Gravograph's Braille Kit
    Gravograph wins Icona d'Or Award

Gravograph was awarded the first prize at the Icona d'Or award ceremony in the 'Technical Innovation' category for its new fully automated Braille system. The competition was organised by professional sign association Synafel. Gravograph's Braille kit comes at a time when demand for Braille signage is considerably increasing in response to stricter requirements following the 2004 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

So what's different about Gravograph's Braille kit? Other systems rely on drilling holes into the sign, covering the signs with beads and using a simple press to push some of the beads into the holes. This method is somewhat messy as beads invariably end up on the workbench or floor and is described by some users as 'hit and miss' as several attempts are generally required to get all the holes inserted with a bead.

In response to this problem Gravograph has developed a bead dispenser kit that fits onto the engraving machine's head. The machine starts with drilling the holes and will then quickly and accurately insert a bead into each hole. The kit remains on the machine even when not in use, eliminating any time consuming set-up time when Braille signage is required. The company has also developed a range of tools specifically designed for drilling into GravotacT engraving laminate, acrylic, brass, aluminium, stainless steel and more. Gravograph's GravoStyle software also includes a Braille wizard that will ensure that even inexperienced users will create fully DDA compliant signage.

Gravograph's Braille kit was praised for its ease of use as well as efficiency and recognised as a significant steps towards improved Braille sign making.