International Braille Contest Poznań 2018

Fifth International Braille Contest in Poznań

International Braille Contest 2018

The final event of the “International Braille Contest 2018 for the Visegrad blind community” was held on the 17th of May 2018 in Poznań, Poland. It was attended by 9 blind participants from Czech, Hungary and Poland, who had been previously selected in the national qualifiers.

The project aim was to establish a cooperation platform for institutions from Visegrad (V4) countries, acting for the benefit of the blind community, as well as to create a meeting area for visually impaired citizens of V4 countries, by organizing the contest in 2018. The contest promoted education and common use of Braille alphabet among the V4 blind community. It also contributed to improving their skills of using the tactile writing system with the aid of novel ICT solutions.

Participants had to face four tasks that verified their ability to use Braille with the use of Braille Pen 12 (or EasyLink 12T) devices connected to iPhones: reading, writing, editing and sending data by e-mail. A international jury composed of representatives of all the organizers watched for the proper conduct of the contest, according to the contest rules that had been elaborated before the contest. Interpreter services were provided during the whole day for an effective communication between participants from all countries.

The best contestant was Mr. Zdeněk Bajtl from Czech Republic who scored maximum points. The second was a representative from Poland Mrs. Aneta Pińkowska. The third position was taken by the Hungarian participant – Mrs. Melitta Lakatos.

Below is the final International Braille Contest 2018 classification with the achieved points of the contestants:

1st place – Mr. Zdeněk Bajtl (Czech Republic) – 480 points;

2nd place – Mrs. Aneta Pińkowska (Poland) - 478 points (decisive reading time – 1:19 minutes);

3rd place – Mrs. Melitta Lakatos (Hungary) - 478 points (decisive reading time – 4:50 minutes);

4th place – Mr. Jacek Kaczmarek (Poland) - 474 points;

5th place – Mrs. Małgorzata Wiecha (Poland) - 471 points;

6th place – Mr. Jiří Sádovský (Czech Republic) - 470 points;

7th place – Mr. Zsigmond Péter (Hungary) - 463 points;

8th place – Mrs. Orsolya Veiland (Hungary) - 461 points;

9th place – Mr. Petr Mašek (Czech Republic) - 428 points.

After the competition, the participants went together with a visit to the Poznań Old Town. In the evening there was a gala dinner and a ceremony of the competition results announcement. Each participant received a commemorative diploma, printed also in Braille. The winners were awarded with valuable prizes and the remaining participants with consolation prizes.

The International Braille Contest 2018 for blind persons was organized by three non-government organisations from V4 countries, acting for the benefit of the visually impaired community:

The International Braille Contest has become a must-attend event for many visually impaired persons. It is a meeting area for the organizers and contestants and a great opportunity to tighten the bonds of friendship, while learning new technologies and sharing experiences and visiting interesting places.

The contest was organised in the frame of Project supported by the International Visegrad Fund. All information on the IVF can be found at www.visegradfund.org .

The Project is supported by the  International Visegrad Fund. 

All information on the IVF can be found at

www.visegradfund.org .