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.
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
Friday, 2 March 2007
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/.
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/.
Thursday, 1 March 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, 24 February 2007
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
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
Sunday, 18 February 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, 7 February 2007
Promoting Thunder
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.
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.
Thursday, 1 February 2007
Thunder Working Now with Windows Vista
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
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
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