OK, so here we go with my first blog..

Margaret and I are blind people and we run a company which delivers free software so that other blind people can use a computer and read and write again. The software makes the computer talk. It's great and free.

This morning I made an application for a passport so I can go to Austria in March to start work on a European project which will make our free software available in the new East-European member countries.

We have a special text browser called WebbIE so we can make sense of the internet. So I went into WebbIE, searched for "passport disabled UK" and it took me straight to details of how I get help over the phone and, within half an hour, without leaving home, my passport form was filled in and the kettle was on. Within two weeks, the form will be sent to me for signing and I enclose my out of date passport and £66 in the envelope provided.

Its great having a disability. No queuing, no hassle and the chap at the Passport Office was patient and laughing. But without the computer and the talking software, well I would need help from a seeing friend all the way, not to mention the trip into town and the queue, probably 4 hours and lots of frustration.