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”.
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Thursday, 19 April 2007
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.
.
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.
.
Friday, 6 April 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, 22 March 2007
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.
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.
Monday, 19 March 2007
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.
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.
Friday, 16 March 2007
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.
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.
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)