 (Stock Photo/Antonis Papantoniou) VoicePrint broadcasts readings of full text articles on television and the Internet from more than 600 Canadian papers and magazines and reaches eight million households across the nation.
VoicePrint Canada
by
MAY 30, 2006CANADAIn the morning, or some time during a typical day, it’s almost customary for the average Canadian to pick up a newspaper or glance at news headlines. It’s something most people take for granted and don’t think twice about.
But for the 3.2 million Canadians who are blind, illiterate, have learning or physical disabilities or those who are aging, even that simple pleasure may be out of their grasp. The population is aging, and soon, picking up a paper to read might be impossible.
Fortunately, these people have VoicePrint Canada.
VoicePrint is Canada’s only 24-hour, seven-days-a-week nonprofit broadcast service.
The organization broadcasts readings of full text articles on television and the Internet from more than 600 Canadian papers and magazines and reaches eight million households across the nation.
It’s easy to see why other media such as television or radio can’t replace this service.
“To get in-depth coverage you have to have the newspaper,” said fourth-year University of Toronto student Aman Singer, who listened to VoicePrint when there weren’t many forms of media available to the blind.
VoicePrint started in the mid-80s by a group of people with diminished vision. They then found a way to have access to full readings of articles, making it possible for people unable to access to certain media a way of staying informed of news.
Singer first heard about VoicePrint in the 90s when access to media for the blind was inaccessible. “Its importance at that time can’t be magnified. I found it was a lifeline,” he said.
It is one of the two flagship services of the National Broadcast Reading Service, with the other being AudioVision Canada.
“VoicePrint is the non-profit division of the Service,” revealed Arlene Patterson, spokesperson for VoicePrint. “AudioVision describes meaningful visual elements of a movie or TV production, which are then scripted, narrated and matched to the soundtrack.” So, a blind person would be able to “see” what is being played onscreen through this narration.
At first, VoicePrint was broadcast on television. In March 2001, though, it was officially considered a mandatory service for most broadcast distributors.
“This means any broadcast distribution company with more than 2,000 or more subscribers is required to carry the VoicePrint service,” said Patterson. “That means over 95 per cent of the country is covered.”
According to the organization’s Web site, the program is accessed on the secondary audio program (SAP) of CBC Newsworld by cable subscribers, audio channels of ExpressVU, Star Choice and Look and through the Internet.
“The service is expanding,” stated Mike Morrison, volunteer reader for the national service in Toronto. “My readings are broadcast nationally, and the local ones are available online.”
There are now over 800 volunteers across Canada in five different regions, from Atlantic to Pacific Canada.
“I go in one a week and read clippings from newspapers, usually,“ he added. “I spend time going over the stories to make sure I know how to pronounce all the words!”
The stories are anything from regional broadcasts, from a more provincial perspective to international headline news.
“Last year, we launched a local program,” said Patterson. “There’s everything from community events to grocery store advertisements because that’s what people need.”
“The vision of the organization is to help break barriers to the media for people who are unable to read [newspaper and magazine articles],” she declared.
This is especially important in society today. By age 50, half of the population requires prescription reading glasses to read a newspaper. By 65, a large percentage of people are unable to read at all. And, by 85, 25 percent of the population will be completely unable to read, admitted Patterson.
“I think we’re each given a gift,” said Morrison on the vision. “Those of us who have it have an obligation to share it.”
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