Latest Developments 17/01/06 Evening Gazette Report
Dawn Pickering of the Evening Gazette took a look at the groundbreaking initiative that is being dubbed:
“Blackpool’s most ingenious community radio station”.
This article is based on her report, part of which was published in the Evening Gazette 17/01/06
In today’s fast-evolving world, new technology appears to date in no time at all.
Take mobile phones - no sooner have you bought the latest, new-fangled handset that an alterative state-of-the-art version appears on the market.
Time never stands still for those working in technology, as they strive to advance their products.
Which is why only months after launching a revolutionary system, a team of techo wizards remain hard at work behind the scenes of the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Society for the Blind making it do more and better things for its listeners.
They are continually improving blueIRIS, a unique service which enables the Fylde’s visually impaired population to get the latest news at the touch of a button.
The society, already renowned for its Talking Newspaper - sent out to its visually impaired recipients twice-weekly tapes to tell them what is going on where they live. The fact that 32,000 were sent out last year is testament to the demand.
The recipients are often excluded from everyday means of accessing news and information, and those housebound can be left feeling isolated from mainstream society. Most rely on the service to provide not just information, but also news and magazine articles all created by a mammoth team of 200 volunteers.
It was becoming increasingly apparent to those behind the Talking Newspapers, however, that there was a need to move with the times.
Today’s consumers, after all, have come to expect instantaneous news updates fed to them via radio, satellite and the internet.
blueIRIS (Interactive Radio Information Services), which is believed to be the first scheme of its kind in the country, has made more than shown that this possible.
News, information and entertainment is streamed to any member, with access to a computer and broadband connection, on a daily basis.
As the service grew in interest, so the blueIRIS team listened to the users themselves, gradually adding functionality that was suggested by the listeners themselves. It was in part because of this feedback that special software was commissioned locally to enable those with limited or no sight at all to have full access to blueIRIS without even needing to see a screen. The whole service can be operated by simply tapping the four arrow keys on a computer’s keyboard.
This ‘local grown’ software now makes it extremely easy to use for those who are blind, but also anyone, including those who are not computer proficient in the slightest to get the most out of the service. Suddenly the visually impaired are actually helping everyone get a better user experience!
The system has been devised in such a way that a screen reader enables the computer to talk to its listener, and this work across the most popular computer platforms.
John Rudkin, Blackpool eCommunity Manager, and part of the blueIRIS team pointed out “ We started asking questions about why visually impaired computer users had to pay a premium for screen readers. They buy a computer and then have to find up to £800 for additional software to make them usable. This seems crazy. We researched the market and found computers that offer all of the functionality at about half the price of the software alone. Then we thought, what if we were to add the speech to every part of the service, instead of relying on vendors…….. in fact we cannot stop thinking about those things that offer a better and better service!”
Martyn Corner, blueIRIS’s content, creation and marketing coordinator, enthused: “Our listeners now have access to information and news that everybody else gets on a daily basis if they want it, rather than receiving it two days later by tape.”
The Talking Newspaper studios, which lay behind the Princess Alexandra Home for the Blind, on Bosworth Place, South Shore, are always a hive of activity - even more so now due to blueIRIS.
Teams of volunteer broadcasters are used to update the service on a daily basis, to which just around 150 people are now regular subscribed listeners. There is clearly a strong interest however, from a wider audience as the thousands of hits on the blueIRIS website attest to.
“There is a strong partnership at the core of this project, and that’s what has made it so successful,” said blueIRIS’s project leader Steve Carter, who also owns Lancashire-based Rural Surround, a local consultant specialising in digital audio.
“And there is a wealth of expertise in this team - we know not just what’s on the market now but what is to come. We know there are some products coming out in the next few weeks that will show what blueIRIS is already doing actually places it well ahead of its time.”
Steve’s passion about the project is clearly obvious.
And there are others behind the scenes, who have formed the partnership spoken about by Steve, that are just as committed.
Richard Cuttle, who lives in Thornton-Cleveleys and works for IT consultancy firm Interface ITS, has devised blueIRIS’s groundbreaking software; John Rudkin oversees the community focus as Blackpool Council's eCommunity manager; Steve’s son Chris Carter is the technical co-ordinator and the project manager is Kevin Winkley, Chief Executive of the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Society for the Blind.
Mike Maunder, who runs the Talking News Service brings his valued expertise which has proved invaluable, and the research and network services of Richard Millwood of Ultralab, a learning technology research centre at Anglia Ruskin University has made it possible to have a viable and scaleable service over the internet.
Initially a sum of £150,000 was awarded to the project by the Lancashire Digital Development Agency (the LDDA is committed to ensuring that the region's people and businesses benefit from the new opportunities created by the digital revolution) allowing it to be funded for two-years.
The blueIRIS team is now exploring various options as to how to develop blueIRIS even further.
They have developed a facility that will enable the daily programmes to be downloaded onto iPods, freeing up the listener to tune in when and where they want rather than them being tied to a computer.
And they are keen to branch into other internet devices (one called the ‘Squeezebox’ – they are planning to deploy can be used by those without a computer to tune into blueIRIS), and there really seems to be no ceiling on their enthusiasm to see the local community catered for by whatever means give the best experiences.
It is a fact that the Fylde coast has around twice the national average of visually impaired people at around 7,000.
Among the programmes available on blueIRIS are daily highlights from The Gazette, the latest news and information from Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre councils and the TV and Radio Times.
There are interviews with local personalities, sporting highlights, poetry readings and updates on the latest news relating to sight conditions.
Marytn said: “In some ways, it really has become Blackpool’s most ingenious community radio station” he added “because it is interactive, user have the ultimate choice of whatever they want to listen to, as well as up to date ‘just-in-time’ news. They make up their own schedules”
Its specialised automated software meant that even over the traditionally quiet festive period, new broadcasts appeared on blueIRIS every day, spookily without anyone having to man the station.
Steve said: “I am so pleased that blueIRIS is doing some totally original programming. It is not broadcasting music because there are hundreds of channels out there that already doing this. Saying this, we did broadcast carols over Christmas, and these proved popular as they don’t really tend to be played anywhere else nowadays.
“We wanted to develop something that our listeners can’t get anywhere else, and this has been achieved.”
The website www.blueiris.info was initially trialled by a select group of 15 visually impaired Fylde residents, including Jean Hancock, from Blackpool, and Robin Sherwood, from Lytham.
Jean, 66, who is totally blind, said: “I think blueIRIS is excellent. You get to know what’s going on, not just here in Blackpool but across the country. I particularly like the visually impaired news as it reports on all of the new aids coming out.
“It is to the credit of the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Blind Society that all of these experts got onboard, with all of this excellent knowledge, to devise blueIRIS.”
Robin, who is partially-sighted, said: “There is something called Community Matters which is information from the three local authorities on things like street repairs and dustbin collections. This information is just so useful.
“One of the best things is that we are now kept up to date by the daily extracts from the Gazette, rather than having to wait for the tapes.”
Word really is spreading fast about the benefits of logging on to blueIRIS - the service now has listeners registered as far afield as India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Steve said: “It is proving to us that the service is one that we can move geographically to cover not just Blackpool or the North West, but the whole of the world if necessary. You might question the validity of some of our community reports to someone in Australia, but there is universal information which can be shared. Nationally, this includes information on benefits, for example.”
The blueIRIS service is complementing rather than replacing the existing tape service.
“The prospect of having to use a computer still frightens some so those who want to can still more than benefit from the Talking Newspaper Service,” explained Steve.
“But there is no doubt that in 10 years time, tapes will no longer exist, which is why blueIRIS is a good step forward on the technology front.”
* To register for blueIRIS, log on to www.blueiris.info
Home visits can be arranged for those who need help whilst setting up the new system on their computers.
New volunteers are being sought for the Talking Newspaper service and the team is also keen to hear from any local people or businesses who could feature in future broadcasts.
More information from Martyn Corner on 01253 405102 or via email martyn@blueiris.info
FACTFILE
* The Blackpool Fylde and Wyre Society for the Blind was established in 1910
* The Fylde’s Talking Newspaper Service has been run for nearly three decades
* Around 2,800 audio cassettes are sent out every week to nearly 900 listeners. This time-consuming task involves an army of more than 200 volunteers, who fulfil a number of roles such as recording the broadcasts and dubbing and packing the cassettes into pouches to be sent through the post
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