Onkyo World Braille Essay Contest

Braille is the key to inclusion

The Onkyo World Braille Essay Contest is a worldwide initiative planned and sponsored by Onkyo Corporation and The Braille Mainichi, two Japanese firms actively engaged in the promotion of braille. Its European strand is run by the European Blind Union.

2013 Onkyo World Braille Essay Contest

EBU Onkyo World Braille Essay Contest 2013 - Europe

EBU has been asked by Onkyo Corporation and by The Braille Mainichi to run the European strand of the 7th World Braille Essay Contest in 2013.

We propose two general themes for this year's Onkyo contest:

1. “The role of braille in furthering visually impaired people's participation in political, economic, cultural, social and family life”. Braille in the age of technology, Using braille at all ages, braille and voting, are a few but examples of how this theme may be addressed.
2. “Life with braille - we encourage teachers, transcribers, those who use braille in any way or who would like to use it, to write about the role of braille". We encourage factual as well as creative writing, description of potential innovation, products and ideas for promoting braille throughout Europe.

Authors are invited to give both themes their own imaginative interpretation. When announcing the contest, EBU members may also suggest additional themes that are particularly relevant to their national contexts.Individuals wishing to participate should read fully the rule below, and send their entry to the EBU member in their country, who will make the initial selection.

GENERAL RULES

1. Purpose and theme

1.1. The European braille essay contest run by the European Blind Union on behalf of Onkyo Corporation and the Braille Mainichi aims to promote the use of braille as a key to blind people's access to information and to their social inclusion.

1.2. There are two general themes for this year's Onkyo contest:

1. “The role of braille in furthering visually impaired people's participation in political, economic, cultural, social and family life”. Braille in the age of technology, using braille at all ages, braille and voting, are a few but examples of how this theme may be addressed.
2. “Life with braille - we encourage teachers, transcribers, those who use braille in any way or who would like to use it, to write about the role of braille". We encourage factual as well as creative writing, description of potential innovation, products and ideas for promoting braille throughout Europe.

Authors are invited to give both themes their own imaginative interpretation. When announcing the contest, EBU members may also suggest additional themes that are particularly relevant to their national contexts.

2. General conditions

2.1. Participants

All braille users residing in an EBU country may take part in the contest regardless of age.

2.2. Essays

Participants shall submit an essay in digital format on one of the themes described in 1.2 above.

Participants may not submit more than one essay.

Essays shall be in English or in the author's national language.

Essays in the national language shall not exceed 1000 words (plus or minus a 10% tolerance).

Essays shall carry the following mentions:

• name, gender and age of participant,
• country,
• name of the EBU national member processing the entry,
• number of words in the national language. 

Important: the above mentions should be inserted at the top of essays, before the title.

National members shall let EBU have the total number of essays submitted to them.

2.3. Copyright

By taking part in the contest,

• Authors shall assign automatically and exclusively to EBU worldwide all rights including copyright, and EBU may assign or license these rights.
• Authors shall allow EBU to use their name and their essays in publicity as EBU may require.
• As copyright holder, EBU may give permission to the authors and to their national members to make use of the essays as they see fit.
• Onkyo winners shall provide EBU with their photographs and shall entitle EBU to reproduce, adapt, edit and publish their photographs on any media, including web and print.

3. Procedure

Participants shall submit their essays to the EBU national member in their countries no later than 20 May 2013.

EBU national members shall organise some form of pre-selection so as to submit no more than 5 entries to the EBU jury. They shall inform EBU of the total number of essays they have received and processed.

It will greatly help us if you name your files as follows: Country_Name_Surname of author.

4. Prizes

The best Otsuki prize (First Prize): 2,000 US dollars.

Excellent Works prize:

• Junior category (up to 25): 1,000 US dollars.
•  Senior category (over 25): 1,000 US dollars.

Fine Works prizes:

• Junior category (2 prizes): 500 US dollars each.
• Senior category (2 prizes): 500 US dollars each.

Results of the 2012 Onkyo World Braille Essay Contest

The European strand of the Contest was once again run by EBU.

Applicants from across Europe were asked to write an essay, sharing their personal experience to tell how braille empowers them and improves their lives.

This sixth edition of the essay contest had a lower participation rate than in the first five years: a total of 48 essays from 14 countries were received by the jury. The quality of the submitted essays was however excellent and the jury had a harder than usual job selecting the winners, which is illustrated by the fact that the jury has, for the first time, come to grant a shared prize to two essays from the same country!

Prize winners.

The First Prize winners, sharing the award, are both from Spain

Maria Jesús Sánchez Oliva, who wrote an essay entitled 'False News' and
Maria Jesús Cañnamares Munoz, her essay was entitled 'The role of Braille in improving the participation of visually impaired persons in, political, cultural, social, economic and family life'.

The winning essays are available in .doc format by clicking on the links in the list below.

Otsuki First Prize:

False News, by Maria Jesús Sánchez Oliva and
The role of Braille in improving the participation of visually impaired persons in, political, cultural, social, economic and family life by Maria Jesús Cañnamares Munoz

Excellent Works Prize

Junior Category: Using Braille – my story, by Victoria D'Oliveira (Ireland)
Senior Category: My truth – my braille, by Ms Svetlana Dubrovskaya (Russia)

Fine Works Prize

Junior Category:
- Braille - United dots of Braille, by Alexia Sloane (UK)
- Braille in the age of technology, by Susanna Halme (Finland)
Senior Category:
- In the spirit of Louis Braille, by Herman Kleton (Netherlands)
- How Braille changed my life, by Fadil Mucic (Montenegro)

Highly commended by EBU:

My Braille, my eyes – my life by Miroslav Sindik (Montenegro)