IN THE entrance hall of the Scottish Braille Press hangs a photograph of a very young JK Rowling, watching as the first braille editions of Harry Potter leave the presses. At that time, the author was little known outside Edinburgh, while the Scottish Braille Press was an institution which had been changing lives for more than a century.
Situated in the grounds of the Royal Blind School in Newington, Edinburgh, the Braille Press was founded in 1891 and is an integral part of the work of the Royal Blind, which is this year's Scotsman Christmas charity.
As well as printing the first
editions of Harry Potter and the first braille edition of Julia Donaldson's children's classic The Gruffalo, the Scottish Braille Press handles financial, legal and government documents which, since the Disabilities Discrimination Act of 1995, have to be produced in braille.
Although there are only 10,000 fluent readers of braille in the UK, an additional 10,000 rely on some braille in their daily lives. Last year the Scottish Braille Press produced six million pages of braille.
The Braille Press manager, John Donaldson, says: "Because of the Disabilities Discrimination Act, companies have to provide their services in braille. A big bank might have 500 braille users and they have to get their statements transcribed."
As well as producing government documents and financial statements in braille, the Scottish Braille Press produces braille magazines, sold to blind and visually impaired people for a fraction of what they cost to produce. The plant prints educational and examination papers for the Royal Blind School and for schools in Kenya, the Caribbean and Mauritius.
The Scottish Braille Press, which began with the aim of producing educational materials for the school, is also an important source of employment for Royal Blind pupils.
David Moodie, a braille supervisor, has worked here for 38 years since he left the Royal Blind School at 18. He first came to Craigmillar Park as a teenager when his sight began to deteriorate. He had two years at the Royal Blind School, where he worked hard to catch up. "As well as trying to learn braille, I was also trying to complete my education," he says. "I wasn't all that good at French, but then I came here and, as well as trying to do French, I was trying to do it in braille. But I got there."
After finishing school at 18, Mr Moodie began work at the Scottish Braille Press. His wife, Trisha, who has been with him 17 years, also works at the press.
Of the 40 staff at the Scottish Braille Press, 12 are visually impaired or blind and ten are disabled in other ways. Four members of staff have guide dogs at work and the whole building is specially adapted, with walkways and guide rails, and a talking microwave where workers can heat their lunches.
When Mr Moodie started working here, the presses ran on hot metal, and every page of braille was produced using zinc plates. "There have been a lot of changes since I started," he says.
He pulls down a 1913 copy of the poems of Robert Burns, which is one of the oldest books produced by the press. "This braille is different from the braille we use today – there are not so many short forms," Mr Moodie says; but he can still read the text, running his fingers along the lines of text.
There have been many other changes since he began work at the press. Today, digital production and braille translation software have transformed the process. Instead of hot metal, the press has huge digital embossing machines, which not only print pages of braille, but also arrange the pages in order.
Though much of the process is now computerised, it is still essential to have skilled proofreaders, sighted and blind.
Margaret Bradshaw, a braille transcriber, is checking the online proofs of a text that has been fed through the Duxbury Braille translator programme. She adds line breaks and commands and corrects mistakes on a screen. "No matter what translation programme you use, it is never 100 per cent," she says.
Margaret, who is sighted, became fascinated by braille when she was a schoolgirl. "I am just a geek," she says. "I learned to read so quickly, I found it more interesting to read upside-down."
In another part of the checking process, Janet Bartholemew, who is blind, is also proof-reading, using three different keyboards – a braille display, a braille inputter and a conventional computer keyboard.
Using her fingers, Janet reads a line of type in the form of a line of automated raised dots, then makes alterations to the text using the braille typewriter and the computer keyboard. To an onlooker it seems immensely complex, but Janet says: "It is just like you typing something on your computer. I've been doing this since I was five."
John Donaldson says that, while disability discrimination legislation has increased the amount of work for the Scottish Braille Press, it has also brought competition from new commercial companies. But he is determined the Scottish Braille Press will continue to support blind and visually impaired people by producing good-quality braille – and also by providing meaningful employment.
Over the next three years the Royal Blind plans a £6 million fundraising campaign, which will enable the charity to make improvements to accommodation at the school. The plan also involves modernising the Scottish Braille Press, at present housed in a collection of rather ramshackle buildings.
Mr Donaldson says: "I was previously a commercial printer and a lot of the work you produce is just junk mail that goes in the bin. The work produced here makes a difference to people."
BACKGROUNDTO SUPPORT the work of the Royal Blind in Scotland, use the form below. Your money can buy a range of items to help secure the care of 105 children at the Royal Blind School and 70 elderly residents of Braeside House – as well as the work of the Scottish Braille Press.
A smart electronic wheel-chair – or one wet floor shower for Braeside House – costs £12,000; an adapted posture chair is £258.50; a set of talking kitchen scales £47; a speaking sign £25; and talking clock £32.
Alex Salmond is the latest public figure to support the campaign, which has inspired hundreds of readers to donate.
The First Minister said: "I visited the Royal Blind School and the Scottish Braille Press and was impressed by its work to provide young Scots with not only an education but also the skills, confidence and support to contribute fully to Scottish society. I wish the Light up Lives Christmas Campaign every success."
