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Braille Association (NBA) where he is also chairperson of the "Tactile Graphics Committee," and member of the "Foreign Language Committee." He is fluent in UEB, EBAE and other braille codes (UEB is "Unified English Braille" -- a single set of braille symbols and rules for literary and technical materials in all countries that use English as a common or administrative language.)

He is also the sole U.S.A. representative for the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) "Committee for Technical Braille." This committee sets the rules and guidelines for expressing technical content in braille. "Technical content" includes mathematics, chemistry, computer code, linguistics, and non-English languages. 

The Braillist's Code of Ethics and Maintenance of Privacy

As a professional I am committed to the Braillist's Code of Ethics as stated by the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) and the National Braille Association (NBA).

http://www.brailleauthority.org/ethics/ethics.html

I pledge to:

• prepare braille materials in an accurate, timely manner, without personal interjection, 

• refrain from using any information obtained in the performance of my duties in a manner that would be detrimental to the agency or person for whom the material was transcribed, 

• treat all material transcribed as confidential unless the material is publicly available or an agreement has been obtained in writing that the information may be disclosed, 

• conduct business in a professional manner with dignity, respect and courtesy, 

• accept assignments as dictated by my knowledge of the subject matter, braille skill competency level, and ability to complete the assignment on a mutually agreed upon date, and 

• continuously develop the highest levels of knowledge and skills through professional development in my chosen specialty. 

-- Adopted by the National Braille Association, November 2003

-- Adopted by the Braille Authority of North America , April 2005 

For more information about the Braille Authority of North America, visit www.brailleauthority.org.