International Braille Contest Prague 2016

Fourth International Braille Contest in Prague

International Braille Contest 2016

The final event of the “International Braille Contest 2016 for the Visegrad blind community” was held on the 30th April 2016 in Prague. It was attended by 10 blind participants from Poland, Czech and Slovakia, who had been previously selected in the national qualifiers.

Participants had to face four tasks that verified their ability to use Braille with the use of EasyLink 12T Braille devices connected to iPhones: reading, writing, editing and sending data by e-mail. A 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 earlier. Interpreter services were provided during the whole day for an effective communication between participants from all countries.

The best contestant was Mrs. Aneta Pińkowska from Poland who scored maximum points. The second was a representative from the Czech Republic Mr. Luboš Zajíc. The third position was taken by the next Pole – Mr. Mariusz Koczorowski.

Below is the final IBC 2016 classification:

• 1st place – Mrs. Aneta Pińkowska (Poland) - 660 points

• 2nd place – Mr. Luboš Zajíc (Czech Republic) - 659 points

• 3rd place – Mr. Mariusz Koczorowski (Poland) - 658 points

• 4th place – Mr. Jiří Sádovský (Czech Republic) - 657 points

• 5th place – Mrs. Małgorzata Wiecha (Poland) - 656 points

• 6th place – Mr. Maciej Kapczyński (Poland) - 655 points

• 7th place – Mr. Zdeněk Bajtl (Czech Republic) - 649 points

• 8th place – Mr. Peter Nedorost (Slovakia) - 647 points

• 9th place – Mrs. Dominika Pozdechová (Slovakia) - 584 points

• 10th place – Mrs. Andrea Migacová (Slovakia) - 523 points

After the competition, the participants went together with a visit to the Czech Senate. They were guided by Mr. Milan Pešák, a Czech Senator who is also blind. 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.

We are looking forward to meeting you during the next edition of the Contest to be held in 2017!

N.B. The International Braille Contest 2016 for blind persons was organized by four NGOs from V4 countries, acting for the benefit of the visually impaired community:

Reports from National Rounds of the Electronic Braille Reading & Writing Competition 2016