Thursday, May 2, 2019 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, May 3, 2019 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 4, 2019 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Hosted by CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind)
Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

1. Call to Order: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. EDT and thanked CNIB for hosting the meeting.

2. Welcome from CNIB

Darleen Bogart, representative of CNIB, briefly welcomed the BANA Board. Diane Bergeron, vice-president of Engagement and International Affairs extended the welcome and provided a brief history of CNIB.

3. Seating of BANA members

Nate Liao is in attendance on behalf of Guy Toles and CIDI (Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation).

4. Self-Introductions: Representatives and Observers

Attending:

Jennifer Dunnam, National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Chair
Tamara Rorie, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress (NLS), Vice Chair
Dawn Gross, Alternate Text Production Center (ATPC), Secretary
Jessica (Jessi) Rivera, Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ASB), Treasurer
Frances Mary (FM) D'Andrea, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), Immediate Past Chair
Sandra (Sandy) Ruconich, American Council of the Blind (ACB)
Nate Liao, CIDI (Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation)
Cathy Senft-Graves, American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
Mary Nelle McLennan, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)
Whitney Gregory, Braille Solutions, Region 4 Educational Service Center
Tracy Gaines, California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI)
Tina Seger, Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Darleen Bogart, CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind)
Vivian Seki, Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Cynthia (Cindy) Skandera, Horizons for the Blind
Diane Spence, National Braille Association (NBA)
Jackie Sheridan, National Braille Press (NBP)
Kim Charlson, Perkins School for the Blind

Jen Goulden, associate member Crawford Technologies
Susan (Sue) Reilly participated in her role as administrative assistant.

Observers:

Lorraine Banks
Nancy Barker
Roger Beaty
Diane Bergeron
Jean Bilyk
Rebecca Blaevoet
Karen Brophey
Jill Cooter
Betty Fan
Debbie Gillespie
Marina Groulx
Daphne Hitchcock
Meggy Kwok
Phyllis Landon
Diane Lapidus
Natalie Martiniello
Anita Munshi
Bonnie Read
Cheryl Roberts-Dupasquier
Melanie Romer Noel
Janice Sellers
Dana Tam
Anthony Tibbs

5. Meeting Arrangements: Darleen Bogart

Darleen Bogart explained the arrangements and logistics for the BANA meeting.

6. Board's Liability Statement: Dawn Gross

Dawn Gross, BANA Secretary, read the following Indemnification Statement: "BANA indemnifies its Officers and Board of Directors and holds them harmless from all claims of every kind, including court expenses, attorneys' fees, and the claimed amount arising from the performance of their duties as Officers and Directors except for their own acts of dishonesty and gross negligence." (Adopted March 30, 1987)

7. Agenda Approval: Jennifer Dunnam

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Frances Mary D'Andrea seconded the motion that the agenda be approved as amended. The motion passed unanimously.

8. Chair's Comments: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam explained some of the typical procedures that take place during a BANA meeting. These include the fact that the administrative assistant is present to help with notetaking, and that the BANA secretary takes the minutes. Frances Mary D'Andrea records "to do" items for all members and sends the list to the Board immediately following the meeting.

Guy Toles will join the meeting via Zoom during the strategic planning session to be held this afternoon. During the 3-day meeting BANA will focus on ways to sustain the work that we are doing by pulling in more resources to keep projects going while also seeking to expand and maximize our resources.

9. (Agenda item #21) Publications Committee: Mary Nelle McLennan

Mary Nelle McLennan, chair of the Publications Committee, read the report which is on file.

Reporting on Charge 330, Mary Nelle noted that the archive code section will be placed in the "BANA Documents and Archives" section of the website but that the section has not been created because the content is still needed. In response to Charge 336, Sandy Smith and Mary Nelle also looked at where information regarding the BANA Braille Excellence Awards should be placed and feel that it is best located in a section on the About BANA page. The Publications Committee is ready to work with the Outreach Committee to upload the appropriate material. Charge 339 was completed last year, and the disposition changed from "Ongoing" to "Done" at the fall meeting. No report was prepared for this charge.

In reading the report Mary Nelle reported that Sandy Smith and Ruth Rozen have retired from the Publications Committee. With this news, a lengthy discussion ensued regarding: 1) the media format (BRF, PDF, HTML), and 2) the level of accessibility in which BANA will provide its publications to the public. It is agreed that it is important to have documents for print and braille readers that are printable, searchable, and also downloadable. It was noted by the Board that users would miss the HTML format and that expectations would need to be managed should BANA determine the cost and ease of providing HTML documents is not feasible.

Mary Nelle indicated that creating clean Word documents is at the heart of creating the remaining formats and that BANA should come to a consensus as to which document types will be provided by the end of this meeting.

The Publications Committee is dedicated to being involved with authoring committees from the start of projects. This allows for more dialogue and training to the authoring committees and will ensure that files require less intervention after turnover. Mary Nelle feels that with more resources, the Publications committee can handle creating the clean word document. Jen Goulden briefly explained what it takes to clean up a word document for creating a PDF for screen readers and creating a table of contents. Most important, document styles need to be consistent throughout the document.

Jennifer Dunnam and Mary Nelle reported that the Provisional Guidance on Transcribing Mathematics in UEB and the Graphing Calculator Guidelines were sent to CommonLook to obtain quotes for creating accessible PDFs. The quote per page was $7 and $9 respectively. CommonLook would not have worked to enhance the images initially provided in the Graphing Calculator Guidelines nor would they have created alt tags.

Tina Seger volunteered her assistance to help with cleaning up word documents. The suggestion of creating a "Publications Template" containing defined styles and also providing training for its use was made. It was requested that Publications upload sample files containing correct formatting to the publications folder of banafiles.

Sandy Smith has agreed to maintain BANA's website for the time being, Mary Nelle is open to recommendations regarding platforms and resources. Kim Charlson mentioned that the ACB web servers support Drupal but that BANA will need to consult with ACB's web administrator to determine whether a new website will work with the ACB servers.

MSC Tamara Rorie moved and Darleen Bogart seconded the motion to create a task force to research all website options and bring back a recommendation to the Board at or before the summer teleconference. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Whitney Gregory seconded the motion to appoint Jackie Sheridan as chair, Jen Goulden, Tamara Rorie, and Sandy Smith to the Task Force on Website Investigation. The motion passed unanimously.

GC The motion regarding the appointments to the Task Force on Website Investigation was amended to add Kim Charlson as liaison to ACB.

10. (Agenda item #9) Braille Formats Technical Committee: Cindi Laurent

Nate Liao, read the report which is on file. There was no further discussion.

11. (Agenda item #10) Nemeth Code Technical Committee: Dorothy Worthington

Dawn Gross, liaison to the Nemeth Code Technical Committee, summarized the report which is on file.

Dawn reported that the committee has begun work on the revision. Word documents incorporating the original PDF scan and the many updates through the years have been created. The examples have been replicated in simbraille and MathType where possible. The Orientation through Rule 4 have been reviewed and updated to reflect the Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code within UEB Contexts. Several rules have been distributed amongst the committee for individuals to update examples to UEB or Nemeth within UEB and return to the committee with recommended changes.

In regards to Charge 329, the wording in the Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code within UEB Contexts states that the wording for number line symbol definitions are "suggested". The Tactile Graphics Technical Committee has developed a list of number line symbols to be included in the revised Tactile Graphics Guidelines document. The symbols listed in both documents are the same, however the definitions vary slightly. It is the recommendation of the Tactile Graphics Committee that the list be removed from the Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code with UEB Contexts and transcribers referred to the Tactile Graphics Guidelines. This will be considered as the Nemeth code is rewritten.
MSC Dawn Gross moved and Tracy Gaines seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 329 be changed from "Ongoing" to "Discarded." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 329 (4/9/18): Work together with the Tactile Graphics Committee to synchronize the presentation of number lines symbols on the special symbols page.]

Discussion returned to the revision of the Nemeth Code and the need to get the process well under way. There was discussion of having a teleconference/Zoom call with the Jennifer Dunnam, a point person from the Publications Committee and the Nemeth Code Technical Committee to determine how best to make the rewrite successful and timely.

GC Dawn Gross will convene a teleconference between the Nemeth Code Technical Committee, the Publications Committee, and Jennifer Dunnam to discuss the Nemeth Code revision and offer the board's support and develop ways to move forward.

12. (Agenda item #11) Tactile Graphics Technical Committee: Aquinas Pather

Diane Spence, liaison to the Tactile Graphics Technical Committee, summarized the report, which is on file.

MSC Diane Spence moved and Darleen Bogart seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 328 be changed from "Ongoing" to "Done." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 328 (4/9/18): Work together with the Nemeth Code Committee to synchronize the presentation of number line symbols on the special symbols page.]

Mary Nelle McLennan asked when the Publications Committee should expect to receive the Tactile Graphics Guidelines files. Diane indicated by the end of the year but that the committee will need a transcriber to produce the braille files and somebody to produce the supplements.

BANA will send a thank you note to Region 4 for hosting the face-to-face meeting.

13. (Agenda item #12) Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests: Diane Spence

Diane Spence, liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests, summarized the report, which is on file.

Diane expressed concern that the charge and direction of the committee need to be reevaluated as does the committee makeup. Additional board members echoed the concern that the document does not meet the current needs for transcribing standardized tests. Darleen Bogart strongly suggested that Canada be included in the process of updating the guidelines.

Whitney Gregory, FM D'Andrea, Jessie Rivera, Jackie Sheridan, and Diane Spence will wordsmith a charge to bring back to the board before the end of the Saturday session.

14. (Agenda item #13) Music Braille Technical Committee: Karen Gearreald

Tamara Rorie, liaison to the Music Braille Technical Committee, summarized the report which is on file.

The appointment of Stephanie Pieck will be discussed during the Appointments Committee report.

15. (Agenda item #14) Crafts and Hobbies Technical Committee: Camille Caffarelli

Jackie Sheridan, liaison to the Crafts and Hobbies Technical Committee, summarized the report which is on file.

The General Committee for Review Process is in the process of writing an introduction addressing the upcoming review of the UEB based chess code. The Crafts and Hobbies Committee no longer needs to work with UKAAF.

MSC Jackie Sheridan moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded the motion to change the disposition of Charge 198 from "Ongoing" to "Discard." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 198 (4/10/10): Review existing Chess codes and work with UKAAF to develop a code suitable for adoption by BANA.]

Discussion whether to maintain a technical committee dedicated to the very broad topic of crafts and hobbies or creating ad hoc committees for specific guidelines as needed ensued. This topic will be revisited prior to the end of the meeting.

16. (Agenda item #24) Strategic Planning

Mary Nelle McLennan and Guy Toles led the Board in a conversation about the proposed implementation steps to provide codes and resources in an effective and timely manner. The two prongs were discussed and brainstorming meetings were set.

17. (Agenda item #15) Foreign Language Task Force: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam presented a verbal report. Carol Greer lives abroad now and is unable to participate in the task force, Rebecca Sherwood is now working on the Provisional Guidance for Transcribing Foreign Language Material in UEB. She has what BANA approved as its principles for the document: a smaller document than previously created that does not duplicate content in Braille Formats but has enough information to cover the larger questions people have about transcribing foreign language in UEB contexts. Jen Goulden is working with Rebecca and will check in with her every two weeks.

18. (Agenda item #16) Ad Hoc Committee on Early Literacy Materials Production: Bonnie Read

Cathy Senft-Graves, liaison to the ELMP Committee, summarized the report which is on file.

Other than having the publisher permissions to reprint examples, the documents are ready to submit to the board. Jennifer Dunnam has passed the permissions responsibility to Cathy Senft-Graves and will forward all recent correspondence to Cathy by the end of the meeting.

It was previously moved and approved that the bylaws be suspended to allow for a vote by teleconference or email after all document formats and permissions are completed, the motion stands.

19. (Agenda item #17) Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry: Cary Supalo

Frances Mary D'Andrea, liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry, summarized the report which is on file.

The committee has many ideas but has not presented FM with draft revisions. She will tell the committee to focus on creating Word and brf versions of the draft chemistry code. FM will remind the committee to use the listserv.

GC FM D'Andrea will convene a teleconference between the Ad Hoc Committee on Chemistry, the Publications Committee, and Jennifer Dunnam to discuss the Chemistry Code revision and offer the board's support and develop ways to move forward.

20. (Agenda item #18) International Council on English Braille: Frances Mary D'Andrea, Jen Goulden, Peg Mercer, Jennifer Dunnam, Rebecca Blaevoet, Karen Gearreald, Sue Reilly, Natalie Martiniello, Judy Dixon

Frances Mary D'Andrea reported that ICEB has held two teleconferences since the last BANA board meeting. A small committee held a teleconference in January to discuss planning for the 2020 General Assembly. At this time, a resolution on the apostrophe and single quotes issue has not been reached. The revision of the Guidelines for Technical Materials continues; the section on signs of operation and comparison has been completed but not yet uploaded to the ICEB website. The next General Assembly will be held in London, England, May 10-16, 2020. The United States and Canada will need to select delegates to attend the general assembly.

The ICEB Nominations Committee is seeking names and formal nominations for the ICEB Executive Committee. FM D'Andrea is interested in serving as a member at large if BANA wishes but not as secretary. Judy Dixon has expressed interest in running for president of ICEB.

MSC Kim Charlson moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded the motion that the United States BANA representatives put forward the name of Judy Dixon as president and Frances Mary D'Andrea as member at large. The motion passed with all members voting in the affirmative except Darleen Bogart, who abstained.

21. (Agenda item #19) Report of General Committee on Unified English Braille: FM D'Andrea

Frances Mary D'Andrea, chair of the General Committee on Unified English Braille, summarized the report which is on file.

A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the Provisional Guidance on Transcribing Mathematics in UEB. Of primary interest was section 3, General Format (GTM 1.4.1). Changes to the document were discussed.

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Whitney Gregory seconded the motion that the Provisional Guidance on Transcribing Mathematics in UEB be approved as amended. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Tamara Rorie moved and FM D'Andrea seconded the motion that BANA charge the GCUEB to create documentation that explains the difference between a guideline and a code, and what is meant by "provisional". The motion passed unanimously.

22. (Agenda item #20) Committee on Electronic Braille: Jen Goulden

Jen Goulden, chair of the Committee on Electronic Braille, presented the report which is on file.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Jessi Rivera seconded the motion that board members should judiciously share the status log where appropriate. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Kim Charlson seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 342 be changed from "TBA" to "Done." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 342 (11/1/18): Bring a recommendation to the BANA Board by the January teleconference about how to inform the general public about braille translation issues.]

23. (Agenda item #22) Quality Control Task Force: Jen Goulden

Jen Goulden, chair of the Task Force on Recommendations for Quality Control of Publications, summarized the report which is on file.

MSC Sandy Ruconich moved and Mary Nelle McLennan seconded the motion that the "Quality Control Review for BANA Publications" be approved. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 327 be change to "Done". The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 327 (11/2/17): Provide recommendations regarding content quality control of BANA publications prior to submission to the Publications Committee.]

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Kim Charlson seconded the motion to charge the Bylaws Committee to incorporate the "Quality Control Review for BANA Publications" into the BANA Policies. The motion passed unanimously.

GC The Task Force on Recommendations for Quality Control of Publications has been thanked for their work and is hereby dissolved.

24. (Agenda item #23. General Committee for Review Process: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam, chair of the General Committee for Review Process, presented a verbal report.

MSC FM D'Andrea moved and Tamara Rorie seconded the motion that Charge 310 be discarded. The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 310 (11/6/16): Handle the process of the technical review of the "Guidelines for Production of Standardized Tests in Braille, 2016."]

There has been no activity on the Chess Guidelines but there will be in the coming period as an introduction is written and the guidelines are distributed for review.

A plan is needed for the review of the Tactile Graphics Guidelines. The following motions resulted:

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Whitney Gregory seconded the motion to charge the General Committee for Review Process to work with the Publications and Tactile Graphics committees to determine the process for the review of the upcoming tactile graphics revision and bring a recommendation to the Fall 2019 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Tamara Rorie moved and Mary Nelle McLennan seconded the motion to charge the Tactile Graphics Committee to work with the Publications Committee and the General Committee for Review Process to determine the process for the review of the upcoming tactile graphics revision and bring a recommendation to the Fall 2019 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Dawn Gross moved and Jessi Rivera seconded the motion to charge the Publications Committee to work with the Tactile Graphics Committee and the General Committee for Review Process to determine the process for the review of the upcoming tactile graphics revision and bring a recommendation to the Fall 2019 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

25. Awards Committee: Sandy Ruconich

FM D'Andrea and Mary Nelle McLennan made a heartfelt presentation to Darleen Bogart and thanked her for her unwavering dedication to the braille community. Darleen was presented with a book of more than 30 letters, in print and braille format, from various colleagues from around the world expressing their appreciation for Darleen's many contributions.

MSC Sandy Ruconich and Mary Nelle McLennan moved that the BANA Braille Excellence Award henceforth shall be called the Darleen Bogart Award for Braille Excellence (presented by the Braille Authority of North America). The motion passed unanimously.

Sandy Ruconich, chair of the committee, presented the report which is on file.

All members of the committee but Debbie Willis have agreed to continue serving on the Awards Committee. Sandy recommends that Jane Thompson replace Debbie Willis, she has not been contacted. Tamara Rorie questioned whether the process of the Appointments committee needs to be followed, the discussion was that no it does not because it is a board committee.

GC Sandy Ruconich made a recommendation for an individual to replace Debbie Willis; once that individual has been contacted and confirmed, an email vote will be put forward.

Sandy will send the Darleen Bogart Award for Braille Excellence criteria in May and request nominations. The award will be presented at the Getting in Touch with Literacy meeting in Seattle, WA in November.

26. BANA's "workplan" for the year

Jennifer Dunnam quickly explained the workplan. The revised version will be sent to BANA-l.

27. Braille Research Committee: Frances Mary D'Andrea

FM D'Andrea, co-chair of the Braille Research Committee, presented a verbal report.

Pearson is conducting a research study on tactile graphics. Susan Osterhaus of the Tactile Graphics Technical Committee has requested permission from BANA to use examples from the proposed/current Tactile Graphics Guidelines supplement. She is under a non-disclosure agreement and cannot specifically indicate what she/Pearson is looking for. If the graphics desired are from the current 2010 guidelines, a disclaimer should be given indicating that the graphics are not up to the current braille code and that there could be errors.

Voting on this matter is deferred until a letter is sent to Susan Osterhaus/Pearson requesting further information and an official proposal. A vote by email will be conducted if a proposal is received.

28. (Agenda item #42) New Business

Clovernook is writing the Instruction Manual for Transcribing Unified English Braille Technical Material for NLS and is requesting permission to use the newly approved Provisional Guidance on Transcribing Mathematics in UEB.

MSC Jessi Rivera moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded the motion that Clovernook have access to the Provisional Guidance on Transcribing Mathematics in UEB as amended and approved. The motion passed unanimously.

29. (Agenda item #28) Outreach Committee: Sandy Ruconich

Sandy Ruconich, chair of the Outreach Committee, summarized the report which is on file.

BANA exhibited at the 2019 CTEBVI conference, the poster session was modestly attended. The next exhibition will be at the NBA conference October 30-November 2. Contact Outreach if you know of an individual the exhibit can be shipped to.

In regards to Charge 287, Sandy Ruconich and Mary Nelle McLennan reviewed the entire BANA website to determine areas in need of update. The membership page will be updated to reflect the new membership application; the "Evolution of Braille" will be removed from position statement page. Judy Dixon will be asked to revise the "A Short History of BANA" page.

The first two podcast episodes have been recorded; the first podcast has been posted to the Apple podcast, the second will be posted soon. The press release will be sent out soon.

MSC Sandy Ruconich moved and Tracy Gaines seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 348 be changed from "TBA" to "Done." The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 348 (11/1/18): Explore the best way for BANA to communicate with its various constituents.]

MSC Sandy Ruconich moved and Tamara Rorie seconded the motion to charge the BANA Outreach Committee continue to explore and develop avenues of communication with BANA's constituents. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Kim Charlson moved and Sandy Ruconich seconded the motion that the Outreach Committee is charged with the ongoing development of podcast episodes. The motion passed unanimously.

30. (Agenda item #29) BANA Appointments Committee: Tracy Gaines

Tracy Gaines, chair of the Appointments Committee, summarized the report which is on file.
Tracy reported that she received an application on behalf of the Music Committee but did not receive the "Request for New BANA Committee Members" form. The application was not immediately considered because the Appointments Committee was unsure which position this candidate would fill. Tamara Rorie detailed the reasoning not to send the "Request for New BANA Committee Members" form.

31. (Agenda item #13) Music Braille Technical Committee: Karen Gearreald

MSC Tamara Rorie and Jessie Rivera moved to accept the recommendation that Stephanie Pieck be appointed to the Music Committee with a term expiring in 2020. The motion passed unanimously.

Jennifer Dunnam will inform Stephanie Pieck of her appointment to the Music Braille Technical Committee.

32. (Agenda item #30) Bylaws Committee: Darleen Bogart

Darleen Bogart read through the proposed wording to Bylaw 3.0. An extensive discussion of the proposed wording ensued, two straw votes were taken. The straw vote regarding the membership cap determined that there is full support of the cap at 18; the vote regarding limiting the membership of any one category to 50% determined that 12 of 18 organizations were in favor.

MSF Darleen Bogart moved and Whitney Gregory seconded the motion that the changes to Bylaw 3.1 of 3.0 Members be approved. Voting yes: ACB, AER, ASB, ATPC, CNIB, NBA, NBP, NLS, Perkins, and Region 4. Voting no: AFB, APH, CIDI, Clovernook, CTEBVI, Horizons, and NFB. Abstain: Hadley. The motion failed.

The Bylaws Committee will continue work on this charge, revising the proposed membership categories.

Darleen presented proposed changes to Bylaw 3.2 Associate Members. The changes were not presented to the board 30-days prior to the face-to-face board meeting and therefore cannot be voted on at this time.

The revised cover letter and report template have been placed in the Policies Appendix E. The following motion resulted:

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and FM D'Andrea seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 343 be changed from "TBA" to "Done". The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 343 (11/1/18): Amend the Policies to include the revised cover letter and report template.]

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Tina Seger seconded the motion that Policies Appendix A be revised to include the provision for meeting documents. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Cathy Senft-Graves seconded the motion that the disposition of Charge 350 be changed from "TBA" to "Done".

[Charge 350 (11/1/18): Review the Policies regarding the provision of documents for each meeting and clarify responsibilities.]

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and FM D'Andrea seconded the motion to delete Braille Institute of America, Inc. from Bylaw 3.2.2 and from the list of Associate Members in the Policies. The motion passed unanimously.

The Bylaws Committee requested two new charges, resulting in the following motions:

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Jessi Rivera seconded the motion to charge the Bylaws Committee with completing an internal review of the BANA Policies to ensure that all the necessary changes are being made. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Tamara Rorie seconded the motion to charge the Bylaws Committee to consider the membership as it relates to the size and composition of Associate Members. The motion passed unanimously.

Jennifer Dunnam thanked Darleen Bogart for the work that she has done leading the Bylaws Committee. The committee is in need of a new chair and a new member. Diane Bergeron was asked to consider appointment to the committee.

MSC Tamara Rorie moved and Jackie Sheridan seconded the motion that Diane Bergeron be named to be on the Bylaws Committee. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Tamara Rorie moved and Darleen Bogart seconded the motion that Jennifer Dunnam be the convener of the Bylaws Committee until such time that BANA at the Fall meeting provides a chair for the committee. The motion passed unanimously.

33. (Agenda item #12) Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests: Diane Spence

MSC Diane Spence moved and Jackie Sheridan seconded the motion to discard Charges 321 and 340. The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 321 (11/2/17): Update the Guidelines for production of Standardized Tests in Braille, 2016 to bring it in line with the approved Braille formats, 2016 changes and incorporate the comments received from the recent review and prepare for Board review.]

[Charge 340 (4/9/18): Extract the technical code language from the BANA 2015 statement to incorporate into the preliminary material of the "Guidelines for Production of Standardized Tests in Braille, 2016."]

MSC Diane Spence moved and Jessi Rivera seconded the motion to charge the Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests to create a set of guidelines for the production of standardized tests in braille. The motion passed unanimously.

Diane Spence recorded a list of individuals recommended to her as potential committee members.

GC The document created by the Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests is to: (1) cover high stakes state, national, and provincial testing, (2) not limit the scope to just paper braille but ensure that electronic braille is referenced in some way, and (3) define the audience as all stakeholders.

Jennifer Dunnam will send a letter to each of the committee members that will no longer be serving on the committee thanking them for their service.

MSC Kim Charlson moved and Darleen Bogart seconded the motion that the Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Tests be appointed with Diane Spence as chair and Jackie Sheridan and Whitney Gregory as members. The motion passed unanimously.

GC Names for additional committee members will be brought to the Board by email soon.

34. (Agenda item #21) Publications Committee: Mary Nelle McLennan

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Whitney Gregory seconded the motion that Tina Seger be appointed to the Publications Committee. The motion passed unanimously.

Discussion of what format BANA will provide its documents resumed. The suggestion of conducting a survey of BANA's stakeholders arose. Kim Charlson, Cathy Senft-Graves and Tamara Rorie will draft a survey to be presented to the Board prior to distribution. Dawn Gross will review the minutes from prior meetings to locate the Boards prior publication format decision.

GC There will be an ad hoc group to create a user survey to determine the optimal media in which to produce BANA publications. Accessible pdf and brf will continue to be the base formats.

35. Treasurer's Report: Jessi Rivera

Jessi Rivera, BANA treasurer, led the board through the documents provided at the meeting.

A financial compilation was conducted for FY 2017-2018, it was previously decided not to perform a full audit due to the cost of several thousand dollars. The financial compilation meets the restrictions of the government as long as it is a favorable review and the Board approves it. Several members indicated that they would need to see the documents provided to the accountants prior to voting to accept the compilation letter.

36. (Agenda item #21) Publications Committee: Mary Nelle McLennan

Review of the minutes posted to banafiles revealed that BANA did not have a previous motion specifically defining the document types BANA would provide its documents in.

GC BANA will produce and provide its publications in accessible PDF and BRF unless otherwise determined by the BANA board.

MSC Whitney Gregory moved and Darleen Bogart seconded the motion to create a task force to create a survey to gather user input for determination of optimal formats for BANA publications. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Jessi Rivera moved and FM D'Andrea seconded the motion that the Optimal Formats Survey Task Force be composed of Kim Charlson as chair, Cathy Senft-Graves, Whitney Gregory, Tamara Rorie, and Jen Goulden as liaison to the Publications Committee. The motion passed unanimously.

37. (Agenda item #35) Treasurer's Report: Jessi Rivera

MSC Diane Spence moved and Kim Charlson seconded the motion to accept the treasurer's reports. The motion passed unanimously.

38. (Agenda item #31) Revised Application Form for BANA Membership: Kim Charlson

Kim Charlson presented the modifications to the Membership Application.

MSC Darleen Bogart moved and Kim Charlson seconded the motion to approve the modified membership application. The motion passed unanimously.

The committee is currently comprised of Kim Charlson and Vivian Seki. Darleen Bogart and Ruth Rosen will be thanked for their service to the committee.

39. (Agenda item #32) Ad Hoc Committee on Braille Signage and Labeling: Jackie Sheridan

Jackie Sheridan, liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee of Braille Signage and Labeling, reported that there is not a written report because the chair, Eugene Lozano, stepped down in February.

While no longer able to chair, Eugene still wants to remain a committee member. Jackie reached out to Judy Dixon, Judy is not interested in chairing the committee at this time. The Board discussed the purpose of the committee and a new chair.

MSC Jackie Sheridan moved and Tracy Gaines seconded the motion to discard Charge 295. The motion passed unanimously.

[Charge 295 (11/5/15): Work with sign fabricators and standard-setting bodies within the signage industry to assist with the transition to the use of Unified English Braille.]

MSC Kim Charlson moved and Darleen Bogart seconded the motion to appoint Kim Charlson and Debbie Gillespie as co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Committee on Braille Signage and Labeling. The motion passed unanimously.

40. (Agenda item #30) Bylaws Committee: Darleen Bogart

Discussion briefly returned to Charge 325, it will remain Ongoing until it is resolved.

MSC Jessie Rivera moved and Kim Charlson seconded the motion to change the name of AMAC Accessibility (AMAC) to Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI) in the Bylaws and membership list. The motion passed unanimously.

41. (Agenda item #34) Secretary's Report: Dawn Gross

Dawn Gross, BANA secretary, read the email motions and votes that had taken place since the Fall 2018 meeting. They are as follows:

3/20/19

MSC Dawn Gross moved and Diane Spence seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the Fall 2018 meeting as distributed.

Voting Yes: ACB (Sandy Ruconich); APH (Cathy Senft-Graves); ASB (Jessi Rivera); ATPC (Dawn Gross); CIDI (Guy Toles); Clovernook (Tina Seger); CNIB (Darleen Bogart); CTEBVI (Tracy Gaines); Hadley (Vivian Seki); Horizons (Cindy Skandera); NBP (Jackie Sheridan); NFB (Jennifer Dunnam); NLS (Tamara Rorie); Perkins (Kim Charlson); Region 4 (Whitney Gregory). Not Voting: AER (Mary Nelle McLennan); AFB (FM D'Andrea); NBA (Diane Spence)

MSC Dawn Gross moved and Kim Charlson seconded the motion to approve the 2018 Winter teleconference minutes as amended. Motion passed unanimously.

42. (Agenda item #33) International Initiatives

Delegates to the general assembly of ICEB next May will be discussed at the fall meeting.

43. (Agenda item #37) Directory Update: Sue Reilly

Sue Reilly reported that she did not send out the directory prior to the board meeting. She has been making changes to the directory as the meeting progressed.

44. (Agenda item #39) BANA's Archives: Frances Mary D'Andrea

FM D'Andrea, chair of the Archives Committee, presented a verbal report.

FM continues to use the Dropbox set up with Anne Rich to upload materials and sends her copies of the print files. Jessi Rivera will send the electronic copies of treasurer documents provided at meetings so that they can be loaded to the Archive Dropbox.

 

45. (Agenda item #43) Upcoming Meetings

43.1 Fall 2019: Clovernook

The BANA Fall 2019 meeting will take place in Cincinnati November 7-9, 2019. The hotel will be the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza.

43.2 Spring 2020: NFB

A date has not been established. Other conference dates were discussed, Jennifer Dunnam will determine the Spring 2020 meeting dates.

43.3 Board Teleconferences

The 2019 Summer BANA teleconference was scheduled for Wednesday August 14, 2019 at 1:00 EDT.

46. (Agenda item #14) Crafts and Hobbies Technical Committee: Camille Caffarelli

MSC Mary Nelle McLennan moved and Vivian Seki seconded the motion to dissolve the Crafts and Hobbies Technical Committee with the understanding that ad hoc committees will be appointed for specific crafts as deemed necessary. The motion passed unanimously.

MSC Tamara Rorie moved and FM D'Andrea seconded the motion to create an ad hoc committee on Knit and Crochet. The motion passed unanimously.

47. (Agenda item #36. Certificates of Appreciation: Dawn Gross, Kim Charlson

Kim Charlson will send Certificates of Appreciation to the following individuals: Ruth Rozen, Sandy Smith, Dena Garret, Ruth Loew, Susan Osterhaus, Renee Sanders, Susan Spicknall, Debbie Willis, Anna Dresner, Judy Dixon, Camille Caffarelli, and Darleen Bogart.

48. (Agenda item #38) BANA's Listservs: Kim Charlson

Remove Sandy Smith and add Tina Seger to the Publications listserv.

 

49. (Agenda item #40) Press Releases: Tamara Rorie

Tamara Rorie, BANA Vice chair, will create press releases for the following items: the Darleen Bogart Award for Braille Excellence and other highlights of the current meeting.

50. (Agenda item #46. Adjournment: Jennifer Dunnam

Jennifer Dunnam thanked CNIB and Darleen Bogart for the hospitality shown to the board during the meeting. Jennifer acknowledged and thanked the observers for attending the meeting. Thank you again to Darleen for her many years of dedication to braille and BANA.

MSC Dawn Gross moved and Tina Seger seconded the motion that the meeting be adjourned. The motion passed unanimously.

Jennifer Dunnam adjourned the meeting at 11:56 EDT.

Respectfully submitted,
Dawn Gross, Secretary