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.

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.

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.

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”.

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”.

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”.

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.

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