The Blind Blogger

CREATING A MOBILITY APP FOR BLIND PEOPLE

2011-04-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

There has been a good deal of research about what most or many people carry around with them. Keys, money and the mobile phone come top of the list. But we blind people are expected to carry a reading aid, a GPS navigation system, a guide dog, a white cane, a computer and a braille display as well. And each bit of kit costs us an arm and a leg too. And if you have a bit of sight like me, well a magnifier comes in useful as well. . So to cut down the load and lighten the wallet as well, we have been working on creating a mobile app which already works pretty well on an Android phone and will sell for just a few quid. In the not too distant future, there will be an iPhone version too.

It tells you where you are and your direction whether you are still or walking. It reminds you of your nearest landmarks, (points of interest) but it is not about road names, house numbers and all the things that Google maps or the Sendero or TomTom systems give you already. Our map is designed to give you that precious personal meaningful information which you need as well as the mainstream stuff. So what happens?

On the first journey, you walk with a seeing mate. As you pass and agree meaningful landmarks, you speak them into your phone. Without pressing another button, you hear what you have recorded and that landmark is now in the system. We have odd things like ‘dog bin’ ‘Trevor’s Lane’ and ‘hump’ and we know what these words mean to us.
When you later pass by on the same route, your landmarks are spoken to you along with an indication of their direction and gestimated distance . At any time you can interrogate the clever little beast and it will tell you your first, second, third fourth or fifth nearest landmark, depending on which key you press.

The whole thing has been especially designed with big on-screen buttons and, if you have a little bit of sight, you can choose the colours .
Oh, and incidentally, it is a great little talking phone anyway with the same clear buttons, easy use and a bit of easy texting thrown in too.

We enjoy what we do at Screenreader.net but if you want to know more detail about this smart phone venture, well, you will just have to wait a month or two until it is ready for trial and release. In time, we will add lots more easy to use features so that in the end you and me might just be carrying around one smart phone with many low cost functions.

VI young People Creating Their Own Websites

2011-04-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

‘Have Your Say’
Multi- Media (Web Aware) Training Weekend
provided by Screenreader.net and LOOK
19th 20th 21st March 2011

SUMMARY REPORT
So many times, you find yourself with a crowd of young people who inspire you. Just so this last weekend when I found myself amongst ten people with severely damaged sight but mighty brains and personalities. With funding from BBC Children In Need, and masses of planning and organisation from the LOOK team, and the fabulous services and environment of the Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum, We all came together to focus on providing these young people with the tools to create high quality audio, create a basic website and get their voices heard over the internet. And all in two days!!! Impossible? Well yes but we did mighty well.
First, they were introduced to the idea of putting their own stuff up there on the web. Without actually doing it, they were shown the steps to create their pics, docs or audio files and put them altogether in a folder. A special piece of software had been created for them by Granite 5, a Cambridge-based web company dedicated to accessibility and inclusion. This eGenius software makes sure that everything goes in the right place and looks good even when a blind person creates the webpage and it all works well with screenreader assistive software.
After coffee, their attention switched to interviewing techniques, using digital recorders and, on the following day, real live creation of what they wanted to say amongst the Think Tank environment and its many interesting exhibits and demonstrations. The final session was a bit of a rush but, at the end, each young person had received his or her Press Pass, a certificate and a hand creating in the five websites that were up and running. I might guess that we all went home with a bit of a headache and a little confusion but everyone took away a sense of excitement, achievement and, to be practical, a copy of the instructions an tutorials covering the weekend’s activities on their laptops, or in braille or big print.
We were all proud to be part of the small beginnings of what could develop into a great adventure for each participant. It is so vital that these young people are ahead of the game in the digital age – and they are.

FINANCIAL REPORT
We are grateful for the project being part funded by Children in Need. The Parenting Fund for children in Nofolk have agreed to fund the proportion allocated for Norfolk children. The total cost of the project £8,387.91. Please find below the outline of spend for the Children in Need proportion and receipts are available for inspection if required, of course.

Receipts for Expenses
Equipment for 7 people 1,260.00
Proportion of evening meal 12 people 201.34
Contribution for travel 10 people 241.30
Contribution to stay for 11 people 894.43
Materials for people for 10 people 94.69
Cost of web license proportion 8 people 400.00
Cost of training proportion 8 people (Include internal LOOK training at £150
And Screenreader training at £150) 520.00
Cost of training room proportion 8 people 896.00
Sub Total 4,507.76

LOOK have provided the following services in addition to all of the above.
Prep Time Contribution: 2 workers. First worker 42hours, Second worker 25hours £683.30
LOOK Staff Delivery Time contribution (plus overnight support) £822.96
Sub Total £1,506.26

Total £6,014.02

Vicky Smith, Youth Development Officer, LOOK & Roger Wilson-Hinds Director, Screenreader.net.

Revolution In The Air

2011-03-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

REVOLUTION IN THE AIR

Whatever your political views, you might to some extent, agree with me that times are tough for less able people. Some of our blind mates too, are losing their jobs, having their benefit cut and noticing their local services diminish. Yes, so is everyone else or rather others who can’t defend themselves and their way of life. We still hear that decisions about us are being made by wealthy people who can’t possibly know what it is like to struggle financially, socially or physically. So all this begins to raise questions about what, if anything, we can do about it.
In North Africa and the Arab world, we have witnessed an outpouring of expressive anger. People are thinking they could manage quite well without their greedy, wealthy despotic rulers who have done so little to better the living standards of their citizens. In the day of the internet, no one now believes in the divine right to rule and our brothers in the Arab world have shown great bravery in standing up and putting their very lives at risk.
So how does all this affect blind and other disadvantaged UK citizens when things don’t seem to be fairly going our way. Can we strike like a trade union? Can we fill a major London square for days? Can we refuse to cooperate with local or central government totally and not pay our dues or have our forms filled in? Can we rely on and trust those who claim to speak on behalf of us? Should RNIB, GDAB and Action For Blind People indeed speak for us? And what about the wealth issue? If my mate is now on £60 per week after a lifetime of work, should the people who claim to speak on his behalf receive salaries from £25,000 right up to over £100,000 when they don’t really seem to be making so much difference to his life?
With these thoughts in my mind, I read recently that the cost of blindness in the UK is a massive £20 something Billion each year. I have no idea how this is calculated but I am sure that a huge chunk of this represents the salaries of the many professionals who do good things on our behalf. The cost of blindness that does not and never can appear in the accounts is represented by the unpaid efforts of our families and friends. In the Big Society and the Smaller State, there is little reason to suppose that human unpaid-for support will diminish. Allowing for human nature, a good deal of the whinging and squealing from professional bodies might jus be at least partially motivated by the threat to their own jobs and status in society. But there is an even more interesting aspect arising out of the current challenging situation. Maybe now is the time for blind people to relearn to stand on their own feet, make their own stories and successes. Here are just a few examples: Instead of relying on Incapacity Benefit and no work, why not supplement the new and lower benefits by doing a little paid work but not telling the world about it. Instead of waiting to be taken to places, why not actually finding and asking a travel buddy to show you the way once or twice and then being brave enough to travel alone. Instead of of joining the general moan about UK transport not announcing stops and stations, why not make the effort to speak up and say, once or twice, ‘where are we’ or ‘Please could you tell me when we get to my stop’. And lastly and much more controversially, why not speak up and say as blind individuals what we ourselves really want. Do we want millions each year to go to large national charities or would we prefer the balance to shift to local provision and services? Do we want our big charities to involve with technology or would we prefer any public money that is going be spent encouraging small private companies to develop what we need? Of course, the argument can work the other way. Would we prefer to shut down some local dominos clubs and better spend the money on nationally significant projects.
Back then to the stirrings in the Arab world and North Africa. For my part, I have seen no evidence of such stirring spreading to the blind world so maybe we just need a mechanism to make our voices heard. This coming weekend, I am playing a part in a weekend which will teach ten young blind people how to make their own websites to get their young voices heard. A very small step, I agree; but we don’t have to sit silent and be told what to do by seeing wealthy people unless we choose to or can’t be bothered to change things. I will report on the kids weekend in another blog.

RUNNING THE SHOW

2011-02-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

We have been running the Thunder project for over four years now and we rightly from time to time think about the future of Thunder and free screenreader software for blind people in general. Mind you, the idea of running something is interesting in itself with all the turbulence in North Africa and the Middle East. Maybe those that run things are merely figure-heads who need respect and support to stay in charge. Maybe it is the ordinary people that actually keep things going as indeed it is with Thunder users. So thank you to the many who have enjoyed Thunder and helped other blind people to do good things on the computer.

So what about the future? We are not closing down and we know Thunder has its place for years to come. NVDA is much loved by techies but it is not so good for beginners and home users as Thunder and I have no difficulty in making use of both products on my machine and totally respecting and admiring what the NVDA team have achieved.

But there is much more now at stake than the desktop and laptop, NVDA and Thunder. We are witnessing a move from PC to mobile smart phone and the touch screen. There is budget shift towards ever lower costs which even manufacturers of specialist stuff for blind users can’t escape from. A word processor like MS Word used to cost well over £100 whereas now there is Pages for the iPad and a Bluetooth keyboard, Braille or QWERTY, and Pages only costs a few pounds.

Sticking with the smart mobile concept, you no longer have to memorise lots of obscure keystrokes or pay out a week’s wages for the latest upgrade. Instead, you quickly download a free upgrade in minutes. This is a huge advantage for newly blind people but something of a challenge to those of us versed in the old PC Windows ways. But I for one no longer sit at my PC in the evenings to catch up on news, music and technical updates like I used to. I am now comfortable on the couch with the iPad by me and a pair of high quality headphones over my bald head.

And the smart phone does far more than word processing, the web and phone calls. It tells me when the next bus is due and what street I am in and what landmarks and road crossings are nearby. Maybe the accuracy is not quite there yet but its good and will get better. It won’t be long before I shall be able to mark up with seeing help my personal local landmarks just like is done on the expensive commercial navigation aids of today.

So where is all this leading with reference to the Thunder project? Probably you have begun to work it out already. In fact we are going to continue to support Thunder by email, telephone and with our manuals and tutorials which we are just now updating. But we would be foolish not to be putting more effort into the smart phone, iPhone and Google Android, simply because this is what our blind and visually impaired customers will want and need to keep pace and stay mainstream.

Keep enjoying WebbIE and Thunder and we will still be here to support you. Watch this space for development and please do talk to us about what works for you, what does not and what you want of us.

THE IPHONE AS A JOURNEY COMPANION

2010-11-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

12 November 2010

In a previous article, I briefly described some of the apps on my iPhone. I hope I made the point that the iPhone could add value to our lives as visually impaired people in a variety of ways. In this article, I plan to share some of my mobility experiences but I want to make it very clear that the iPhone is only a supplement to my white cane, my weak vision and my habit of involving others in helping me cope with out and about journeys. The current state of GPS technology does not give you precise location information and neither does it work for you inside buildings. Also, I am not anticipating that there is or will be just one app which fulfils all your needs. I have gone for an option which puts together several apps on one screen and it is pretty easy to move from one app to the other as and when you require some specific intelligence. Sometimes I need to know when the next bus is due; sometimes it’s about the next train to London. When out walking, I like to know which direction I am travelling in, especially when off the beaten track; And it is always useful to hear which roads I am passing and what the next crossing will be. At the time of writing, the missing link for me is that I don’t have the ability on the iPhone to create my own personal points of interest and hear them later as I pass by. No doubt that will come soon.

So here is a little about each of the mobility apps which I have got used to over the past few months. By the time you read this, there will be changes, improvements and possibly disappointments. We can’t assume that every app written for the iPhone will speak to us just because The apple Corporation have built their VoiceOver speech into the guts of the system. Apple can only encourage and advise developers to take heed of our particular needs. Incidentally, they each cost no more than £1.50 pence except the TomTom app which cost nearly £50 and maybe I don’t especially need now there is Sendero.

Nextbuses: If you live out of town like us, it’s pretty handy to know when the next bus is coming. Nextbuses gives you this information in great detail. Go into the app, agree to have your location confirmed by the GPS iPhone system and you are away. This location confirmation is typical of almost all the GPS maps mentioned in this article. The screen is divided into two halves. The top half is only useful when zoomed to partially sighted users because it is a map. But the lower half of the screen contains a row by row list of my local bus stops. I flick to the right with one finger and hear them in turn, each one offering me a more info choice. I double tap on the more info I want and am told the next bus is due in nine minutes and another one in twenty-one minutes. No need to rush or be anxious. . At the very top of the touch screen are two buttons: The left button, About, tells me about the app and who created it. Malcolm Barclay is very supportive of the needs of blind users.

Mybus; Mybus in many ways performs the same function as Nextbuses; but the screen is wholly taken by a map. Perhaps this is for those with some useful sight who love maps but I found it doable. There are three buttons at the top of the screen and a Map Pin Button in the bottom left corner. Top left is Favourites where you can store your most used routes. Top middle is un-named and just says button. But it takes you to the Kizoom website and gives you the chance to give them feedback. Top right is the Nearme button which has a visual effect. Tapping the map pin button, bottom left, brings up the name of the relevant street and the direction the bus is travelling. Immediately to the right of the direction is a more info button. This takes you to a screen giving details of the next bus. At the bottom of the screen are two further buttons: Bottom left takes you to a list of local taxi numbers and bottom right takes you to even more info about the bus stop and journeys. If VI users pursued the makers, This could be a very useful app, if only because of the added bonus of taxi on the spot in an unfamiliar area.

iRail:, Thetrainline and Traintimes: These three apps purport to give you useful train travel information up to the minute. They are pretty accessible but, when out and about relying on the somewhat tedious iPhone onscreen keyboard, perhaps Traintimes is the easiest to manage. When you first go into the Traintimes app, you are asked if you want to designate a home station. If you do, a search text field comes up and you start typing in the first few letters of your chosen station. It is pretty quick, for instance, to get to Peterborough. Once confirmed, you come to a screen divided up as follows: At the top of the screen is e.g. Peterborough Departures and immediately below you can select a station for your journey. Below this is Plan A Journey followed by Next Train Home. At the bottom of the screen is the option to change your settings. You might here change your home station, choose only direct trains, show the distance you will travel etc. As usually happens with the Iphone, there is a back button top left on the screen. The response is remarkably quick and accurate. As with the bus information, you know within a minute or so of actual changes.
UK Ireland: This is the iPhone TomTom app, the only expensive app mentioned here at around £50. I don’t really need this but was curious and delighted to find that it is extremely accessible and usable after a deal of practice and growing understanding. It is actually quite nice to hear what you are passing, streets, shops and towns when you are on a coach or in a car. You can even plan a journey for a seeing driver. I bought TomTom to use as a pedestrian before Sendero released their free app but more of this later. I won’t describe its functions in any detail here but might recommend it for a blind partner who wants in some way to share the navigation stresses with a seeing driving partner or friend.

Compass: I am one that likes to know the direction in which I travel. I aim to build up a mental map of my surroundings, so a talking compass is the perfect solution as an integral part of the phone I carry with me. The iPhone compass gives your travel direction to within a few degrees and responds quickly as you move your position.
Sendero GPS, avicat and GPS20S: Each week some new GPS app becomes available for the iPhone. The various apps are pretty similar and I mention three here you might want to explore. They tend to operate in a similar manner, giving pin map information re where you are and what is around. By the time you read this, the whole picture may well have changed but for now I will describe Sendero GPS because it is currently the most accessible and has been produced by a company which has, over the years, done great service to blind people and their mobility needs.

If you are in doors, in a car or near some electrical machinery, the chances are you get an opening message warning you of Compass interference. You are told to wave the iPhone in a figure of eight way to get rid of this. The Sendero screen is divided into three parts: At the top, you read what you need to know in any situation. Towards the bottom, there are three very clearly labelled buttons: Where am I, nearest cross point and nearest points of interest. Double tapping on either button takes you to masses of useful info relevant to where you are. At the very bottom of the screen are the following buttons from left to right: map, compass, Shake on, settings, and POI category.

Sat at my desk at home, double tapping where am I tells me I am facing South near the address of my house. It is as good as that. Likewise, the nearest crossing buttons accurately tells me the name of my road and the main road at its end. The POI default is set to business so, the nearest five points of interest are local companies, the first being The Holiday Inn. There is a vibration to assure you that a connection is being made. Now for the buttons at the bottom of the screen.

The map button is no use to me but could be zoomed up by a partially sighted person or seeing companion. The compass button reminds me I am facing South and responds quickly if I turn round in my chair. The Shake on button is a toggle. When on, I can just shake my iPhone to hear the where am I information. The off option is for when you are on a bumpy journey, I suppose. The Settings button gives three options: Again, shake gesture, North America or Europe, and, lastly, measurements in in yards or metres. There is a useful help button bottom right of this screen and a back button top left.

In a word, it’s great and the only thing missing is the ability to create your own points of interest. We are given eighteen POI categories from Airport to school in alphabetical order. I failed to make this feature work at first but learned you have to swipe up or down with one finger to select your chosen category.

Well, clearly, there is much more to all this and exciting things to come at low cost to us users, I plan to present more iPhone information to Access IT readers over the coming months on such subjects as listening to radio and podcasts, educational stuff, games and leisure etc. I want to make it clear that we don’t sell the iPhone. You must go mainstream to the nearest Apple store. But we do sell a small braille display and keyboard, the BraillePen, for £995 as an introductory offer which works brilliantly with an iPhone or indeed with other mobiles and computers as well. As a long-term braillists, it is a huge thrill to be able to feel dots as well as to listen and we are proud to introduce the first braille display into the UK for under £1000. .

Roger and Margaret Wilson-Hinds run Screenreader.net, a not for profit company which focuses on low cost or no cost access technology solutions. We are currently involved in promoting the Thunder free screen reader software for Windows and the range of Apple solutions which have accessibility , VoiceOver, built into the operating system.

Contact Details:
Tel: 01733 234441
Email: roger@screenreader.net.

2010-07-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

SUMMER HOTCHPOCH

We are having quite a busy Summer here at Screenreader.net in Peterborough. Roger went along to the Sight Village exhibition in Birmingham but we did not have our own stand this year. Instead, we pitched in with LOOK, the parents’ organisation for visually impaired children. It was great with laughter all the way and masses of young visitors. They loved the Iphone and the Ipad and we were pleased to hear just how many use our Thunder and WebbIE software at home. But the star was a lovely little lass no more than eight years old who giggled uncontrollably as she pressed the buttons of the Fart4Free Iphone Ap. It was a joy to hear her delight.

While at the exhibition, I spent time on the Harpo stand looking at the new tiny Braille display called BraillePen. Just twelve cells and light as a feather, it hooks up to Windows machines as well as to mobiles and smart phones running Talks and Mobile Speak. We plan to distribute it from the UK and would love to hear from anyone wanting a lower cost efficient Braille display. Of course, it works well to with Iphone and Ipad. We think the retail price will be around £1250 including some setting up and tuition. Since then, I have had great fun with it here at home and it works out of the box with my Apple desktop too. In the very near future, I am sure it will be up and running with our free Thunder software which makes the whole package extremely competitive and functional.

We have been busy too updating Thunder. Our minds are focused on making it the best and easiest web experience for home users with little or no sight and we are well on the way to achieve this. The current version is a little sluggish and this has been put right in the version I am currently testing. Also, you can now enjoy most or many web pages just by constantly pressing the PGDN key which is really handy if you are using a notebook or netbook. The END key, often just below this, takes you through form-filling and there are just four or five other keys to remember when you want to search the web, get to links fast or find something straight away on the page you have open. The new version I am testing should be up and running soon and it will have an automatic updating option so that you will never miss out each time an update becomes available. It all takes a little time but we are getting there with masses of users, no disability cost and an ever-improving computer and web experience.

Our helpline people, Steph and Graham, are always around to help and we have just bought in some new remote access software from The Serotek Corporation in America. This little miracle allows us to make contact directly with your computer in your home and sort out problems as if we were there at your keyboard. You might think this is old hat and so it is for seeing people. But remember our helpline staff don’t see and are real genuine visually impaired users like you so they get to hear what is going on with your computer and can use their knowledge and skills to put things right. Please give it a go if you have problems. They are very expert helpline staff.

You may well have received an email lately from us asking if you want to remain on our mailing list. Thunder has been going now for more than four years and we have a massive list of those thousands who have downloaded the Thunder software. So we are getting organised and tidying up things so we only communicate with people who want to hear from us. Thank you to those who have responded and I enjoyed renewing contact with lots of mates from the past. Sorry if we have been a minor pain to some people not wanting to hear from us.

Thunder continues to edge its way round the world and we now have interest in Nepal and Azerbaijan. Ten young blind people are able to listen to and use their computers in their native Nepalese but we have not yet been able to sort an Azerbaijani synthesiser. Those of us speaking English are very privileged but we do try hard with other languages.

Well, that’s it for now and hopefully there will be another Thunder version for you to download within weeks.

The ipad has landed

2010-06-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

The ipad has landed

Tool or toy or both for people with little or no sight?

I noticed that the iphone and the ipad failed to make an appearance at last year’s Sight Village in Birmingham and again there was no sign of it at this year’s Csun as reviewed by Dr Mike Townsend in the May edition of this excellent magazine. Strange when there is so much interest in both products. So what is going on here and what is changing? Could it just be that blind and visually impaired people can go into Apple Stores etc in the nearest town or city and take a peep for themselves. The Apple staff know how to set up Zoom magnification or VoiceOver speech and family members, especially children, are taking a great interest and will be quick to help their visually impaired family member to do well with such a cool mainstream bit of kit.

I am old enough to remember the excitement of handling my first computer that talked to me and made stuff large enough on the screen for me to see and even slowly read by sight. It was the BBC computer and it gave me hours of fun and learning. It’s not easy to recapture all this even though computers are so wonderful for us now but the ipad has won my heart and certainly my fingers, eyes and ears. In this blog, I don’t want to do the detail but simply focus on the visual, remembering that I have very little sight by normal standards but very precious eccentric sight by my own standards. So what is it about the ipad?

It is small, thin, neat and held in one hand while your finger in the other hand manages the very responsive touch screen. Stuff on the screen is bright, extremely clear and the colours are intense. You can soften the brightness if glare is your problem. The interesting thing for me is that the ipad is handheld. If you have little sight, the great thing is being able to totally control how near things are, the ipad in this case, what angle they are to your face and eyes. How many of us have hunched over a screen, tried small screens to obtain clarity and or large ones to cope with magnification. How many of us have struggled to read print books with powerful telescopic lenses or done battle with the environment to get the lighting just right. The ipad in your hand copes with all this and, incidentally, when you buy an electronic book for it, you can quickly choose print size, the font style of the print and actually hear the book at the same time.

The ipad revolution brings with it yet another joy. The speech output and enlargement facilities are all part of the mainstream deal out of the box. No need to pay extra for your visual disability needs. The voice is clear and the pictures and colours are stunning. As a big boy, I was very excited to trial a driving game; a fast car amongst all sorts of obstacles I could hardly make out. But because the sounds were there and the pictures right up to my eyes, I felt the thrill of the simulation. I just need a driving game slow enough and with clear and spoken labelling so that I and many like me could get started. The cost of programs or apps is also very reasonable indeed, sometimes as little as fifty nine pence. Many apps are just free of charge.

Sound remains my preference though and I liked the facility to plug in my best headphones and listen to high quality music, podcasts, masses of book titles and radio stations from all round the world and all in the living room in a comfy arm chair and not sat at a keyboard. There is just so much to listen to that I would have to give up work to get time to fully enjoy it all. Sometimes one has had to decide whether or not to be a blind or a weak-sighted operator when choosing technology kit. Here, though, you can just press the buttons and hear or see large, just as you please at the moment of need.

Of course you can email, word process, cope with spreadsheets and keep your list of contacts and your calendar too. I purchased a natty Bluetooth keyboard to go with my ipad so I can quickly write documents and notes etc. There is an onboard on screen keyboard which is very usable with little or no sight, if slow. Incidentally, if you like speaking to your mates, Skype is there and very accessible and easy to use but, beware because there is a phone charge.

So would I recommend the ipad for blind and partially sighted people? Certainly not but I think you should make a big effort to go and handle one and get to know more about it and you might end up being as delighted as I am with it. Do remember too, that I have just scratched the surface and there is much more it can do. And finally, there are lessons to learn here. There is so much choice for us these days from freebies, cheapies to high class Rolls Royces. Who should be recommending? High priced products permit a sales team to go round the country and attend costly specialist exhibitions. The web is stuffed with information if you know the right key words for your web search. Your peers with little or no sight will surely have an opinion as I have; but my views are very biased and personal to my own needs and abilities. Sadly, there are very few professional so-called experts that have no axe to grind, nothing to sell, as it were. And even these trusty few must struggle to know the whole picture. For our part, at Screenreader.net, we no longer just bang on about our own Thunder screenreader software and WebbIE browser as you can see from this Apple article. The best advice is to go, learn and enjoy the huge choice of opportunities now available to us. In the new climate of cuts and reduced spending, we have all got to do more for ourselves and that is no bad thing, maybe.

A New Version Of The Thunder software

2010-03-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

Oh dear!!! I am not very good at this blogging business. Margaret and I work hard every day but, well, I am sorry that it has been so long. Sorry I can’t do all I should do and thank you to the many who respond with your comments and thoughts.

Good news, however. We now have a new version of Thunder, V2, up and ready for everyone at www.screenreader.net. It is really good and I hope we get lots of feedback from you. So what is new?

Obviously, Thunder has been brought up to date and now works well with Windows 7, both 32 and 64 bit versions. Don’t be put off by wise guys telling you that Windows 7 and Office 7 are not good for blind users. Microsoft have made great efforts to improve the accessibility and it is just a case of learning a few new keystrokes and tricks of the trade.

Until now, we have relied on the WebbIE text browser for the Thunder internet experience. That is great and we have no plans to stop using WebbIE and Alasdair amazes us by constantly updating and improving his software. He is a mighty supporter of blind computer users. But now, for the first time, Thunder users can start to enjoy Internet Explorer mainstream and Sensory Software Ltd have been pretty ingenious with their keystrokes. What I mean is that you can achieve a great deal with very few and easy keystrokes. As an example; you can keep pressing the PGDN key and hear much of what is available on websites. Pressing the END key takes you through any form filling you encounter. The function keys are used to deal with other matters: F4 gives you that fantastic easy Web search facility and F2 then F3 permits you to search for a word within the webpage you are on. F7 hops between headers and F10 brings up the list of links. All very easy and works whatever the language. There are plans to develop all this so that we are well ready for when IE9 comes along. But if you find that WebbIE suits your purpose, just stick with it.

Thunder is more stable than ever and the memory stick version is now as responsive as if the software were installed on the machine you are using. It is absolutely amazing that, for the price of a memory stick, around £6 in the UK, and maybe with a bit of help from a mate, you can use your Thunder on other machines, in the library, internet cafe or at your friend’s home, without installing anything at all on the host computer. Compare this with the price of commercial alternatives and, if money becomes short, well, , why spend? Keep your money for training or something else.

We have been busy in other ways too. Since before Christmas, we have been organising fifty web learning days around England for combined audiences of blind and seeing people. At each learning day, we have aimed to recruit a Thunder Champion to spread the word locally and encourage other blind people to get connected. We are pleased that all this has given work to three blind certificated IT trainers at a time when work is hard to come by as the larger blindness organisations take the cream. And we have landed a second European Commission contract to put Thunder into more languages: Greek, Turkish, Polish, Bulgarian and Spanish. In all these countries, many blind people are poor and will never be able to spend out on commercial products. We remain passionate that by right access to computers should be there for all blind people. It is taking a little while but we are not put off by lack of support from organisations with money and we continue to get great feedback from Thunder users round the world.

When we started Thunder in 2006, we were the only “nuts” to be doing something for free which others were charging an arm and a leg for. But now we are not alone. NVDA comes out of Australia and is a great product too and the Mighty innovating Apple Corporation integrates its Voiceover talking and magnifying software into all of its products, from the cheapest iPod to the most expensive 27 inch screen desktop as well as the iphone. And we already know that the iPad, shortly to be released, will also be accessible to us out of the box. We have never had so much choice or accessibility.
So thank you to everyone who supports what we do and keep the feedback and responses coming in

A Dog's Diary August 26 2009

2009-08-26T03:40:00.000-07:00

A dog’s diary

Just occasionally, something springs out at you an grabs your emotions and you just have to play your part. What follows came from a blind friend in Italy. It is wonderful that he translated it for us and just wanted the message to get round the UK too. He actually asked me to tidy the English but...I would not dream of being so picky and arrogant. Give a blind person a talking computer and, who knows, he may change the world for dogs and give us all a huge insight into human behaviour too. Enjoy and don;t be afraid to cry.

Week 1:

Today it’s one week since I was born: what a joy I have come to this world!

Month 1:

My mom takes care of me very tenderly: she is an excellent mother.

Month 2:

Today, I was parted from mom. She looked very anxious and said goodbye to me with a glance. Hopefully my new human family will take care of me as lovingly as she did.

Month 4:

I grew up quickly, everything attracts my attention. There are lots of children around, they are like “little brothers” for me. We are like rascals together, they pull my tail and I bite them for fun.

Month 5:

Today I was scolded: my master rebuked me because I peed in the house – but I had never been told where I should do it!

Month 12:

Today I turned one, I am almost an adult dog now, my masters say I have grown up even more than they expected. Ah, they must be so proud of me!

Month 13:

Today I felt very bad: my “little brother” took my ball, I never take his toys, so I wanted it back. My jaws have been to hard and I have unintentionally injured him. After that I was scared, they chained me, I can hardly see the sun now. They say they keep an eye on me, that I am ungrateful. I can’t understand anything of what is happening.

Month 15:

Everything is different now….. I live on the balcony. I feel so lonely, my family doesn’t love me anymore. Sometimes they forget I am hungry or thirsty. When it rains I have no shelter.

Month 16:

Today they took me away from the balcony. I was sure that my family had forgiven me. I was so excited that I started jumping for joy, and kept wagging all over the place. Besides, they took me for a walk. We headed for the motorway and then, suddenly, they stopped the car. They opened the door and I immediately got off with joy, believing we were going to spend the day in the countryside. Then a very strange thing happened: all of a sudden, with no apparent reason, they shut the door and went away. Hey, wait! You forgot me! I started running after the car with all my strength. My anguish was strong and increased even more when I realized I was going to faint….. and they would not stop. They forgot me.

Month 17:

In vain I have tried to find my way back home. I am cold and I feel lost. On my way I encounter kind-hearted people who look at me sadly and give me something to eat. With a glance I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I would love them to adopt me, I would be loyal and faithful like no other in the world, however they just say: “Poor little boy, you’re lost, ah?”

Month 18:

Some days ago I was roaming in front of a school when I saw a lot of children and guys just like my “little brothers”. When I got closer, a group of them scornfully started throwing stones at me so as to bet who owned the best aim. One of those stones spoilt one of my eyes, and since then I can’t see anything on that side.

Month 19:

You won’t believe that, but people showed more mercy on me when I was prettier. Now I am skinny, my aspect is quite different. I lost one eye and people now drive me away with a broom if I try to find shelter from the sun.

Month 20:

I can hardly move: today, someone ran over me. I thought I was safe in that place called “ditch”, but I will never forget the satisfaction in the eyes of that driver who intentionally drew up alongside the edge of the road in order to get into me. I wish he had killed me. Unfortunately he just broke my rear paw. The pain is terrible, my rear paws do not respond, and I desperately krept to a place with some grass on the side of the road.

Month 21:

I had been exposed to the sun and the rain for ten days, with no food. I couldn’t move anymore, the pain was unbearable, I felt very sick. It was a wet place where I lay, I believed my hair was dropping out. People passed by, some didn’t even spot me, some said “Watch out!” I was almost unconscious, but an unexpected power made me open my eyes. The sweetness of her voice made me react. She said “Poor little dog, how did they trash you this way?” On her side stood a man in a white suit, who touched me, then said “I’m sorry madam, there is nothing we can do for this dog, we’d better put an end to its suffering.” The kind lady started crying but eventually approved.
I wander how it happened, but I slightly moved my tail and looked at him, in order to thank him for helping me find rest at last. I just felt the injection and then fell asleep forever, asking myself why I had been born if nobody loved me.

In my country the problem of dogs being abandoned, most frequently on motorways, is still a relevant issue, in spite of aggressive campaigns promoting respect for dogs and pets.

This message is not just meant to break the hearts of dog lovers, but its aim is rather to affect those who have a dirty conscience, to cause in them a sense of guilt, shame and regret. This way, through a chain of unpredictable events, if just one dog were saved from a hostile fate, then this message will have been worth writing and circulating.

Please forward this message to as many people as you can, it’s just as challenging as sending out a joke or a picture, but you will have dedicated a fraction of your time to an animal, one of those who love us without asking anything in return. The animals will be grateful to you and your heart will be serene!

2009-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

IT and Accessit July 2009

Roger Wilson-Hinds

I am replying to a June AccessIT article, reprinted from Braille Monitor which compared four low cost screenreader software talking packages.

I am responsible for distributing the thunder screenreader software round the world so at first I was cross and very disappointed. Thunder got short shrift. Rated the poorest Low cost screenreader.

My first reaction was to get on the phone and scream and shout about the inaccuracies and the briefness of the Thunder description. But at nearly seventy, I had the wisdom to engage brain before opening my big mouth. So how could such misinformation come to be in a professionally produced and widely respected specialist Braille magazine?

My granddaughter gave me the hint when I showed her the magazine I was reading. It was the cover. “What are floppy disks and what was life like before the internet? This was the drift of the discussion.

Don’t get me wrong. I love reading a Braille magazine on the train and there is no criticism implied or intended. But follow two chains of events:

The June article was written some time ago by a professional team well briefed in accessibility issues. It would then be approved and published and time marched on. Permissions were sought by RNIB and granted and the same article was reprinted in Braille and time marched on. I did not get round to reading the magazine until late July.

Now consider the second chain of events. I read the article on 22 July and am furious. I write this article on 22nd July and immediately pop it up as a blog on my company website also on 22nd July. I ask for it to be published as my right of reply on the same day and it may or may not get into the Braille magazine until September or possibly October, depending on the level of suitable material coming in to the Editor and it might not, of course, be deemed suitable anyway.

What my grand daughter does at the age of ten when she wants some information is to Google it. There is no waiting for her and her mates. So if readers want information about Thunder or much else for that matter, they should Google it and get the latest there is.

So now to the point: If you care to Google “screenreader” you will indeed find www.screenreader.net once or twice in the first five results. You will see clearly that Thunder is totally free to everyone, individuals and organisations. You will see that it comes in three forms: An installation .exe file so you can put it on your PC or laptop within a couple of minutes. There is a zipped file so you can copy it over to media, a pen drive, a disk or a card and run it on any modern Windows PC or laptop running XP or Vista, or very soon, Windows7 too. And there is also an MSI version for techies wanting Thunder on the college or school network etc.

We do indeed use WebbIE as our text browser and many people find WebbIE a most useful way to enjoy the internet and gather information quickly. But it does not suit everyone and we are working currently on an innovative way to get the best out of Internet Explorer 8. If you want an alternative browser such as Firefox, then Google NVDA and you will get to a pretty good option.

Thunder gives access to many Windows applications: MS Word, Outlook Express, Outlook, Notepad, Wordpad, Calc, LastFM, BBC iPlayer, and I could go on and on. If you find something you need access to, by all means ask us to create a script to make it work and we will do our best.

There is a moral to this story and I think it is about moving with the times and not doing things the way we used to in the dark ages of five years ago. Braille mags have their place and long should continue. What they can’t do is give you, the reader, the very latest information and they do you a disservice by conveying old hat stuff. I stress my commitment to Braille magazines and enjoy reading AccessIT.

Roger and Margaret Wilson-Hinds run Screenreader.net from their home in Peterborough. They supply a range of low cost and no cost products including free Thunder, the Lightning magnifier software package, a range of electronic magnifiers and a scanning software package. The company has over one hundred thousand users worldwide and is committed to serving the needs of those not able to afford commercially priced screenreader products.

Contact Details:
E: roger”screenreader.net
T: 01733 234441
W: www.screenreader.net
Blogs at www.screenreader.net

2009-05-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well, sadly, this blog has been a long time coming but at least there is some news to report.

There is a new version of Thunder up there on www.screenreader.net and some useful improvements too.

You will find three options: the first, thunder.exe is what you need if you just want to install Thunder and run it from your usual computer.

The second, let’s you use a memory stick, a thumb drive, and use Thunder on any machine. You just push the memory stick with Thunder on it, into a USB drive and away you go. The download is a .zip file. So you copy that zip file on to the memory stick and unzip it again on the memory stick – unzip here.

The third option probably won’t concern most home users. But Thunder is increasingly being used in schools, colleges, and other organisations. In such cases, the network manager will want Thunder as an MSI file so she can control the way it behaves on the various machines.

Of course, all versions are free to anyone in the world and we very much want to hear from you how you get on with Thunder. We mostly receive good reports and lots of encouragement but there will always be problems with computers and software. We can only learn from your feedback and strive to improve things.

We do encourage you to make a donation towards our work if you are pleased with what you get. We are not money-grabbers but do have monthly expenses in running this service.

You will find some improvements to both Thunder and to WebbIE too. There is a new set of help and support files. You will see on the website or should I say see or hear, a link with the title “First Help”. This is for complete beginners and gives you a start as to which keys to be pressing. The other help files in Thunder help were written by a volunteer great supporter who is a user himself who does not see the screen.

Always on the move, we shall be spending time next week planning ahead how we are going to improve Thunder and the web even more. It works fine on corporate websites where lots of cash has been spent but the web is changing fast and many of us are board with corporate stuff and want to do our own thing and listen to others doing their own thing too. And it is not reasonable to expect such home-spun websites to be so accessible. We have been looking at Facebook, Youtube and Twitter amongst others. Great fun and it won’t be long before we show you how to enjoy such pleasures.

Louis Braille

2008-12-15T03:04:00.000-08:00

www.screenreder.net

I should think that everyone knows who invented Braille. Louis Braille, of course and all the blindness charities round the world will rightly be celebrating Louis’ wonderful achievement, Margaret and I very much with the rest. Our personal lives have been transformed by Braille.

But Louis Braille was really all about information, communication, reading and writing if you can’t see. Paper and bodged dots was the technology available to him at the time; but what if Louis was around today? What would 21st Century Braille be like?

I fancy he would be like us at Screenreader.net and getting very excited about the modern computer that can speak, read, tell you what you are writing and amazingly put you in touch with people and information un-dreamed of in his dots and paper age. He might too, like us, have wanted all this to be a free option, there for even the poorest blind person.

He lived in an institution, died largely unrecognised except by his close mates and, like many brilliant inventors, failed to reap material rewards for his genius. I wonder who his boss was, if he had a Line Manager or a business plan. My guess is that he never got invited to the posh charity events of his time. How many of us know the name of the very important blind institution where he worked or even what his “proper job” was supposed to be. I wonder if it entered his head to charge his blind peers for Braille books, so much per page, per dot etc.

Its very right to be celebrating the memory of Louis Braille’s birth on January 4 and throughout 2009, but let’s learn some basic lessons and celebrate the human being, the inventor, the genius of a blind man and not just milk it to raise funds.

I was emailed by RNIB and asked to publish details of Louis Braille celebration events mostly here in the UK and I am pleased to be able to do this so that our many Thunder supporters round the world can pay tribute to a great man. But I do like the Australian touch best: A day on the beech in the sun.

The Louis Braille Bicentenary
Louis Braille was born on the 4th January 1809. To celebrate the achievements and legacy of this remarkable man, organisations across the globe are planning special programmes of events for 2009. A brief summary follows:-
RNIB events
RNIB will be using the year not only to raise awareness of braille but also to encourage more people (particularly adults) to learn braille
• From January 2009, there will be an advertising campaign and media relations demonstrating how braille has changed peoples lives.
• On the 4th January RNIB will launch an exciting new look website containing lots of up to date information, podcasts and videos
• There will be a high profile signature event in March. David Blunkett, the patron for the years celebrations, will attend the proceedings
• Two amateur radio enthusiasts have secured the call sign GB2HLB. They will be in contact with other enthusiasts around the world between the 26th December 2008 and 22nd January 2009.
• RNIB Cymru will be holding a children's essay competition. Children will be invited to write an essay with a welsh theme in either English or Welsh braille
• In Late Spring 2009, RNIB will be publishing the results of a major piece of research on the issues facing adults learning braille
• Two key products will be launched. The first, a grade one braille course is for both sighted and touch learners. The kit will contain braille writing equipment so that learners can immediately start to label things and write short notes. The second product is the innovative 'upward' writing frame which means that braille no longer has to be written using the reverse mirror writing method. The stylus makes 'upward' dots.
• A book will be published in conjunction with the EBU. It will contain a selection of winning essays entitled 'How Braille changed my life'
• The annual UK Techshare conference highlights the role of technology in the everyday life of people with disabilities. In September it will have a braille theme and it is hoped it will host the French traveling exhibition on Louis Braille and his legacy
Other UK Activities
• RNIB, Torch, Blind Catholics, Guild of Church braillists, St. John's Guild, and others are organising a Louis Braille thanksgiving service to be held at St. Martin's in the Fields, London on Saturday March 21st
• The BBC world service plan to broadcast a programme on the 4th January 2009, highlighting the global reach and appeal of braille in its many forms. There will also be sections on the life of Louis Braille and braille and innovation.
• Traveleyes, a company specialising in holidays for blind and partially sighted people is organising a trip to France in May 2009 with a Louis Braille theme.
• National Braille Week are organising an international Chess tournament in Edinburgh running from the 2nd January to the 4th January 2009. All moves will be recorded in Braille. There will also be a braille exhibition.
Some International Events
• The French organising committee (CINAL) are having a 4 day symposium beginning on the 4th January 2009 with a concert in Paris in the Notre Dame Cathedral. The conference is entitled 'Braille 2009 - 6 dot writing and its future'.
• The Americans have produced a silver dollar featuring the face of Louis Braille on the head side. It will cost $11 dollars and the $10 premium will be directed to groups which benefit the blind.
• CINAL are organising a second conference in June. It will take place in Coupvray (the birth place of Louis Braille) and will cover independence, integration and access to knowledge. It will inform the 'Coupvray Charter' which will have 10 key political proposals. The activities will conclude with a concert featuring Stevie Wonder and Andrea Bocelli
• National Braille Press has produced a range of promotional items (lapel pins, notelets, Bookmarks, Key chains, Poster) These are all for sale at www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/louis
• On the 4th January the Australians are having a celebration on the beach with a 50 metre long braille sand sculpture. 'The spirit of Louis Braille will meet the spirit of Australia in the sand the sun and the surf'.

EVERYONE A WINNER

2008-12-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

RADAR is a very influential charity in the UK, bringing together a pan-disability approach to empower and prosper Screenreader was nominated for an Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year Award and we went along on 1st December to a fabulous evening at the Battersea Evolution in London. There were over three hundred people, many or most disabled in all sorts of ways, the food, drink and flowed all for free and we did not mind that we were not the winners. Blindness gets a good deal of empathy but we chatted to people who had been involved in accidents and suddenly were not able to walk, people, sometimes in high positions, who had suffered mental health, depression etc, and some who could hardly move a muscle. So we are fine, but just can’t see.

It takes me a long time to grow up and understand. For years I thought such glitzy occasions were a total waste of money and time. The RADAR evening budget, for instance, could run our Screenreader.net enterprise for more than a year, for sure. But I have been wrong.

Margaret and I were poshed up in our bow tie and evening dress etc which is certainly not our style and Tania, Margaret’s guide dog, sported a matching bow. But its what inside that counts and we chatted away to like-minded people who are obsessed, like us, with their project, living on pretty low incomes, probably less than the lowest paid jobs in Tesco and the like. They would be shouting for disabled people in Newcastle, campaigning for those in sheltered accommodation to be able to earn more than £20 a week in a society where top bankers get millions a year when retired early for the mess they have played a part in creating. We met a chap from Kenya, over hear amongst our wealth, to return home with ideas to improve the lives of blind people with great brains but no job or money. ,

If everyone went home as fired up as we were, then some good things for disabled people are going to happen over the coming year and the money was well spent. And we all had the opportunity of appearing amongst representatives of large organisations and celebrities who really do have the power and the influence to make big-time changes in Society. Amongst the sponsors were Sky, BBC, Lloyds TSB, a bank actually getting applause, and the Home Office.

No one seemed bowed down by the credit crunch and the gloomy economic forecasts and we for sure will double our efforts to get our free software round the world. Yesterday, working with a student from Nepal, a computer spoke the first words in Nepalese and we plan to work closely with a school for blind children and young people out there. And, if all goes well, we will be putting our efforts into Swahili with the cooperation of the Kenyan Blind Union.

At home, here in the UK, we have landed our first Government contract with the ministry of Justice on the theme of engaging blind people in the political process. We have to teach, on line, our users to blog, take part in petitions, easily get information from the web, and generally make their voice and needs heard by our politicians.

For the last year, we have been working on some software for people with learning difficulties as well as little or no sight. Software is never done; always a work in progress. But www.talkingcomputers.info is where you will find more details and the chance to try it out or at least tell others about it for us, please. Lots of goodies for people who have not been able to get much out of a computer up to now. There is easy access to music, radio choices, a talking calendar, dice, clock and even some games and educational stuff. So please spread the word for us if you are able.

Back to The People of the Year Awards: The Winning Entrepreneur had been shot up in Iraq. Within two years, he has set up a business which teacher==s professionals how to deal with severely damaged victims on the spot, in that first precious hour, so that they survive, even though badly damaged. A great tribute to the human spirit which is indomitable in some people.

MORE THUNDER SUCCESS

2008-11-03T02:55:00.000-08:00

Blog: More Success for Thunder

Sometimes, but not very often, we feel the need to moan. It’s a bad old world and when thousands of people are so misused in the Congo and Jonathan Ross gets the BBC News headlines in the UK…well one could lose hope. Similarly, we sometimes wonder if we really can include poor blind people in the computer age when so many large blindness organisations only bang on about software which is absolutely out of reach of millions of pockets. But then we get fabulous emails from Thunder users and some formal recognition from “the powers that be”.

So Thunder is up for two more awards before Christmas and has won its first small Government contract here in the UK.

TalkTalk is a leading provider here of mobile phones and Broadband internet services. TalkTalk has a good reputation for being straightforward and not too expensive at the same time. Thunder has been given an award for IT services to disadvantaged communities and Margaret and I are off to the House of Lords on Wednesday for the presentation. We also get a business mentoring session with Martha Lane-Fox, the best known co-founder of lastminute.com.

And on December 1 we both get what looks like being a great night out in London. We are short-listed as Disabled Social Entrepreneur of the Year, UK hosted by RADAR at the Battersea Evolution. We should rub shoulders with the great and the good from Government and the private sector and spread the word on behalf of blind people needing computers which they can enjoy using.

We don’t, of course, regard such prizes as personal to us. But they do help Thunder, Sensory Software Ltd and Screenreader.net CIC to become known and this has the effect of bringing in more and more supporters and users. Its possible, for example, that our Ministry for Communities award for services to e-participation earlier in the year has played a part in us getting our first UK Government contract..

The UK Ministry of Justice website is technically accessible according to agreed standards. But that’s only part of the story from a blind user’s viewpoint. So we will provide specialist helpline support by telephone or email, to help individuals who need to perform a specific task on the website which is proving a challenge. If they struggle to do what they need to do about a passport, the individual can get in touch with our helpline and be guided through the process. And they won’t be told to click on this or that because our helpline people are visually impaired themselves and know the challenges of not being able to see the mouse pointer.

Lastly, its great to come across another company who wants to make something free for those not able to afford the costly stuff. Jarte (www.jarte.com) is such a company in the word processing sector. The creators of Jarte have produced something which just works out of the box – a simple word processor which will do all the things us normal people want to do at home or in a small business. But its small and friendly and not like the Titanic unwieldy liner which most of us come across at work. Jarte have agreed to make it work with Thunder, like it does already with other screenreaders, at the next version but if anyone wants to trial it now, please email me and I will pass on the simple instruction which will take just a couple of lines.

The Credit Crunch and Greetings Cards

2008-10-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Credit Crunch and Greetings Cards.

There is so much economic gloom and doom about these days, one wonders how people with little or no sight will survive and of course we will.

I was born in 1940 in the West Midlands, UK with bombs falling by night and visiting the hospital several times each week. So, from my perspective, things have greatly improved. And its great to hear that individual spirit remains undeterred. Organisations serving our interests might cut back, re-organise and come up with new strategies but here below is an example of two great individuals bringing something rather special to our market. So please encourage them.

Thursday, 9/10/08, was World Sight Day which is this year dedicated to raising awareness of visual loss amongst older people. To coincide with this awareness raising event a visually impaired couple launched an innovative venture which hopes, in some way, to help partially sighted older people and younger ones too! Jim and Linda Lawson launched Easy2C, producing a very different type of greetings card which is, as it says on the tin, easy to see for anyone with a sight loss who can still read a little. Both the artwork and print size have been carefully designed to match the needs of those losing vision and those with conditions such as Macular Degeneration or Glaucoma.

The card designs are produced by a visually impaired artist qualified to degree level, Rachel Duerden, and the paper, envelopes and inserts are made from managed forests, thus environmentally friendly. 5% of the profits will go back to charities supporting and selling our work, commencing with Henshaws Society for Blind People who have very kindly offered their knowledge and assistance to get the venture off the ground and host the points of sale for Jim and Linda.

Easy2C was created because so many older people receive cards they cannot read and often have to ask others to read them for them or just guess the name of the sender. Of those who have seen these new cards, the reaction has been fantastic. The greetings can be tailor made for different occasions as well as buying the standard greetings off the shelf. For further information contact Easy2C on 01704 573199 or Henshaws in Liverpool on 0151 557 1226.

I don’t know how many hours I have spent with a powerful magnifying glass trying to puzzle out who our Christmas cards are from.

Our sales of scanning software and higher quality voices have certainly dropped off over the past month but we continue to receive requests for computer training. We don’t get grants from the Government and we have no contract work these days to lose. I would remind you that our free Thunder software will not further drop in price, however bad any recession might get and we won’t stop giving our time and energy to blind people needing their computer questions answered.

You can see from all this that I remain pretty up-beat about things and just admire ordinary people like Linda and Jim who keep having a go, coming up with something straightforward that meets a need.

2008-09-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

On Friday in London, I attended a conference entitled “Scripting Enabled” which in advance was described to me as a hackers’ day. So this was about good hackers lending their skills to the disabled community, hurrying up the process of accessibility and inclusion.. Scripting Enabled is the vision and brain-child of Christian Heilmann , a developer evangelist with lots to contribute. Its well worth searching on Scripting Enabled at http://scriptingenabled.org/about/ and following the story as it will unfold.

The morning session was all about the very diverse needs of various disability groups. People with learning disabilities might need pictures where we blind users need words. Christian has developed an excellent Easy YouTube video player with big buttons, clear colours and built-in keyboard accessibility which just works out of the box. It really is the easiest way to enjoy the YouTube experience and there must be something for us all there.

After the break, AbilityNet presented videos showing people with vision disabilities struggling with JAWS and ZoomText and I was left smugly thinking how much easier is the web with WebbIE which works with all screenreaders, free or expensive and offers magnification as well as the speech. But I very much took to their approach of open evaluation and user-lead opinions and experiences. This is something we at Screenreader.net need to take on board now.

The afternoon was not so good for me as I am not up there with the Techy JAWS brigade and, sadly I had to miss the panel session at the end. I can’t cover more in a short blog but try http://www.slideshare.net/cheilmann/scripting-enabled-how-accessibilty-concerns-can-fuel-mashup-innovation and particularly http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/ to dig deeper.

There really now is a shift of emphasis within the Assistive Technology industry compared to when we set up Screenreader.net two years ago. The market leader remains for blind and VI users but the pack are coming closer and freedom is better understood in terms of usability and user limited cash flow rather than being merely scientific. Though not cheap, Guide is there for the older population with poorer memories; NVDA from Australia, http://www.nvaccess.org/, is chasing Thunder and each have their strengths and weakness, no doubt. At least for free you can enjoy the benefits of both or either.

And today I heard of another free player from the States which sounds great but which I have not tried yet. At http://www.amazability.com/about.htm you can read about Adept1 which has received pretty massive Government developing backing in the States and which claims to offer Voice Input and voice output access to much of what the non-techy computer user might need. The software will be free, like ours. Nice to know we had a great idea like others.

The vision, so far as we are concerned, is nearer to reality and we welcome competition and or cooperation in this field. We will not hesitate to continue to develop and promote Thunder and WebbIE and speak openly about its ease of use as well as what it can’t currently achieve; but full marks to all others with a similar vision and mission.

Web Accessibility and iTunes

2008-09-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

There is plenty to blog about again this time round. We are busy but need a holiday after working very hard through the so-called UK Summer.

DDA Accessibility Laws:
The American Store Target will revamp its Web site to make it more accessible for the blind and pay $6 million in damages to plaintiffs who joined a class action lawsuit against the retailer, under a settlement announced with the National Federation of the Blind. The $6 million will be placed in an interest-bearing account so that plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in California two years ago, can make claims. Most plaintiffs will get about $3,500, an NFB spokesman said.

Under the settlement, the Baltimore-based NFB will test the Web site for three years and certify it once it is completely upgraded. The lawsuit was filed after earlier negotiations between the two sides broke down.

Many blind people use screen-reading software such as Thunder that vocalizes information on a computer, but Web sites must be made accessible for the technology. The lawsuit complained that Target.com was not accessible.

But our Screenreader.net contention goes further. Accessibility is far more than a software package and a legal decision. Most blind people can never raise the cash to buy costly assistive software and, even if they do, training, patience and a level of computer skill is required far above that of the average seeing user who clicks a mouse on what she sees.

But, on the assumption that many things come over to Europe from across the pond, we should sit up and take notice that the law will soon be more strongly on the side of the blind user here too. Maybe it won’t be long before a courageous blind person here, with the backing of a courageous blind agency, will strike a similar blow in the UK or within a European country. I never thought I would be taking such a stance!!! Its just that the years go by and still government, local councils and the private sector in general continue to take the micky, talk the talk and fail to actually make computer accessibility and usability available to the mass of ordinary blind and partially sighted people, even in some Western wealthy countries.

Such access really is the modern Braille and a great way to mainstream blind people so all power and well done to the American pioneers.

The Worsening Economic situation:
We have had the good times here in the West and the coming year or two look not so good. But Screenreader.net will not be changing the price of free Thunder. We will never be wealthy here but are financially secure for the future because we don’t need paying for the work we do and we don’t need buildings and expensive staff.

But we do have ongoing expenses like everyone else and we do, therefore, ask that if you value the Thunder software and want to make a donation towards its upkeep, this would be very welcome indeed.

iTunes, LastFM and the BBC iplayer:
Like me, many of you will enjoy listening to music, listen again radio and TV programs etc. So now, as well as being able to enjoy LastFM and the BBC iplayer,

iTunes V8 works well too. For those who don’t know, LastFM.com is a website where you can download the music of your choice and listen to it free. There is a purchase opportunity too, of course. The BBC iplayer delivers on demand listening to radio programs from the whole of the BBC service as well as selected items from BBC TV 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. And iTunes is the Apple music store widely used to download a massive music library and save to your iPod or other portable device. So, if this is your bag, check it all out and enjoy. And if you want to let us know how you get on, we welcome your emails or phone calls.

BBC iPlayer and WebbIE Working Well

2008-08-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

For the past 18 months, we have been involved with friends and partners in Europe, making the Thunder software available in languages other than English. Our partners proved to be good friends too and the project is at an end. But we now have Thunder working well in Italian, French, Estonian, German and Slovakian. Our partners from Southern Ireland opted to share our English version!!! In the not too distant future, we hope to take on the challenge of other languages but it all takes time, money and effort in no particular order.

If you know of individuals or organisations wanting to enjoy Thunder in these languages, please visit http://www.screenreader4free.eu/index.html and you will find lots of useful information as well as the software and tutorial downloads. I would like to publically thank all those who have been involved. Our vision remains strong to get a free talking screenreader option out there throughout the world, knowing as we do, that many blind people don’t have the funds to purchase the commercial options and don’t really want to be using illegal copies.

Many Thunder users enjoy the WebbIE Text browser and, in particular, the accessible Listen Again BBC radio service. But, over the past few weeks, we have run into some problems. Hopefully they are now fixed.

In the middle of August, Google changed its code and our excellent easy Web
search facility ceased to operate. If you can’t use it, you need to go to www.webbie.org.uk and download the latest version of WebbIE and all will be well again. This could well happen again in the future but hopefully not for some while.

And the BBC too have been making changes to their Listen Again service. We all get used to the way we do things and, when you can’t see what is going on, perhaps the challenge of something new is greater. But take it from me, the changes made by the BBC are brilliant and give us much more to listen to and enjoy, including TV as well as radio.

Again go to www.webbie.org.uk and to the BBC iplayer link. There is a download and this should sort you out for the time being. The message from the BBC people is that the iplayer will become accessible to us in a standard way by the end of October. I will give an update in my next blog. If you are not up to the technical side of all this, I suggest you find a computer buddy who can do the business for you. I do this myself whenever things are too difficult.

We are being helped by some good people from an organisation called Unltd in London to develop what we are doing into a more successful social enterprise. This is not just about money and revenue, important as this is. Its more about efficiency and getting to more potential users. We do keep records of the email addresses when you download Thunder from our website. We will never disclose these email addresses to anyone else; but we do want to write to you and be in contact with you for several reasons.

We don’t actually know how many people use Thunder on a regular basis.
We don’t know if it does the job properly in your circumstances.
You might want to purchase a better sounding voice from us or a scanner to read your post etc.
Some of you might want an electronic magnifier, Closed Circuit Television System, to enable you to read print or enjoy your photos again etc.
In other words, we do have access to lots of information and some low priced but high quality products that could interest you. So we are going in the near future to be sending out emails and hoping for a good response, please. Obviously, if you just want to use Thunder and not be bothered with all that, you can just press the DELETE Key on our email and that’s fine.

We have also been talking about having some kind of Thunder community so that you can talk or email to each other, I know that some like and some don’t like this kind of thing; but its great to know you can chat to someone else when there is a problem and it all lessens the isolation which some of us experience. Anyway, emails will be flying around the world from us very soon.

The other part of what Unltd are helping us with is how to manage our business, raise the funds we need, meet the right business people and keep good accounts etc. There is so much good stuff out there on the web, we just have to make it available to everyone, whether its valuable health information, the chance to go for the best retailer financial services offers etc. So we will aim to be hear for you for many years.

NOT ALL GLOOM AND DOOM

2008-07-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

NOT ALL GLOOM AND DOOM

As a statistic, I am 68, registered blind and hard of hearing. I wear two excellent digital hearing aids so, in many circumstances, I hear what I need to. I have had weak vision all my life and so am totally happy about that. With Margaret, I run a thriving business which is somewhat unusual as a business model but its all great. I am living where I want to be, with the person I want to be with and doing the things I want to do. So no room here for the doom and gloom of the credit squeeze, the down-turn in the economy and all that. Our software is largely free to blind people anyway and the numbers using it are rising day by day.

So, if you want to join us here at Screenreader.net, and ignore the general doom and gloom, here’s how you could play a part in a great project:

Translating the talking software into other languages:
So far we have the Thunder talking software in six languages; English, French, German, Italian, Estonian and Slovak. We have part translations in other languages too. We know there are blind and partially sighted people in all countries who would benefit from the talking computer with no funds to pay for the costly alternatives. So we welcome, please, an email or a phone call from anyone who can help with translation. Its partly a question of translating the manuals and tutorials and partly a question of translating the software package itself so that the menus, dialogs and features speak appropriately. We can give help and support, of course.

Writing Visual Basic Scripts: It is possible that no computer program is perfect and there is always room for improvement and more development. The Thunder software serves many people really well and makes easy much of what needs to be done on the computer without sight. But in schools and at work and even at home, there will always be a need to improve what Sensory Software Ltd has created and to extend the accessibility possibilities to new tasks and applications. So we welcome, please, an email or a phone call from anyone who has the capability and enthusiasm to modify or create Visual Basic scripts for this purpose. Your work will give blind and partially sighted people in great numbers a huge uplift as they struggle to improve their quality of life.

Feedback: We have thousands of Thunder users worldwide and, human nature being what it is, we don’t hear from those who, like us, use the software every day without problems. That’s great and just as it should be. But when there are problems, please, we would like to hear from you so we can put things right, or do our best to do so. We are reluctant to send out evaluation forms and questionnaires to everyone but we welcome your input and suggestions.

Interestingly, much of the feedback we do get falls into two major categories: Some blind people make the talking computer their hobby and their life; So we get feedback from those who already have one or more screenreader software packages on their computers with voice conflict problems or “moans” that Thunder does not behave like the others they are used to. The feedback we get from new users of talking software is very different indeed. Its almost always very positive and enthusiastic. But it’s the third kind of feedback we are now looking for; i.e. positive suggestions and tips to improve what we do for those who can’t afford expensive screenreader talking software.

The Finances: Any new business will struggle for the first year or so and this is especially true, probably, for a social not for profit enterprise like ours. Its almost two years to the day since Thunder was first launched and we are delighted to be able to say that we have money in the bank to continue what we are doing for the foreseeable future. With the long-term in mind, though, we need now to take a look at how we sustain a Screenreader.net revenue. A modest annual charge to each user would more than meet our costs but we don’t want to go down that road because even a modest charge would be beyond the resources of many individuals. Again, your suggestions would be very welcome, please. I will return to financial matters in a future blog.

So here are our contact details:
-mail: ask@screenreader.net
Telephone:
+44 (0) 1733 234441. We look forward to hearing from you.

2008-06-16T03:14:00.000-07:00

A Progress Report.

Some good things have happened to Screenreader.net of late and I thought you might like to be briefly updated.

We now have an excellent range of Thunder downloads on this website and we are far from finished yet.

Version 3.43 is the latest Thunder and its worth you getting this on your computer or laptop. WebbIE too continues to grow and improve and, of course, you will update to the latest version as part of the thunder download. But its always worth a look at www.webbie.org.uk to keep abreast of things and make your suggestions and comments.

If you have been following the Thunder story over the past two years, you will know about our European connections and we are proud to say that Thunder is now up and running and available free of charge in French, German, Italian, Estonian and Slovak as well as our own English version. To enjoy all this, you need to go to www.screenreader4free.eu. We have high hopes of other languages coming along in the not too distant future and we thoroughly enjoyed working with our European partners over the past eighteen months. Speak as you find and the EU does good things for people with little or no sight, especially those of us who are not so wealthy.

Electronic Magnifiers or Closed Circuit TV Systems have occupied our thoughts for several years. There are excellent products on the market but few are affordable. We have joined forces with another UK Company, Bierley Ltd, who manufacture a range of electronic magnifiers for use with ordinary TV sets or the PC or Laptop. They also sell an excellent stand-alone model for around £650. Very soon you will see details of the Bierley products on our products website.

And this leads me to the final paragraph of this blog. We have always been thrilled that Thunder is free but we, as a business, have our modest bills to pay to make it all possible and if we go bust – well we cease being useful. So we must generate some covering income to balance the books.

We have set up another website: www.screenreader.co.uk as an online shop. At www.screenreader.co.uk you can purchase online or by telephone a range of reasonably priced products and accessories to use with your Thunder. There are superior sounding computer voices, advanced speech and or print enlargement software packages and, soon as just mentioned, the Bierley range of electronic magnifiers requiring no computer involvements. There is also some useful software for Braillists and those of you wanting to scan books or your post and listening to what comes to you in print. We even have software for people who can see well but struggle with reading and writing because of Dyslexic challenges.

And last of all: We do encourage you please, to make a donation towards the cost of implementing and updating the free software we provide. You don’t have to, of course; but every little helps and we are so proud of the fact that blind and visually impaired people all over the world can now enjoy the PC and all the benefits this can bring.

The Times Newspaper and Thunder

2008-05-18T08:40:00.001-07:00

On Thursday last, Screenreader.net had a minute of fame with a brief article about us appearing in the London Times Newspaper in the careers section. The story as told below is substantially true and its remarkable how a journalist can put together an uncomplicated summary of our last eight years of work in 300 words. But what I liked most was that it presented a picture of blind people doing well, achieving something good and not the more usual helpless image as often portrayed by some fund-raising charities’ campaigns. When you read this piece, you will also realise that no mention was made, sadly, of Sensory Software Ltd, who created the Thunder software.

Roger Wilson-Hinds achieved academic success despite his
blindness and rose to senior jobs in education. But he was
uncomfortable as an employee and, when 50, he and his wife,
Margaret Wilson-Hinds, started a successful business to supply
ICT equipment and teach other blind people how to use it. Illness
struck. While recovering, Roger resolved to create and give away
screen reader software to any blind person. Now with 100,000
users, ‘Thunder’ is gaining large fees for developing variants.

Our big idea

GIVING your product away to anyone who wants it is certainly an atypical business model, but for Roger and Margaret Wilson-Hinds, it was the pivotal decision that turned their screenreader idea into a commercial reality.

Blind since birth themselves, the Wilson-Hinds were busily running a disability training company, having won a government contract to teach blind people to use computers. Then, in 1998, Roger was diagnosed with cancer, forcing the couple to quit the business and gift it to a close friend - who has continued its success and now employs nine people.

During the ensuing treatment the Wilson-Hinds realised that, although programmes that could scan text on a computer screen and read it back to the user were available, the typical £700-£800 software packages were beyond the pocket of the majority of the world's blind community and they became determined to produce a low-cost alternative.

At 60 most people contemplate turning the wick down a little, but fuelled by the idea of "opening up information literacy to blind people anywhere", in 2000, Roger enrolled himself and his wife on a course for social entrepreneurs instead.

Having self-funded the product's development, the screenreader, called Thunder, was finally ready for market, but, after a few years of trying to sell it at low-cost, the take-up was slow.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time, but low-cost is often seen as inferior and it wasn't until we studied the Google model and embraced the notion of 'free to the end user' that things really got moving," Roger says.

Immediately the product became free a German company with links to European Blind Union got in touch and, two months later, the Wilson-Hinds were in receipt of an EU grant of ¤240,000 to fund French, Italian, German, Slovak and Estonian versions of Thunder.

Since then, more funding has been forthcoming, a version specifically for people with learning difficulties is in development and, with almost 100,000 users, the company now advises businesses on how to make their websites available to this untapped market.

http://www.blogger.com/www.screenreader.net

By MARK BARBER

We do look forward to a great future for the Thunder screenreader software and what it can do to empower blind and visually impaired people throughout the world.

2008-05-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I feel ashamed that it has been so long since my last blog. Put it down to old age, being too busy and…whatever; but there is good news to report.

Screenreader.net has received a grant from UK Children In Need to make the software available to families where there is a child with little or no sight. We have funding for three years and can employ someone to run our Telephone helpline. So we will be setting all this in motion, hopefully starting in June.

On Wednesday, I am going for an interview in the hope of getting some funding from Unltd to lay the foundations for a better organised admin process here. We began this business many years ago and just kept working and never set up a proper database and management system etc. Better late than never. Its only in the last two years that we have moved over from thinking of ourselves as a helping charity to what we are now – a business which delivers software on a large scale and needs to up-scale its presentation etc.

We have updated our manuals, yet again. There is no standing still in this game. I now use a Windows Vista machine and its great; but not easy for a blind person in the early days. Nothing is where you expect it to be but once the new habits and key strokes are in the auto-pilot of the mind and fingers, its plain sailing again. So I have written up a brief manual which teaches others with little or no sight how to migrate from Windows XP to Windows Vista.

Thunder continues to gather still more users. Nearly 80,000 have visited the download page and we will soon be up to 30,000 registered users. We could do with more feedback from happy or even unhappy Thunder users. We learn most when people tell us what needs to be improved.

Margaret and I actually had a short holiday last week and enjoyed a wonderful long weekend by the sea. The weather was fine and warm and we walked a lot and listened to a talking book in the sunshine. Its great to be able to listen to a book and share together. We have worked hard on the Thunder project over the past three years and now its all coming together. On Wednesday evening, I shall be in Frankfurt at the last EU partners meeting and very soon Thunder will be up on the web in five European languages as well as English. The EU website is www.screenreader4free.eu. So its onwards and upwards for Screenreader.net.

Thunder Wins E-Democracy International Award

2008-03-17T05:04:00.000-07:00

Thunder Wins E-Democracy International Award

Quite unexpectedly, we were delighted to receive a phone call saying that we had won a prestigious international award and we were hurrying down to London by train to enjoy nibbles, wine and good company. There is nothing like the feeling of winning. We know we are doing the right thing by blind people as we deliver a free option; but its great to be recognised officially.

So what is all this E-Democracy and E-Participation business all about?

Its far more than voting machines. When I was a Head Teacher, I could not even fill in forms or tick the school register. Going into a normal library has never been a thrill for me because I needed help to find the inquiry counter, let alone the frustration of all those unreadable printed books.

But now blind people everywhere can get to a computer, have the Thunder software installed and learn to use it. This means we can read about our rulers, councillors, officials, and fill in forms, know what is going on and write up our views, complaints or solutions.

The building blocks of society are the individuals, the communities, the representatives and the leaders. Amongst many other benefits, the talking computer enables those of us with little or no sight to join in, have our say, and very much extend our ability to participate. We got our award for services to E-Democracy and E-Participation for making this possible for the world blind community. The technology is not new but our Thunder technology is easier to use than most and its free to everyone.

The award was given by Parmjit Dhandra, UK Minister for Communities. The commendation says:

Ministerial Award for e-local participation 2008.

. Dear Mr Hinds

ICELE (International Centre of Excellence for Local E-democracy) Ministerial Award

May I offer you my congratulations on Screenreader.net winning the ICELE Ministerial Award for making a difference to local communities.

The Thunder tool is clearly an invaluable product which enables the previously excluded to take a fuller role in their communities using technology. By empowering over 100,000 people you have made a difference and no doubt touched the lives of many. With the free tool Screenreader.net is providing, you are enhancing Society by matching opportunities for engagement with the opportunities for democracy that technology can potentially offer.

I would like to thank you for entering the awards and wishing Screenreader.net every success on taking forward this innovative and life-changing tool to the rest of Europe.

Yours sincerely

Parmjit Dhanda MP

So what is ICELE (International Centre of Excellence for Local E-democracy) all about? Probably most of us spend our days taking democracy and inclusion in society for granted and grumbling when petty things go wrong for us. But there are innovators with big visions who work behind the scenes on our behalf and such an organisation is ICELE. The ICELE brings people together who are concerned with empowering and engaging communities. The website is http://www.icele.org and their work goes far beyond the UK.

We are proud to have been chosen for this award.

2008-02-04T03:32:00.000-08:00

Blog: 4Free4All comes a bit nearer.

This last week has been pretty good for us and our free software cause. From Florida came a grand announcement that the Serotek Corporation too have launched one of their internet products as a freeby, SA2GO. There is a good deal of detailed information at http://blog.serotek.com/ which is the Serotek blog site. The AIR Foundation boldly states that “accessibility is a fundamental human right, regardless of financial or geographic constraints”. So now blind and partially sighted computer users worldwide have more free software at their fingertips as well as our Thunder and WebbIE.

But I was much more excited on Thursday to have access to an Apple notebook with Leopard installed. If that means nothing to you then read on and share my excitement.

Leopard is the latest Apple operating system and it comes with good quality and usable speech built in. I was able to listen to iTunes without special scripts or fuss. And then I discovered the magnification potential which is stunning. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, hold down the Control Key and move the mousewheel to control the level of magnification. With my old level of seeing I would have killed for that facility. But the greatest Apple gift this time round for me was that, when I plugged in my Alva Braille Display, Oh yes, it just worked and that is the tops.

So let’s look forward to this free access thing booming and its wonderful to know that we are not the only ones in the business. Our Thunder software is stable, efficient and innovative but we don’t mind at all being pushed to greater achievements by others with a similar mission and we are delighted that our users have a growing choice of free software.

Thunder already has five languages under its belt and well over 70,000 people have downloaded it. On Friday, out of the blue, came an offer to begin translation into Turkish…and so it goes on. Slowly but surely, there is a realisation that the costly traditional screenreader solutions have made a marvellous contribution to computer access for blind people but…and this takes nothing away from their achievement…its now getting time for 4Free4All and not just the elitist few receiving Government or charitable support to enjoy the computer age.

Blog: Christmas And All That

2007-12-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

Blog: Christmas And All That.

Its that time in the year here in the UK when Christmas dinner and Boxing Day left-overs are eaten to excess and you are off out for a walk if sensible or sat down to your computer if you are well…in this case, thinking of friends and colleagues. 2007 has been a great year for us at Screenreader.net in many ways and it has been fantastic to be in touch with so many people round the world. There have been the odd problem or two, but in the main, most people have successfully downloaded our Thunder software and are hopefully enjoying their computers as a result. Certainly, the feedback has been tremendous and we love to hear of newcomers reading, writing, exploring the web, listening to masses of music and reading books, being entertained or even educated by podcasts on all sorts of subjects, as well as having access to radio stations on from all over the world.

The Thunder software has not only changed many of your lives but ours also. As a computer trainer, I used to have to spend hours on trains and it took two or three days to teach just one individual some of the tricks of the trade. Now I only teach here in my own home and the tutorial material goes round the world by magic and lands in many homes and schools where there is seeing help and a great wish to learn. In a strange way too, its absolutely marvellous that no money is involved. Its wonderful to give instead of having to sell and giving does mean that those with less or no money can come into the party too.

But its no good just smugly looking back on a good year unless we make time to plan for 2008. Friends tease me by saying I have no idea how to plan and I admit to being better reacting than setting out and sticking to a To-Do list. But we already have things in mind for the coming year: We need to finalise the European project which puts Thunder into five EU languages; We are committed to producing the first learning difficulties version of our talking software for those who struggle with words and learning and we very much want to get our software accepted into schools and colleges where budgets are restricted. And we must, of course, attend to the thorny issue of fund-raising and income generation because, if we fail to bring in money, we just collapse and are no use to any one.

I don’t actually know how many people take time to read The Blind Blogger; there is so much on the web, so much to look at or listen to and I know from my own experience that its only possible to do so much. But whoever you are, man woman, child, and whatever your country, religion, size and shape, be happy, do well, strive to achieve, and don’t harm any one else. If you want to write to us and tell us about yourself, that would be just terrific and have a fulfilling new year, 2008. Thank you too, for supporting us and telling other people about us.

Podcast Made Easy

2007-11-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

Blog: Podcasts

As part of the rapid move towards listening to radio broadcasts when you want to instead of the old-fashioned way, the Thunder download includes some software called Podcatcher. You will find it in All Programs under Accessibles; but you can always have it put into your Start Menu for convenience.

When you run Podcatcher, you will find some podcast options already there but the chances are they are not what you really want. So here is how to grab at a podcast and make it available. Sorry to be UK-boring, but that’s where I live and you can always adapt the instructions to your own situation.

So if we want to hear the weekly podcast of the BBC program for blind listeners we open up WebbIE, press Control + W and type in “bbc in touch podcast” without the quotes. Press Enter and Cursor Down until you hear those words. Press Enter again and, at the time of writing, you will be taken to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/intouch/.Press. Press Control + F and type in “feed url” Without the quotes. Press Enter.

Highlight the URL which in this case is http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/intouch/rss.xml, copy it with Control + C and then open up Podcatcher in readiness to paste it in the appropriate place and add it to the podcast list. There are more than one hundred BBC podcasts as well as the In Touch one.

With Podcatcher on the screen, press the Alt Key and Right Cursor once to hear the menu item Podcasts and Cursor Down to Add Podcatcher and press Enter.

You will be asked to enter the name of the podcast, which you could call BBC In Touch, in this case. Press Enter. You will then be asked to enter the web address or URL so press control + V to paste it in and press Enter.

Be patient while the connections are made and next time you go into Podcatcher you will have your new podcast waiting for you and it will be updated each week.

When you further explore Podcatcher, you will find the menu option to remove those podcasts you don’t like. Using the Control + W routine you can type in podcast and almost any subject and you will get to what you might want. I even typed in podcast talking microwave and got several audio descriptions. The days are long gone when we are restricted to formal broadcasts. Each of us can spread our word and our ideas. Its great.

Of course, as well as listening to such podcasts on your computer or laptop, you can download them and listen at your leisure in the garden or on the train via some kind of iPod. Podcatcher is free with free Thunder and so I want to tell you about a low cost tiny device called Zen Stone. I went into the local computer chain store and asked for an iPod with no screen. I was offered the Zen Stone, just 1 GB, for the princely sum of £27.50 pence. I got it home, plugged it into the USB computer port and left it to charge for the suggested four hours.

Within My Computer, Thunder found it and I was able to download my chosen podcasts, carry the Zen Stone and headphones in my jacket pocket and listen on the train. The Zen Stone is made by Creative Labs and it feels just like a large bean with tiny switches. Its totally accessible, being made for joggers who don’t want to look at a screen. The instructions are brief and scanned perfectly for me to listen to but, honestly, there is little to learn. There seem to be lots of iPods out there and the challenge is to find the one that you can use and afford.

Well, enjoy podcasting the easy way. It just takes a little time and trouble to get into the routine.

NEW BRAILLE

2007-10-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Louis Braille (From the RNIB Website, 2007
The NEW Braille from The Blind Blogger, sometime in the future.

Louis Braille (From the RNIB Website, 2007

Louis Braille invented "braille" , a world wide system of embossed type used by blind and partially sighted people for reading and writing. It has been adapted to almost every known language, from Albanian to Zulu.

He died in 1852 and, for a while, it seemed as if this system would die with the inventor. Thankfully a few key people realised the importance of this invention. In 1868 ,
Link 13: Dr Thomas Armitage
led a group of four blind men to found the British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind.

This small band of friends grew and grew to become Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) . We are now the largest publisher of braille in Europe. Our pioneering work helps anyone with a sight problem.

Where does the story begin?
Louis Braille was born in a small town near Paris on 4 January 1809.

One day when Louis Braille was a small boy, he crept into his father's workshop to play. He had often seen his father making shoes and he decided he would like to try. He picked up an awl, a sharp, pointed tool used for making holes in leather. As he bent over, the awl slipped and pierced his eye, destroying it forever. Some time later his other eye became infected by the first and he lost his sight altogether . He was aged only 4, but still went on to become one of the most famous Frenchmen ever to live.

Louis Braille's school years
Despite his sight loss the young child attended the village school with his sighted friends for two years. Eventually it became clear that he would not be able to learn much more, largely because he could not read or write. Without an education it was likely that he would have to beg on the streets, like other blind people at that time.

At the age of ten he was lucky enough to be sent to a school for blind boys in Paris, one of the first in the world. Conditions in the school were very harsh. The building was damp and unhealthy and discipline was severe. Pupils who misbehaved were beaten, locked up and given stale bread and water. In fact, this kind of discipline was common in all schools at that time. Life was harsh for nearly everyone and most sighted children left school at the age of 12 and went to work in factories or in mines.

At the school in Paris the blind pupils were taught practical skills like chair caning and slipper making so that when they left the school they would be able to make a living. Once a week, after lunch, the boys were taken for a walk in the park, linked together by a long rope.

They were also taught to read but not to write . The letters they read were raised above the surface of the page so that they could feel them with their fingertips. This form of writing was very difficult to read because it was very hard to tell the letters apart. The letters were printed by pressing copper wire into one side of the paper to make a raised shape on the other. Because each individual letter had to be made out of wire first and because the wire then had to be forced into the paper with a press blind people were unable to write anything for themselves.

One day something happened that changed the lives of blind people forever. In 1821 , a soldier named Charles Barbier visited Louis' school. He bought with him a system he had invented called "night writing" . Night writing had originally been designed so that soldiers could pass instructions along trenches at night without having to talk and give their positions away. It consisted of twelve raised dots which could be combined to represent different sounds. Unfortunately it proved to be too complex for soldiers to master and was therefore rejected by the army.

How did he develop braille?
The young Louis Braille quickly realised how useful this system of raised dots could be, provided it was simplified. Over the next few months he experimented with different systems until he found an ideal system using six dots . He continued to work on the scheme for several years after, developing separate codes for maths and music. In 1827 the first book in braille was published.

Even so, the new system did not catch on immediately. Sighted people did not understand how useful braille could be and one head teacher at the school even banned the children from learning it. Fortunately this seemed to have the effect of encouraging the children even more and they took to learning it in secret. Eventually even sighted people began to realise the benefits of the new system.

Not only could people with sight problems read braille but they could also write it for themselves using a simple stylus to make the dots. For the first time blind and partially sighted people began to be truly independent and to take control of their own lives.

What did he go on to do?
Louis Braille eventually became a teacher in the school where he had been a student. He was admired and respected by his pupils but, unfortunately, he did not live to see his system widely adopted. He had always been plagued by ill health and in 1852, at the age of 43, he died from tuberculosis .

In France itself, Louis Braille's achievement was finally recognised by the state. In 1952 his body was moved to Paris where it was buried in the Pantheon, the home of France's national heroes.

The Modern Braille from The Blind Blogger, sometime in the future.

The modern Braille is the computer that talks or magnifies what is on the screen or what is typed from the keyboard. Blind and partially sighted people all over the world are taught to use the computer in this way. We take it for granted that they can read and write, send and receive emails, surf the web, fill in forms and play a full part in Society.

The old Braille was invented by a Frenchman called Louis Braille who lost his sight as a child in a family workshop accident.

The modern talking computer was invented back in the last quarter of the Twentieth Century but we don’t have a name for the inventor.

For years blind people had to pay lots of money to purchase the software that gave them accessibility and they had to pay lots more money to be trained to use the computers. The great step forward came about in 2006 when a far-sighted small band of friends, two blind people and a talented Professor of Assistive Technology, got together and made the talking software free to all blind people as a download on the web.

At first the organisations of the blind and the commercial providers of the expensive alternatives did not take the free software seriously. As time went on they then grudgingly sought to portray it as inferior and not very functional, while continuing to profit from sales of the costly software.

But the blind couple and the clever Professor were independent and never gave up on their vision of free access software for all blind people regardless of their ability to pay.

Just like Louis Braille in his lifetime, they failed to get appropriate recognition at the time; but this did not matter because, now, as everyone knows, its quite unthinkable that blind people should have to pay such a disability premium on their accessibility.

Sadly, Louis Braille died alone of TB, upstairs in his Blind institution without knowing the wonderful benefits his peers enjoyed after his death. The inventors of the modern Braille, though, had the satisfaction of knowing that the web would take their software round the world quickly, efficiently and freely within a year or two and despite the lack of interest and cooperation from wealthy blind organisations.

2007-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Blog: Thunder, WebbIE and Techshare.

Well, life has been very hectic of late and there is a good deal to report.

We put a new version of Thunder up on the www.screenreader.net site and a new version of WebbIE up at www.webbie.org.uk. Things are improving all the time.

I managed to sort things out with the Editor of the RNIB NB magazine and the following Right of Reply will appear in the October issue.

My Right to Reply – 246 Words.

LOW AND NO COST SCREENREADERS FOR BLIND PEOPLE AT HOME

Full marks to NB for publicising the growing availability of affordable access software for home computer users after years of high priced options only.

But I felt that the article in last month’s NB was somewhat flawed in its methodology and left readers still not able to pick a winner for their own purpose. So I hope the following summary clarifies matters:

All three packages were given the thumbs up, are user-friendly and will cope with MS Word, Notepad, Emails, the internet, live and listen again radio, as well as podcasts and RSS news feeds which were not mentioned. Minimal tuition is required for all three and there is plenty of help and training manual material.

Thunder and System Access can be run on the modern Windows Vista but not Mercury.

There is a magnification option with Mercury and WebbIE on the internet but not with System Access.

Regarding pricing, System Access starts at £210.00 plus £70.00 p.a. No price was given for Mercury but I understand it to be something over £800, but including the PC so the software might be £400. Thunder is free for home use but priced at £159 on a memory stick or for commercial use.

All in all it’s a great time for the man or woman in the street to get to know what a talking computer can do to improve their lives and independence.

I have spent a few days out in Estonia in Tallinn as part of our European Partners’ project to translate Thunder into other languages. So we now have German, Italian, Estonian, Slovak and French well on the way.

We shall be starting on a new project very soon to create a version of Thunder which will be usable by people with learning disabilities. We have received a generous grant from the Esme Fairbairn Charitable Trust and are currently gathering information as well as planning the detail of the user-friendly Thunder interface.

Lastly, If you want to meet up with us, why not come along to the London Techshare Exhibition and Conference at the Hammersmith Novatel on 4th or 5th October between 10 and 5. Screenreadaer.net is on Stand 42 and we will be proudly strutting our stuff. You will be amazed just how easy it is to enjoy many excellent resources with Thunder and WebbIE.

One thing more. I have received three Blind Blogger responses saying how difficult it is to comment on this blog. I am very sorry about this but the fact is that I don’t fully understand the technology and so can’t work out an easy accessible way for readers to respond. But I am working on it.

2007-08-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

Blog: Techshare, Audio Porn and fighting our corner

Here’s a date for your diary and Screenreader.net will be there on a stand so please come and spend a little time with us.

- The biggest ever European exhibition on access to the information society
by people with disabilities

- Free entry for all, pre-registration now open

- Runs 4-5 October 2007 at award-winning London venue: Novotel West

- Please promote to your public networks http://www.techshare-expo.com/

Techshare Expo 2007 is a new showcase for products and services helping
people with disabilities participate fully in the information age. From the
internet to home computers, educational technologies, video games, digital
TV and mobile phones - Techshare Expo 2007 will be a showcase for products,
services, tips and techniques.

Entrance is absolutely free and open to all. If you are an organisation with
communication channels to the public and people with disabilities who are
your service users, please do promote the exhibition widely - everyone is
welcome.

Pre-register today at: http://www.techshare-expo.com/

PLEASE NOTE: this exhibition is running alongside the revamped,
comprehensive Techshare conference, hosted by the RNIB for professionals in
the field, which does have an admittance charge: for more information and a
full speaker programme for the conference see

www.techshare.org.uk

If you are attending the Techshare 2007 conference, there is no need to
separately pre-register for the free 'Techshare Expo 2007' exhibition.

At the age of 67, I am ashamed to admit I have never been to a Strip Club and dirty pictures do nothing for me. Nothing to do with having little sight – I just prefer the real experience with love and care. But there is a website, xxx, stuffed with audio Porn experiences and its very accessible too. So off you go to www.soundsdirty.com if that’s your thing and, if it is not, just read on for something more interesting and wholesome. .

I am learning just how much we need to fight our corner with regard to the free screenreader. I was at first pleased to hear that RNIB was to publish a piece about us in the September NB magazine. But when I read three brief articles on SA2Go, Thunder and Mercury, I was very disappointed. The bit on Thunder was boring, no passion, no mention of the easy access to internet radio, the huge free library, RSS Feeds and podcasting. Just a list of programs such as Notepad, Outlook Express, Sound Recorder would you believe and MS Word which Thunder could cope with. The joy of the computer for us has moved on and for me its my entertainment and information centre, not just an old typewriter. But what is worse: I wrote and asked that the article about Thunder be not published and was told “Too late”.

So what’s the basic issue here? Is Big Brother or Aunty still around, speaking for me as a blind person when I am more than able to speak and write for myself?

Surely not!!! Perhaps the person who wrote the Thunder piece is just busy, knows about other screenreaders and failed to talk to us before putting pen to paper. I have corresponded with him since and he has been tremendously helpful in pointing out bits we need to put right. Well, when it comes out, do read NB because it contains some good stuff but, when you read the Thunder article, take it with a pinch of salt and explore for yourself the fabulous accessibility options it opens up to blind and visually impaired people round the world for free. Oh, and the good news is that I was promised 250 words as a right of reply. We have to work hard to explain to others that, just because Thunder is free, it is certainly not a baby or cut down version of something else.

2007-07-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

Our First Birthday

15,000 Blind Computer Users Empowered - And Counting
Software that is robust, stable and very easy to use
A Royal Patron and a high profile Champion
An EU partnership to take Thunder into Europe
Lots of positive emails from blind people round the world
Friendships and partnerships growing by the day

No wonder we are celebrating Screenreader.net’s first birthday at the Sight Village exhibition in Birmingham UK on 16 17 and 18 July. We have lots to be proud of and still a very long journey ahead of us.

Margaret and I came into all this because the talking computer so dramatically changed our own lives and empowered us to run our own business. We wanted to share this empowerment and freedom with other blind people, regardless of their ability to pay. We prefer words like empowerment and inter-dependence to support and charity., but we prefer action to words.

We have plans to create a version of Thunder for people with learning disabilities and, of course, to offer many other languages. Roger has recently attended a podcast training day and the idea is to put up straightforward training material on website to assist both blind learners and helpers.

A first birthday is also a great time to thank others. Its worth remembering that The Microsoft Corporation is the bed-rock behind all this. Thunder was invented by Sensory software Ltd who go miles beyond the call of duty on our behalf. And we can’t begin to list in any order of priority the many individuals and organisations who have generously involved with us over the year.

We are proud to be a Community Interest Company - a social enterprise. The challenge remains long-term financial sustainability while delivering free talking software to blind people round the world.

Roger is a Fellow of the School of Social Entrepreneurs based in London and much of the thinking and planning behind Screenreader.net is SSE inspired. – a balance between high-minded and hard-headed.

2007-06-11T04:13:00.000-07:00

Partners and Creating Audio on your Computer.

The more we go forward with the Thunder project, the more we realise the need to work with other people and not try to do it all ourselves. Over recent weeks, someone has given hours of time to upgrade the Thunder Help files to professional Windows standard and the WebbIE text browser has always been a fantastic voluntary effort.

We want Thunder to be multi-lingual and are looking at eSpeak as the appropriate free synthesiser to take us into Africa and Central Asia et, but this is a long-term business. ES[peak is not of the same quality as the Microsoft voices but it might be the only way forward in some countries. If you would like to try eSpeak, please do and let us have your feedback. The download is http://espeak.sourceforge.net/.

Many of us enjoy audio in all sorts of ways and we have been looking for a suitable free or low cost application.

We researched several audio editing applications and agreed on WavePad as being excellent and easy to use with Thunder. There is a free starter version as well as a Masters version and various add-ons which you pay for.

The download URL is http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/.

Once you have opened WavePad, you can press control+n to open a file. You
are usually presented with a dialogue which allows you to choose the sample
rate, radio buttons for selecting mono or stereo and a combo box to select
the recording source. Having opened a file by activating the ok button at
the end of this dialogue, pressing f5 will start the recording and escape
will stop it.

A dialogue box is open while your recording is in progress with a number of check
boxes and buttons which are identified by Thunder, including such things as
stereo, panning etc.

Once you have stopped the recording, f9 will play it, f8 will skim forward
and f7 will rewind. These work whether the recording is being played or
not. Escape will stop the replay of a recording and leave the insertion
point at the place where the playback was stopped.

F1 will give you help on the various features of the application and below are some of the shortcut keys:

Shortcut keys for WavePad

File Operations

Create new file Ctrl+N
Open file Ctrl+O
Save file Ctrl+S

Save File As (various formats) alt+f then a.

Play Operations

Record F5
Play F9
Play Slow Speed F11
Play Normal Speed F10
Play Fast Speed F12
Play Repeat Shift+F9
Stop Esc
Go to Start Home
Rewind F7
Fast Forward F8
Go to End

Edit Operations

Undo Ctrl+Z
Cut Ctrl+X
Copy Ctrl+C
Paste Ctrl+P
Clear Del
Select All Ctrl+A
Trim Ctrl+T
Trim Start Ctrl+R
Trim End Ctrl+E
Select from current position to start Shift+Home
Select from current position to end Shift+End
Select from current position to left Shift+Left
Select from current position to right Shift+Right

Zoom Operations

Select from current position to right Shift+Right
Zoom In Ctrl+Plus
Zoom Out Ctrl+Minus
Zoom Full Ctrl+Shift+F
Zoom To Selection Ctrl+Shift+S
Vertical Zoom Ctrl+Shift+V

Bookmarks and Regions

Add Bookmark Ctrl+B
Open Bookmark List Ctrl+Shift+B
Add Region Ctrl+R
Open Region List Ctrl+Shift+R

I hope this gets you off to a good start. If you discover other goodies and want to share your knowledge, please respond.

2007-05-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

BFreedom, Tactile Graphics and .

With a busy week behind me, I am looking forward to the weekend and an extra day’s holiday on Monday.

I was asked to sign a petition against Freedom Scientific, of JAWS Fame, taking legal action against The FreedomBox company. Well meant, but worrying. In the field of screenreaders, Freedom Scientific have patented the word Freedom as their trademark and must surely have the right to defend it when someone else in the same field chooses to use that word. So I did not sign alongside the other 150 blind screenreader users. It’s a great shame we can’t spend all our money and energy on meeting the needs of our clients. The rest is a distraction.

The subject of tactile graphics won’t go away. Over the years many gifted people have bent their minds and enthusiasms in the cause of creating meaningful raised maps and diagrammatic representations for those of us who can’t see. I come from a family of three visually impaired lads. I find tactile diagrams a struggle, almost an extra barrier to the learning, but my two brothers just love maps and diagrams and would, I am sure, be thrilled with the current developments taking place at the Royal National College here in the UK. I saw the device for myself while in Germany this week; but let the college promotion team sell the idea to you themselves: Maybe we have something to learn from this presentation.

Page Headline: T3 from RNC
T3 Talking Tactile Technology

"The beginning of a complete revolution in accessibility for the visually impaired"
"One of the most important inventions for blind people in the last century"
"Sensational"
"It has blown my mind"
"The potential is enormous"
Introducing the T3...
... A Whole New Way of Seeing
... A Whole New World of Learning
T3 - A touch sensitive, multi sensory device which provides instant audio feedback from tactile images. This combination of sound and touch transforms the way in which people who are visually impaired can access graphical information.
Operation is simplicity itself. The T3 is connected to a standard PC or laptop computer via a USB connection and the self-installing programme CD is inserted. To activate the system all that is needed is a T3 tactile diagram overlay to be placed on the surface of the device and touched by the operators finger.
Depending on the CD programme content, the operator now has access to a huge volume of information on any pre-selected subject. When a user presses on various parts of the tactile diagram they hear appropriate descriptive audio feedback.
T3 is successfully being used across a range of sectors including:
Education - from Early Years to Adult Training...
Public sector
Libraries, Arts and Museums
Industry and Commerce
This is what T3 users have to say about it...
"The beginning of a complete revolution in accessibility for the visually impaired"
"Sensational, it allows the person to access written resources with senses other than vision i.e. by touch and sound"
"At last, a piece of equipment that puts the user in charge"
"One of the most important inventions for blind people in the last century"
"If only it had of been around years ago - learning would have been so much easier"
"It has blown my mind... the potential is enormous, unimaginable really"
"So easy to use, intuitive and straight forward"
The T3 is brought to you by the Royal National College for the Blind, the UK's leading college of further education and training for people who are blind or partially sighted, a Beacon college and described by Ofsted as "Outstanding".
The T3 is the European version of the Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT) owned by Touch Graphics, New York. Initial development work was undertaken with support from Anglia Ruskin University.
Photo of Student using T3.
RNC are the leading creators of tactiles for the T3.
Complete T3 kit, hardware, software and tactiles.
© RNCB 2005 The cost is £600.

Now for my view: A lot of work is required to prepare materials. But it’s a great invention and the T3 will stimulate many imaginations. For more information, go to http://www.rncb.ac.uk/t3/index.html.

So maybe this is how we should be promoting Thunder and the free screenreader option:

Thunder – Free Talking software for Blind People.
Thunder – Financial Freedom, no need to pay.
"The beginning of a complete revolution in accessibility for blind and visually impaired people.
"One of the most important inventions for blind people in recent years.”
"Sensational" “The modern Braille”.
"It has blown my mind"
"The potential is enormous"
Introducing the computer revolution to all blind people.
... A Whole New Way of Seeing
... A Whole New World of Learning

Thunder software converts a modern computer into a talking computer within minutes. It’s a standard internet download from anywhere in the world. Thunder gives blind an visually impaired people access to the web, the privacy of email, the empowerment of mainstream information and equal opportunity to jobs, learning leisure.

Operation is simplicity itself. The software automatically installs and all that is required is for the operator to learn a few standard keystrokes and procedures. The user can then listen to a huge volume of information on any pre-selected subject.: Since its launch in August 2006, Thunder is already being used by over 14,000 individuals across a range of sectors including
Education - from Early Years to Adult Training...
Public sector
Libraries, Arts and Museums
Industry and Commerce
This is what Thunder users have to say about it...
"The beginning of a complete revolution in accessibility for the visually impaired"
"Sensational, It has changed my life. My literacy has been restored.”

"At last, "I can use the computer again like I did at work; and I don’t have to pay £700 I have not got.”

"One of the most important inventions for blind people in recent years."
"It has blown my mind... the potential is enormous,"
"So easy to use, intuitive and straight forward" Instead of the mouse, just a few keystrokes to learn.”

“Talking software has been around for years but so expensive and only the few could afford it. Now everyone can join in the computer revolution.”

“It’s the modern Braille. Louis Braille himself would have been thrilled.”

Thunder software was invented by Sensory software Ltd, an innovative company based in Stockport UK. The free version of Thunder is distributed by screenreder.net, a Community Interest Company in Peterborough UK. We believe that the benefits of the freedom scientific are denied to the mass of blind people simply because they don’t have the freedom financial.

The free version of Thunder is for home use, non-commercial use, and a licensed version can be purchased for use by organisations.

Thunder Download from www.screenreader.net .
Why not try Thunder first? It might be all you need.

When we first began work on a low cost screenreader some five years ago, I sought the advice of a senior Manager at the Royal National Institute for the Blind here in Peterborough. It has taken me these five years to get the message. He said: “It depends how its marketed”.

2007-05-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

A Great Week for Thunder

Even when you are giving something valuable away for free, it still needs to be marketed in the sense that, if no one knows about what Thunder is, then no one will go and download it. So Margaret and I have been meeting with influential people and having no difficulty in getting them on our side.

We now have a Royal Patron: HRH The Duke of York. There is a long tradition of members of the Royal Family giving time and energy to support worthy causes and we are delighted and grateful that screenreader.net has been recognised and given the seal of approval.

We spent a very happy hour at The House of Commons with David Blunkett, MP, Vice President of RNIB. He is to be our Champion and immediately he could see the value of free talking software for all blind people and has given us permission to put his name to Thunder and screenreader.net. He was very friendly and enthusiastic and is a great example of success despite not seeing. Amazingly, I plugged in the Thunder memory stick into the House of Commons computer which was set up for us and, in seconds, I was using it and searching the web. Margaret, myself and Mr Blunkett, all three of us blind, were in a position to use a perfectly ordinary computer we had never handled before. Wonderful!!!

And to round off a week with Celebrities, we met Sir Terry Wogan down at the Royal Blind society Bradbury Hotel near Worthing last Friday. He was officially opening the new extension to the hotel which provides holidays for mainly older people with little or no sight who are often trapped in their home day in and day out. He was full of fun and laughter and very much behind the work of The royal Blind society and that includes screenreader.net and Thunder.

For the past twenty years and more, talking software for visually impaired users has been a commercial matter and we feel that the high prices have excluded low income users. Like many other enthusiasts, we have learned just how hard it is to introduce an innovation, however worthwhile. So it has been refreshing to receive so much encouragement at a high level. Margaret and I are very determined people and we believe that in ten years time, our customers will be looking back and saying: “Did blind people really have to pay out an extra £800 to enjoy the use of the computer like everyone else? Surely not”.

2007-05-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

2007-04-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

AWARD-WINNING SOFTWARE

Some good news this week for screenreader.net and Sensory Software Ltd who developed the Thunder screenreader talking software package.

We have been given an award by the ITC Hub in the UK. The award is for delivering social or environmental benefits through ICT. We are all delighted and appreciate this recognition of our efforts.

And we were in very good company amongst some very innovative projects. Perhaps it is a sign that a social or community approach is often the better way to deliver services to disadvantaged client groups such as the majority of visually impaired would-be computer users. Leaving such service delivery to the market-place can exclude those without money and leave others vulnerable to sales and marketing techniques. ITC lends itself particularly to a small company like screenreader.net CIC which has very modest resources but a great mission and vision. From our own home, we are able to communicate with needy people round the world and offer them an immediate solution to some of their literacy and information deficits.

In terms of impact, the ITC Hub Award is yet another marker that we are making excellent progress in a very short time. The number of downloads has passed the 12,000 point and some of these downloads are by trainers who serve several end-users.

I think the message is getting home that blind people have a computer route to the mainstream of society and that they don’t have to pay out £800 for specialist access software, unless they want to, of course. If they do want to and can afford it, that’s great also.

.

2007-04-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

BBC Listen Again

Margaret and I are keen BBC website supporters. We especially enjoy the Listen Again facilities. Radio 4 Listen Again is stuffed with entertainment and information. Its like a complete magazine in its own right.

WebbIE includes the most straightforward way to access and enjoy BBC Listen Again. Amongst All Programs, if you keep pressing letter A, you will come to Accessible. Press Enter and the top choice is Listen Again. Press Enter and you are at the top choice of many radio programs which were broadcast over the past week. The vast list includes plays, feature programs, comedy, news items and much more. Something for everyone.

Arrow down until you hear something that takes your fancy and press Enter. You will hear the chosen program within seconds.

To achieve all this, its best to be on broadband or to go for the fastest internet connection you can manage. You will also need to have installed on your PC either RealPlayer or Alternative RealPlayer, which we actually recommend. Both packages are free as internet downloads from www.webbie.org.uk.

But if you are not a BBC Radio 4 phonetic like us, there are lots more Listen again services in the world and, with a bit of help and exploration yourself, you can begin to discover the whole new world of internet radio. In our living room, we have connected our computer to our Hifi which enables us to hear what we like when we like it in comfort and away from the PC office desk. Its great.

2007-03-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Robin wrote: "Ten Thousand Downloads of Thunder Well, this is so...":
What do you think of Thunder compared to Supernova or Jaws? I teach
students who use both, but we could do with an alternative especially
that it seems portable.”

Thunder is very portable and it would be great for the students to have at home the same as at the college. Also, Thunder does not have the video card potential conflicts of either JAWS or SuperNova. And then there is the cost saving.

On Tuesday evening, Margaret and I went to the British Library to the launch of a book “Your Ethical Business” by Paul Allen. On how to plan, start and Run a company with a conscience. ISBN 978-0-9553695-0-6,from NGO.Media.. On page 51 there is a case study on screenreader.net. When interviewed about his book, he was asked if there was an exceptional case study which stood out above the rest and, to our amazement, he began: “Well, Margaret and Roger are here in the audience and these two blind people…and he summarised the screenreader story. We felt justly very proud.

And now about the budget. Obviously, we have been able to take time on the web and study the implications in detail for our business of the changes in taxation an pensions etc. Not only that but we were both able to go on to the BBC Budget Calculator website and key in our details using, of course, Free Thunder and WebbIE as we always do. It seems that I am to be £192 better off and Margaret will be only £66 better off. Well there is no justice for women, is there!!!

The fact that we can do all this makes the case very strongly for Thunder, Robin, I think.

2007-03-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

A Response To My Blogs

When you blog, you don’t get to know who if anyone is reading what you write, unless there is a response. In my case, two or three people have verbally told me they read the blog but today I received my first online response which comes in the form of an email.

Anon wrote:
“As someone who is one of the "commercial people" I do not think it is
fair to say that I am ripping people off. I am simply working to help
blind people, and feed my four children.”

My immediate reaction is to say that Anon’s comment is a very fair one. It is absolutely appropriate for companies or charities to charge £100 or nothing for their access software and there is a wide variation in the prices charged in the blindness market-place. But those charging more have a bigger marketing budget to play with and can better influence the purchaser. So perhaps there is a role for the blindness charities to make the full facts available to visually impaired users, especially to those with little money to spare. The ripping off, and perhaps I should not have used those words, only occurs when uninformed poorer users are lead to believe that the only choice is to spend lots of money they don’t have. My personal experience is that most people in this blindness accessibility business are basically very good human beings and the high prices are unintentionally excluding poorer people. i.e. the exclusion is a by-product of market forces.

It would be great to get more feedback.

2007-03-16T14:29:00.001-07:00

The Royal Blind Society.

In a recent blog, I made reference to the fact that we have had little support and enthusiasm from blindness societies who sell rather than give speech access software to home users. Well, it is looking very much as if there is to be an outstanding exception.

The Royal Blind society is based down in Sussex and it has a long and proud history of making grants to blind individuals in need. In recent years RBS has moved into the hotel business for people with little or no sight wanting a safe supported holiday where the staff are trained and experienced in understanding their needs.

So I have become a trustee of RBS and yesterday I attended my first meeting at one of their pleasant hotels not far from Worthing. It was very refreshing to hear everyone round the table talk about the needs of blind individuals, the need for financial grants and the need for holiday breaks.

So if you or someone known to you is wanting such a holiday break or needing a grant e.g. towards the purchase of a talking computer, I suggest you get in touch with RBS pretty smartly and join the queue.

The RBS website is http://www.royalblindsociety.org/.

Royal Blind Society
Registered Charity number 207827
RBS House, 59 - 61 Sea Lane, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 2RQ
Phone: 01903 857023 - Fax: 01903 859166

And, by the way: I am a trustee and will not be making any financial gain should you get a grant. Remember, our software is totally free to home users whichever computer at home is used.

2007-03-16T14:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.traintaxi.co.uk/ Now arriving at a PC near you …

Here is a cracking idea for those of us who travel by train and cab. If you are going to a large busy station, chances are you have to queue and wait. If you are going to a small rural station, well, no one around and no sign of a cab. So how nice to book in advance and be met and be looked after.
This is precisely what Traintaxi Ltd is doing and below are the instructions for Thunder and WebbIE users:
Launch WebbIE and press TAB to get to the Address Bar. Press the Backspace to get rid of whatever might be there. Type in www.traintaxi.co.uk and press Enter.
Press the Cursor Down key to hear "Link 1: Check for taxis at a station". Press Enter. Cursor Down to hear "please enter the name of your station".Cursor Down to hear "Text input box 1:" and press Enter. Type in the station you are going to, e.g. Deal and press Enter. Cursor Down to hear "Submit" and press Enter. You will hear that your search returned one result. So Cursor Down to hear "Link 1: Deal" and press Enter.
Sit back and listen. At the time of writing, there are up to three taxi or private hire firms to choose from and you won't have to queue or stand around in the rain when you get there. You'll also be told whether or not there is a taxi rank and, for the very smallest stations with no local cab firm, which are the nearest stations to use. As well as delivering free talking software, we plan to offer you useful services and even money-savers. The more visits to this site, the greater influence we have in developing more projects like this for you.
Enjoy and do give us some feedback to ask@screenreader.net.
Roger and Margaret

2007-03-13T08:15:00.001-07:00

Thunder In Europe

I was away in Graz, Austria, for three days last week and it was great. The EU often gets a bad press here in the UK but I was amongst good people with a shared mission to spread the free screenreader throughout Europe, or at least into Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Ireland, Estonia and Slovakia. Funding has been made available to us all to have the Thunder program and manuals translated into these languages, free disks for distribution and even a budget to allow us all to disseminate the message throughout our countries.

There was a broad understanding that, Thunder is not just a baby-JAWS and OK for beginners. Thunder is the latest technology and has been designed to be both simple to use and very robust.

The high cost alternatives perhaps unintentionally exclude ordinary blind men and women in the street. It seems you have to be in work or a clever student to get blind-friendly access to a computer in most countries even in the Western World and we wanted very much to put this wrong right.

I had the opportunity to meet a senior person from the European Blind Union. He is a friend of Lord Colin Low so I was able to tell him how much help RNIB have been in supporting our project. Not a lot is the truth so, hopefully , he will enlighten Lord Low and maybe influence him. Who knows and his organisation.!!! We have learned that the UK blind organisations show little interest in what we are doing and I interpret this as indicating that we are definitely on the right lines.

I am realising that we shall have to become much bolder in our PR approach and challenge the conventional wisdom on computer access if we really want to make changes. I am up for the challenge.

2007-03-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

Today’s blog is about promoting other people’s great ideas. The first one is about a conference early May on disability computer access and is perhaps more for professionals. The second is very much for everyone who cares about a basic need for blind people. So here we go:

e-Access '07: Technology for All
- Access to Technology by People with Disabilities
-2 May 2007, New Connaught Rooms, London
- Early Bird Offer, Book Now for 50 Pound Discount
http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess07

E-Access Bulletin's third annual conference and exhibition on access
to technology by people with disabilities is aimed at helping all
organisations, public and private sector, draw up progressive policies
on accessibility. If your organisation provides information and services
on the web, via mobile phone, digital TV and radio or in any other
digital format, awareness of these issues is of vital legal, ethical and
commercial importance.

Speakers include Richard Howitt MEP, President of the European
Parliament's All-Party Disability Intergroup; Geoff Adams-Spink,
BBC Disability Correspondent; Paul Timmers, Head of ICT at the
European Commission's Inclusion Unit; and panellists from RNIB and
University of Southampton. The event is supported by Ability
Magazine and the RNIB.

Attendance normally costs 195 pounds plus VAT for public sector and
295 + VAT for private sector delegates, but if you book before 12
March you will receive a 50 pound discount. Don't delay, book today!
For more information and to register visit:
http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess07/
And for sponsorship and exhibition opportunities for your organisation
please contact Claire Clinton on 01273 231291 or by email at:
claire@headstar.com

Braille Under Threat.
The sense of touch is basic to a blind person’s life and Braille remains basic to a blind person’s literacy. OK! I know we are promoting free talking computer software as the best thing since sliced bread, which it is. But none of us blind people want to lose our Braille and Braille is seriously under threat. Its not being taught in schools and Social Services budgets don’t make room for adults to learn.

So please, whether you are blind, partially-sighted or able-bodied, do get yourself off your backside and enjoy a new computer experience. Go to the website below and sign a petition to keep Braille alive and kicking for us. The new e-democracy encourages us to make our views known and this is a way to do it.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveBraille/.

2007-03-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

This week has been very busy for us.

On Tuesday I went up to York to meet with someone from Access to Work UK. This is the Government body that finances equipment that disabled people need to get to work and hold down a job. Its mostly computer equipment and the services of a paid seeing helper these days. In the meeting, I took the first steps towards getting the Access to Work staff to begin thinking about Thunder in the employment situation. There is a long way to go.

Today, some good people from the British Computer Society came to make with us a short video of how Thunder works. The aim is to introduce seeing volunteers to how they get started when helping a blind person at home. Seeing people just look, get the mouse pointer in the right place on the screen and click. We have to recall lots of keystrokes and rely greatly on our imagination and memory. The lass who came is doing a PhD around the topic of how and if a disabled person at home can manage their own computer learning and how much support is essential. Hopefully, we will put up the video on this website when its edited.

I am a trustee of a charity called The blind Business Association and we have just commissioned a report on what we should be doing and where we should go next. So I have been reading this report so that I am ready to chair the crucial meeting next week. Only a fifth of blind people of working age have a job and working for yourself is sometimes the only way forward. Margaret and I have worked from home here since 1992 and we love it. Being able to make your own decisions and mistakes is great and we have not gone bust yet. Its uplifting to be independent and not beholden to others. But we are not millionaires.

2007-02-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

Ten Thousand Downloads of Thunder
Well, this is something to be very proud of. Since our launch at the end of July, 2006, over ten thousand people have downloaded the software and, hopefully, have shared it with others as well. Not bad in a little over six months.

Also, this week saw the launch of the Thunder users list organised for us by a couple of good people over in the States. So if you are a user and want to share ideas with other users or learn or share tips, All you have to do is join the list, make some new friends and even help us to improve Thunder.

To subscribe to the Thunder list, send a blank message to:
thunder-request@freelists.org and write the word subscribe in the Subject line.

Thank you to Kevin and Andrew for sorting this out for us all.

As well as the free Thunder, there is now a version you can purchase and already dealers are springing up round the world. The paid for version may well develop in its own way over the years with extra features but it starts out like this.

Thunder comes on a memory stick along with two high quality voices. Its absolutely amazing. Plug the memory stick into any modern XP or Vista computer USB port and, within a few seconds, the computer is talking to you in response to key presses. And the voice is such high quality too.

Techies will want to know that no software is installed on this host computer and when you unplug the memory stick, there is no trace of Thunder left behind. It all works from the memory stick. You don’t need Admin Rights and there is no video intercept such as other screen readers make use of. Its great!!!

And there is more good news round the corner. Sensory software Ltd, who developed Thunder, have come up with Lightning which is a first-rate magnification software package and there is a memory stick version of this too. Within weeks there will be a package that combines the speech and magnification into one program and you’ve guessed it, it will be called Storm. The price is so low and the quality so good that indeed it will take us all by storm.

But now back to Thunder on a Stick. If you want to learn more about the Thunder on a memory stick, why not enjoy a new experience.

Page Headline: RJ Cooper's Thunder On A Stick Demonstrated During Tek Talk Monday, February 26,
Description: FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION Topic Thunder-RJ, Screenreader on a Stick : Presenter RJ Cooper. 1-800-752-6673. http://rjcooper.com. rjc@rjcooper.com The Accessible World Tek Talk online training this week turns its attention to a unique screen reader, Thunder On A Stick. RJ Cooper, a pioneer in Assistive Technology, will present his new simple screenreader, which runs directly from his website or USB stick. The stick options are MP3 player with Thunder-RJ on it, USB sound card with Thunder-RJ on it, USB sound card with program on CD, or just the program on CD. 2 very high quality voices are included. Following the formal presentation, a one-hour Open Forum will take place. Bring your computer-related questions. Our Tek Talk Team will do their best to help resolve them.

Date: Monday, February 26, 2007 Time: 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, 7:00 p.m. Central, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Tuesday 01:00 GMT. Where: Tek Talk Online Conference Room Approximately 30 minutes prior to the event, go to and select "Enter the Tek Talk Room". Then, when the sign-in screen appears, enter your real name and press Enter. Tell all your friends to join us. There is plenty of room for everyone. Thunder On A Stick

2007-02-18T09:54:00.000-08:00

For the past few months, I genuinely thought we were the only people in the free screenreader software market for blind people. But not so. I have come across an Australian organisation who have developed something a bit like our Thunder. Mike Curran and his colleagues have set up a website, www.nvaccess.org to deliver NVDA talking software as a download and eSpeak as a synthetic voice, both free. The code is open source and the Alpha version already performs pretty well if a little sluggishly. Its great to know we are not alone in our thinking and I hope we will be able to learn from each other and spark innovations and improvements together which will only benefit blind users.

Here in the UK,, another free software package has made massive strides over the past few months and is very usable by blind people. SpeakOn comes as a free gift from Professor Isaac Porat from the University of Manchester. This very gifted man, who lost his sight relatively recently, has built a speech audio system to make it very easy to listen to DAISY and Audio books, internet radio stations and your CD collection. Its all done from the Numeric Keypad and, once you have got the idea, the same keystrokes work for you in all circumstances. You actually don’t even need a screenreader. To read a book or listen to a podcast, you could have the laptop nearby but sit in the armchair with an infra-red keypad in your hand and be in total control. Bliss!!!

Having got the scent for free software, I have been busy on the internet and there is lots more out there to be discovered. You don’t have to be ripped off by the commercial people if you are short of money. If you can afford the costly stuff, that’s great of course. But if our blindness charities are hell-bent on selling expensive solutions to bolster their incomes or whatever, who is going to look after the interests of the majority on low income? Well we are for starters. So stay in touch with screenreader.net but give us time.

Promoting Thunder

2007-02-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

Working with Partners

How much help from others is a sensitive issue for many of us blind people. But striking the right business partnerships is essential to success. So its important to put yourself in the right company. With this in mind, last Friday I attended in Peterborough the launch of the new Leonard Cheshire Barclays Bank initiative to assist disabled people into self-employment.. Three million pounds has been made available by Barclays and the aim is to provide disabled business people at start-up with a professional buddy. There is a website with loads of business information and resources and lots of good-will on all sides to make things happen.

So I forced myself to eat delicious nibbles and drink a glass of white wine and talked to lots of important people, or rather I listened to their stories and told them about Thunder and screenreader.net. I met a teacher who got pushed out on health grounds and now works as a Remedial Therapist with elderly and disabled clients. I also met a Dancer who had two strokes and now is building a business as a Magician. And, of course, I made it my business to talk to the organisers and significant people from both organisations. So a blind business is no different to normal, is it? Being in the right place, listening and promoting what we do.

Thunder Working Now with Windows Vista

2007-02-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

It doesn’t matter how good your offer is. If you don’t market it to the world, there are no customers. So today I have been drafting a Press Release about our Thunder software working well with the newly released Windows Vista operating system. I have passed my words to a PR expert and, hopefully, she will get it into the Press. So this is what I wrote for her:

Windows Vista available to Blind Computer Users Right Ready Now

People with little or no sight have always lagged behind the rest of when a new version of Microsoft Windows hits the shops. But not this time and it’s a couple of UK companies who are on the ball.

Thunder is a piece of software that makes a modern computer talk so that blind people can surf the net, email and deal with documents on an equal footing. Amazingly, its free for home use and easy to use. Developed by Sensory software Ltd, Stockport, it is distributed as a download by screenreader.net in Peterborough. The download website for Thunder is www.screenreader.net.

There will be blind and partially sighted people who can’t wait to get to grips with Vista and they can, right now. All they need to do is to spend a few minutes downloading Thunder and the new adventure begins. Thunder includes a specially designed web browser called, rather quaintly, WebbIE which presents websites as line by line text, easy to manage and listen to. There is even a WebbIE option to make the print as large as you like on screen for those with some useful vision.

So right from day one, Vista is usable by blind and partially sighted people who will be able to enjoy the new Microsoft Office 2007, including MS Word and Excel. They will be able to email using the new Windows Mail which has replaced Outlook Express and they will be able to continue to perform many of the other Windows functions and the enhanced security and benefit from the improved multimedia offerings and there’s more too!!!

Many partially-sighted people need magnification software to maximise their productivity on a computer. Sensory Software Ltd have developed and released Lightning, a software package which does just that. Its not free like Thunder but costs £159 and, here is the real Magic, it can come on a memory stick and the user can pop this into the USB port of any modern Windows Vista or XP computer and they are ready to go with print as large as they need it. There is a similar memory stick version of Thunder too at the same price. All this is fantastic news for a disadvantaged disability group which so often has been let down and made to wait and pay dearly for computer access. Says Roger Wilson-Hinds: “It’s always been our dream to be on time with disability Assistive software and this is all excellent news for schools, libraries, Public bodies and individuals with little or no sight”.

Contact Details:

Roger Wilson-Hinds
Screenreader.net
7 The Rookery
Orton Wistow
Peterborough PE2 6YT

Tel: 01733 234441
Fax: 01733 370391
roger@screenreader.co.uk
ask@screenreader.net
www.screenreader.net

2007-01-30T14:06:00.001-08:00

TrainTaxi Ltd – A Great Way to Travel

I, over the years, have travelled lots on trains. When you get to your destination, there is nothing more frustrating than having to wait ages for a taxi or maybe there isn’t even a taxi rank outside the station.

TrainTaxi comes to your rescue and its great. When planning your journey beforehand, go online to TrainTaxi Ltd, choose your destination station, make a note of the phone number and book your “chauffeur” to meet you on time, and let the others queue and wait. So this is how you do it;

Bring up WebbIE, press Shift + Control + W and type in TrainTaxi UK en Enter. Cursor down and Enter on the first item. The website is actually www.traintaxi.co.uk.
Cursor Down to hear “Please Enter the name of your Station” and Cursor Down again to hear “Text Input 1”. Press Enter and type in, say Luton. Press Enter and Cursor Down once more to hear “Submit”. Press Enter and Cursor down to hear the page about Luton. You will, of course, find that there are three stations in Luton.

Suppose you want Alma Street, Cursor Down to hear “Link 4: Luton Alma Street (bus) and press Enter. You are almost there. Cursor Down to hear the first choice Spearhead 01582 505050 and make a note of the number or ring them on the spot to sort out your journey details.

Sounds complicated, well these things do take a little time to get used to but its really quick when you get the hang of it and it avoids that wait in the rain at the back of a long queue.

2007-01-25T02:12:00.000-08:00

Unwelcome Music on Websites

I spend a lot of time with audio stuff on my computer and am always wanting to control various audio levels, including switching off unwelcome continuous music when I want to listen to a website. So this is what I do:

I have put a shortcut to the Volume Control, which is under Accessories and Entertainment, on my Desktop, quick and handy. Once in the Volume Control, I can Tab across to the particular source I want to adjust or mute and then Alt Tab back to my website in peace. If that sounds a bit too tetchy, then here are the keystrokes:

Windows Key to Start Menu, P to All Programs and A to Accessories. Then Right Cursor and Down Cursor to Volume Control. Right Click screenreader Key and Cursor Down to Send. Then Cursor Down to Shortcut to Desktop and Enter. Still with me, well you only need to do that once.

If you need to on an older system, you can rename your Volume Shortcut on the Desktop to Volume by pressing the Right Click Screenreader Key, Cursor and cursoring up to Rename. Press Enter, type in "Volume" and Enter but make sure you are focused on it, hearing it, first.

When the Volume screen is in focus, you have the opportunity to control the level of all audio, your CD player, the microphone and any Midi or Midi keyboard you are using as well. Use the Tab key to move amongst the choices, the Cursor Keys to control levels and the Spacebar to select Mute or Not Mute.

Oh, if only I could see to click and point!!! My head is full of silly keystroke sequences; But its a great challenge our blind way and audio is such fun for us on the computer.

Roger Wilson-Hindsask@screenreader.net www.screenreader.net

2007-01-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

I Missed The Archers

Sorry but this is UK Soap radio stuff but, even so, there is lots to learn.

Margaret and I are Archers fans and its our time to sit, do nothing and relax every day for 15 minutes at seven in the evening. So when we miss the Archers, its serious. This is how we catch up on what we have missed.

You need to go to www.webbie.org.uk and download the full WebbIE version or have a buddy put it on your PC for you. Thunder comes with WebbIE but not with some useful extras.

At any time, we sit at the PC, very sad of course, and open the Start Menu by pressing the Windows Key. Press A until you hear Accessible and press right Cursor. Cursor down to hear Listen Again and press Enter.

You are taken to the wonderful world of BBC Listen Again. Lots of radio programs to enjoy whether you have missed them or not. I like the Radio 4 stuff so keep pressing the letter A until you hear The Archers. It’s a long way down currently after all the Afternoon Plays and Afternoon Readings and much more. When you get to The Archers, you can choose which day of the week you want to hear and press Enter.

Press the Tab and you can choose between Pause, Stop, Rewind and Forward Play by pressing Enter. Its great. When you have really finished enjoying this wonderful audio treasure trove, press Alt F4 and go and put the kettle on.

You do need broadband for the best results. Remember its all free, apart from the broadband and the computer, that is. No special over-charging on the disability access stuff.

2007-01-23T07:04:00.000-08:00

Flying Out to Austria

In March I have to spend a few days in Austria because we have been given some European Community money to develop our free software in several east-European languages. So I thought it would be great to make the flight bookings online as a blind person using our WebbIE browser software with our free Thunder talking software. Two hours later and having learned a lot…well this is what you do. But in the future, it will only take about 15 minutes and, hopefully, you too will be able to do the same or similar bookings.

From the Start Menu, go to All Programs and Cursor down to WebbIE and Enter.

Shift Control W, to search the web, and type in “book ryanair”. Not the quotes, of course.

Enter on the first choice and cursor down to hear the following:

Webpage: Ryanair.com - The Low Fares Airline
Link 1: www.ryanair.com
SEARCH » SELECT » CONFIRM » CONTACT » PAYMENT » ITINERARY
Radio button 1: [Selected] Round Trip
Radio button 2: [Not selected] One Way
Where are you flying from?
Select Item 1: (Origin)
Select Item 2: (Destination)
Date to fly out?
Select Item 3: (24)
Select Item 4: (January 2007)
Link 2: javascript:open_calendar(1)
Date to come back?
Select Item 5: (24)
Select Item 6: (January 2007)
Link 3: javascript:open_calendar(2)
Number of passengers?
Select Item 7: (0)
Adults
Select Item 8: (0)
Children (under 16 years)*
Select Item 9: (0)
Infants (under 2 years)*
Input button 1: (SEARCH FOR FLIGHTS)

You need to go through the earlier items one by one by cursoring down and selecting, by pressing Enter , on what you want. In my case, I wanted a Return Trip which was already selected so I did not have to change that selection.

Pressing Enter on “Where are you flying from” allowed me to Cursor Down until I found London Standstead” so I pressed Enter on that choice.

Cursor Down some more and Enter on “Dates to fly out” and “Dates to Come back”. In each instance, press Enter and cursor down to the appropriate date and again press Enter.

Unless you have a bit of useful vision, just ignore the links such as link 3 that refer to Java Script and Calendar because it just doesn’t happen with speech.

I was not concerned with the children details and just opted for 1 passenger.

Press Enter when you reach “Input Button 1” and you will be able to use the Cursor Keys to listen to the page which gives you masses of information on flight options, prices, insurance and baggage etc. Its all very accessible. Good old Ryanair and I got the whole journey with insurance etc for £70 on the very days I wanted it, Stanstead to Gratz Return.

But there is a bit more to learn later in the website to do with payment and filling out your credit card details. All this is now pretty standard so I will do a separate Blog on card payments on the internet which applies here and to many other websites.

2007-01-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

Health Matters

Our software is used at RNIB New College, Worcester and a staff member wrote to me asking about a website with a Body Mass Calculator so that the pupils could work out if their weight was appropriate.

I found a website with a very easy and accessible such calculator:

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

The WebbIE software makes things easy. Cursor down to Textbox 1, Enter and type in your weight. Cursor down to Textbox 2 and Enter then type in your height. I am Imperial but you could choose Metric. Cursor down to Input Button 1 and press Enter. Finally Cursor down to the line below result and the Textbox will give you your Index which is hopefully between 18 and 25.

The actual website I was asked to try to make sense of was:

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/healthyweight/bmicalculator/.

It’s a fabulous Government health site stuffed with information and good advice but the crucial button to activate the calculator did not show up in WebbIE because…Well seeing web designers don’t always understand what needs to be done.

I hope the Worcester College staff will contact the website and have it put right.

I went to that school for blind children when I was a lad and it’s the best. Not every blind child can cope in local school: I couldn’t.

2007-01-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

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.