This page list LOCAL SINTO contacts, TRAINING information, ORGANISATIONS involved in supporting visually impaired people, and ways of making things easier to read, such as LARGE PRINT/ AUDIO/ BRAILLE etc...

Main Related Pages on this Wiki:

• IT Access
• Gateway Event 2nd April 2007

NB To see the guide to the abbreviations used to indicate original sources see the Social Inclusion Information main page

New Stuff

• The next Sight Village event will be in London on 4th November 2008. See www.qac.ac.uk/sightvillage. Sight Village is the UK's largest exhibition of resources for people with sight loss. Entry is free. (UM 7 [7-8] July/ August 2008 p11)

SINTO Area contacts & projects

• Doncaster Libraries have a Co-ordinator of Services to the Visually Impaired at their Reading Aids Unit (Tel: 01302 735391 or email: marilyn.parkin@doncaster.gov.uk
• Doncaster's Visually Impaired Readers' Group trialled MP3 players called Navigators (for downloading audio books) made by this company. http://www.audio-read.com.au/home.htm (Mary Harrington, Doncaster Libraries)
• Rotherham Libraries subscribe to NetLibrary and have been doing so for about 18 months. There are over 600 titles available for download and these are available free of charge to the public. Once registered you can access the service anywhere you have internet available. You can either download and listen to the books on a PC or you can transfer them to a mp3 player. However, the mp3 player needs to be DRM compatible and also have a bookmarking facility. The service is not being used as much as we would like, we are averaging 15-20 downloads a month. This is possibly down to the cost of the mp3 players or the limited titles available. Contact: Askander Akram, Senior Officer, e-Library Services, Environment and Development Services Tel. (01709) 823672 Email. askander.akram@rotherham.gov.uk
  

Training & Conferences

• World Library and Information Congress: 74th IFLA General Conference and Council "Libraries without borders: Navigating towards global understanding" http://www.ifla.org:80/IV/ifla74/Programme2008.htm 10-14 Aug, Quebec. There will be sessions on services for blind people. (WTYL 28/07/08)
• Unite For Sight's Fourth Annual International Health Conference APRIL 14-15, 2007 - STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, CALIFORNIA, USA. MORE THAN 300 Renowned Speakers From North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe - An Energizing Weekend of Ideas and Exchange of Best Practices to Achieve Global Goals and to Make a Difference http://uniteforsight.org/conference/2007/index.php (WTYL 29th Oct 06)
• Report on IFLA Conference in Seoul by Helen Brazier of National Library for the Blind (UM Nov 06 Vol 5 (5))
• Disability Awareness Training for Libraries The Open Rose Group comprises Library staff involved in supporting users with disabilities at eight Yorkshire universities. The participating institutions are: Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam and York. The group won the SCONUL Award for Staff Development in 2003 and has produced a film plus supporting materials for use in Libraries to assist staff training on disability issues.This film is arranged into four main sections, each dedicated to a specific disability and focussing on a particular theme. The contents are as follows:
  • Introduction by Patrick Stewart
  • Dyslexia - using the Library
  • Hearing - communication
  • Mobility - access
  • Vision - assistive technology

See: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk:8082/lco/php/support.php/
disabled/awareness_training (This link appears to be working again, but if you can't open it either Email Gilly, and I'll send you an order form or Email the Open Rose Group.)

Organisations & Agencies

• RNIB National Library Service was opened in January 2007 after a merger between RNIB and National Library for the Blind. RNIB are one of 19 charities in the Right to Read Alliance, and Right to Read week will be 5th-11th November 2007. To read five things your library can do, see Pat Beech's article in Library & Information Gazette (CILIP) 24 Aug- 6 Sept pg1. Also see: www.rnib.org.uk/campaigns or www.rnib.org.uk/righttoread
• For information on the RNIB National Library Service ring their customer service team on 0845 762 6843.
• Share The Vision is the consortium of public and voluntary organisations delivering library and information services to blind and partially sighted people. They are behind the Gateway Project and Revealweb. Contacts are Helen Brazier (Co-ordinator) and Mark Freeman (Chair) (see News on pg 4 of Library & Information Gazette (CILIP) 24 Aug- 6 Sept).
• The Speaking Volumes Project website (reading groups for visually impaired people), has won a 'Jodi' award for low budget access: www.speakingvolumesonline.org.uk and www.tate.org.uk/imap/imap2 (UM May)
• For help in providing services to the visually impaired see www.gateway-uk.org or www.revealweb.org.uk or www.speakingvolumesonline.org.uk .
• Reveal Web (database of accessible material for blind and partially sighted) to be improved: http://www.mla.gov.uk/webdav/harmonise?Page/@id=82&Section[@stateId_eq_left_hand_root]/@id=4289&Document/@id=28222 (MLA 15th May 2007)
• Ulverscroft Foundation: http://www.foundation.ulverscroft.com/

Large Print/ Audio/ Braille Transcription etc....

• A piece in Update looks at World Book Day (6th Mar) and lists 'Books to Talk About', the new 'Quick Reads' and '£1.00 Children Books' (all the £1.00 books are also available in Braille - contact Stephanie Goodman of Vision Charity on 020 8523 4833). Also see www.worldbookday.com and www.worldbookday.com/spreadtheword (UM 7 (3) March 2008 p13)
• Podiobooks are 'free audio books delivered at your schedule': http://www.podiobooks.com/ (What I Learned Today blog: http://www.web2learning.net/archives/1445 17/12/07)
• Phil Bradley in his 'Internet Q&A' column in Update Magazine suggests the following Google search engine to seek web pages that are suitable for people with visual impairments: http://labs.google.com/accessible/ (UM Dec 2007 Vol 6 (12) p 14)
• 'Large Print Books: what the users think' by John Feather and Sam Nikoi is a report of a user survey of visually impaired people (UM p56-57 Jan/Feb 07)
• The Guardian produced a supplement entitled 'Design with Visions: making information easy to read' in conjunction with the RNIB sometime in the spring 2007 (supplement isn't dated), but you can request it in large print, audio, Braille or email from RNIB Customer Services on 0845 4702 3153/ 0845 762 6843.
• Visual Impairment: Kirklees Transcriptioin Service (Viper Services) is now accredited and can do tactile images of rooms/ railway stations, town centres etc - no contact details given (UM p11 Mar 07)
• The National Library for the Blind has established a partnership with Amazon: buy on-line from Amazon by going through http://www.nlb-online.org/shop and up to 10% of the amount you spend will be donated by Amazon to NLB. It won't cost you any extra but will raise money to provide more books in alternative formats for visually impaired people to enjoy. (A SINTO Contact 02/08/06)
• Sight and Sound Technology Trial Software CD Roms; one for blind or visually impaired people; one for people with reading difficulties. (Email Gilly to borrow the SINTO Office copy)