Supporting Print Accessibility Through Audio Technology
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Dear IAAIS Members and Friends,
It is with great pleasure I introduce you to our new digital newsletter. We hope through this format we can better serve our publics and we hope you enjoy this first issue!
The IAAIS Board and Public Affairs Team feel confident that we can not only highlight industry news, but also include more information from member services. This format will allow us to include some of the in depth stories of the past, while offering the flexibility and cost savings of digital delivery.
As with all new services, this, of course, is a work in progress. We hope you will find time to suggest a topic, contribute an article or offer your comments.
We also hope you will add to the roster for distribution. Should your board be getting this, your GM, or your mayor?
This has been an eventful era for IAAIS. Among our activities in the past 6-months, we have:
- Offered support and concerns on the 21 Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2008
- Filed comments with the FCC on the potential 10% power increase for HD Radio
- Continued our effort to regain a seat on the FCC's Consumer Advisory Council
- Exhibited at the 2008 Blinded Veterans Association Convention in Arizona
- Cooperated with the American Association of People with Disabilities, our colleagues at VoiceCorps, Columbus, OH and others, to make available 4-full hours from the Presidential Candidates Forum on Disabilities
- Published the IAAIS StAR Committee Standards for Accessible HD Radio-a report we believe to be the first-ever Universal Design standards for an accessible radio
- Networked at the Consumer Electronic Show, meeting new potential partners
- Garnered media attention for board appointments, the StAR Report and the Wonder Vision Award
- Developed a slate of new board candidates and added committee members (if you can assist IAAIS or help represent IAAIS in your area at an event, let me know)
- Held our annual fall Board meeting at the marvelous Magnolia Hotel in Dallas-the recommended site for our conference in 2010!
- And have a new platform in the works to manage our overwhelmingly successful Program Share service.
Please stay tuned,
Kim Walsh
IAAIS President
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| Conference News |
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Reds, Riverboats and Radio Reading
Conference registration is $200 for IAAIS members, $225 for non-members, and $500 for vendors.
You can enjoy great shops, restaurants, and entertainment in the Queen City, take a tour of WRRS and the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, hear interesting guest speakers, and attend informative workshops.
Information for sponsors and vendors is now available at the IAAIS website.
Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to network with your colleagues!
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| Honors for IAAIS |
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Wonder Vision Award Presented to IAAIS
 At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, performer Stevie Wonder and Mike May, president of the Sendero Group, presented a Wonder Vision Award to the International Association of Audio Information Services (IAAIS.) The award was bestowed upon the group for their efforts in print accessibility and its release of first-ever standards for vision-free digital radios.
Accepting on behalf of the IAAIS was President Kim Walsh. "We are extremely proud of this significant honor. The IAAIS StAR Committee produced the 'Standards for Accessible HD Radios' in record time," says Walsh. " We are very grateful to HD/StAR Taskforce Chair David Noble of Sun Sounds of Arizona and his group for their efforts. Truly, without his team and our partners, we wouldn't be in a position to get recognized."
The complete document, which details standards for radios in order for them to be considered accessible to the blind, low vision and elderly, are available at http://iaais.org.
The Wonder Vision Awards showcase examples of "Vision Free" products and help increase awareness that often it takes only a small change to make a big difference in the usability of a product particularly for people who are blind or have low vision. Other IAAIS partners to receive recognition include iBiquity Digital, NDS, DICE and NPR.
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| History |
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| The Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network celebrates 40 years!
On December 27, 2008, Twin Cities Public Television debuted a documentary forty years in the making. Called On Air: 40 Years of the Radio Talking Book, the documentary was produced in partnership with the Minnesota State Services for the Blind, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book (RTB).
In 1969, there were no personal computers, no internet, no access to newspapers, and other timely printed information for people who were blind. was On January 2, 1969, the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network went live, the first such service in the world, to broadcast readings of that inaccessible print.
RTB coming into existence was a confluence of a number of factors. C. Stanley Potter, the Director of Minnesota's State Services for the Blind from 1948 to 1985, was visually impaired and was a longtime ham radio operator. He was fascinated with all things radio. In the mid-1960s, Potter spoke to the engineer he had on staff, Robert Watson, to ask about Muzak, how it worked, and whether or not a system like that would work for a radio station for the blind.
At the same time, Father Colman Barry, OSB, president of St. John's University, was having conversations with William Kling, manager of KSJR, about methods of using sub-channel space to make extra revenue for the struggling station.
In 1967 and 1968, conversations took place between Father Barry, Kling, and Potter.
With the assistance of Robert Watson, a closed circuit radio was designed that would pick up only the signal of the new signal, and the reading service began. The initial schedule had the Minneapolis Tribune newspaper read live on the air for two hours each morning, the Saint Paul Dispatch read for two hours each evening, and the remainder of the hours of the day were filled with programming from just over 20 magazines and a wide variety of books which were read serially.
By 2008, that programming was two hours of the combined Minneapolis and Saint Paul papers in the morning, two hours of the New York Times in the evening, 11 hours per day of programming from serialized current-copyright books, and programming from over 300 periodicals. The programming is interrupted in six smaller Minnesota cities where teams of volunteers read local newspapers on the air. The programming is carried on satellite where it is picked up by many other radio reading services across the hemisphere, and it is streamed on the Internet.
The inauguration of a radio reading service inspired other locations around the country to begin similar services. By 1975, there were enough of them formed that they decided to create the Association of Radio Reading Services, which was headed by C. Stanley Potter. That organization eventually became the International Association of Audio Information Reading Services, IAAIS, and includes member services that provide access to the printed word in any audio format. [i]
To celebrate RTB's 40th Anniversary, the station contracted with the local public television station to have a film produced about the RTB, past, present and future, which will be seen several times on Minnesota public television. The final product will be reproduced as a DVD to be widely distributed by the RTB for education and publicity.
Additionally, the station is planning a searchable archive of the audio files. Using this system, a user will enter a set of words or a phrase in his or her home computer; the search will look at audio archives of the RTB newspapers, books, and magazines, as well as textbooks that have been recorded by the Communication Center at State Services for the Blind; and the user at home will get a report of the search and be able to listen to the various recordings. This has never before been instituted by a radio reading service.
It has been quite a journey, from 1969 to 2009. The Minnesota Radio Talking Book looks forward to many more changes, some of which are well beyond the imagination.
[i] "A Mighty Wind", The IAAIS Report, Spring, 2005, p. 8.
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| Government and Legislative News |
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FCC Establishes Inquiry Into High Power IBOC DAB
The FCC recently opened an inquiry into an increase of up to 10 times in the transmission power of HD Radio (IBOC DAB), as requested by iBiquity Digital, the technology developer. Two groups have formed: one supporting iBiquity's request and one urging caution in implementing such an increase, to ensure that harmful interference is not caused.
Studies prepared by NPR Labs for CPB in the 2008 Digital Radio Coverage and Interference Assessment (DRCIA) project determined that the coverage capabilities of HD Radio (IBOC DAB) are inferior to analog FM under the same receiving conditions. The study indicates the indoor service of IBOC reaches approximately 50% of the population served by analog stereo, assuming the present power level at 1% of the analog host carrier. Interference is possible since the IBOC sidebands of an adjacent channel station are essentially co channel to the analog signal of a desired FM station, but FCC rules treat the separation according to analog only interference standards.
In June, 2008, iBiquity Digital filed a report with the FCC, in association with several commercial radio groups, which concluded that IBOC transmission power at 10 times the current power level had produced no significant interference to analog FM service. In association with broadcast groups and several broadcast equipment manufacturers, iBiquity requested an across the board increase in maximum IBOC transmitter power at 10% of the analog host carrier.
NPR was alarmed by this request, believing that it is based on a flawed technical study. DRCIA found that a 10 fold increase in IBOC power would result in more
than one third of the 49 major market stations experiencing interference to greater than 20 percent of the population within the station's protected service contour. Of the 78 million people residing within the protected service contours of these 49 stations, better than 1 in 5, or 16.7 million people, would experience interference.
NPR arranged a meeting with the FCC staff, including Peter Doyle, Chief of the Media Bureau, on July 17 to discuss the DRCIA findings of substantial interference and to provide them with maps and population studies of the 49 sample stations. In late September, following presentations on the subject with a large group of public radio representatives at the NAB Radio Show in Austin, Texas, NPR provided the FCC and National Radio Systems Committee with detailed population studies of the sample stations. (These studies are available for viewing and download at NPR Labs web site.) The number of stations that could suffer large percentages is shown in the chart below: 5 of the 49 are predicted to lose quality reception to more than 30% of listeners, and nine would lose more than 20% of population to interference, assuming their neighbors operated at 10% IBOC transmission power.
Presented with obviously conflicting findings, the FCC released both studies for public comment in October. NPR held a successful satellite Interconnect with a large number of member stations on November 20 to explain the potential impact of the high power IBOC and answer managers' questions. We also explained that NPR is not opposed to increased IBOC power, realizing that a number of public radio entities are eager to increase IBOC power to improve coverage to their new digital listeners. In fact, NPR supports increases at power levels that improve indoor coverage and do not cause harmful interference to neighboring first adjacent channel stations. We proposed a simple, manageable regulatory policy concept, presented at two recent professional symposia, to demonstrate a method for setting for the allowable IBOC power that protects first adjacent neighbors.
The iBiquity Joint Parties amassed a large base of support from a number of major commercial broadcasters and transmitter manufacturers, who filed comments supporting unconditional power increases. The number of commenters supporting a manageable regulatory policy appear to exceed the pro unconditional group. Replies were due to the Commission by January 5, 2009.
Based on the division of opinion, the Commission is likely to remain in a quandary over the conflicting opinions and may indefinitely delay their decision on IBOC power. However, both NPR and iBiquity filed comments indicating the need for more research into the IBOC impact. NPR has proposed a follow on project to CPB which, if funded by January, would support studies to resolve the issues of interference. The Commission staff have indicated that they will not deal with the matter until early summer. It is hoped that iBiquity will join the studies with NPR and reach consensus on a regulatory policy for IBOC power increases, for presentation to the FCC.
Please follow this link to read more about the HD Power Increase:
John Kean is the IAAIS Technology Committee Chair and the Senior Technologist and NPR Labs |
| Membership News |
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2009 IAAIS Membership Reminder
2009 IAAIS Membership payments now due. The membership year runs from Jan. 1 through Dec 31. An Invoice is available at http://reader.ku.edu or by calling Lori Kesinger at 800-772-8898. Full Member DefinitionA full member of IAAIS is an audio information or reading service providing access to news and information for print impaired people through any electronic means. Full members are entitled to receive all IAAIS mailings, a listing in the members' directory, use of the IAAIS Program Share for uploading and downloading of programs and access to the IAAIS listserv. Full Members have both voice and vote at membership meetings through one representative in attendance at the meetings. Associate Member DefinitionAssociate Members of IAAIS are individuals or corporations who share an affinity for the mission of the IAAIS. They are entitled to receive IAAIS mailings, a listing in the member's directory as Associates, and access to the IAAIS listserv. Associate Members have no vote during meetings of the membership, but may take part in the discussions. Associate Members may send representatives to the annual conference at the Member registration rate. Satellite Member Definition
Satellite Members of IAAIS are those services administered by a Full Member of IAAIS. Satellite Members are entitled to receive IAAIS mailings, a listing in the members' directory, and access to the IAAIS listserv. Satellite Members have no vote at meetings of the membership, but they may take part in any and all discussions during the meetings. Satellite Members may send representatives to the annual conference at the Member registration rate. Sustaining Member DefinitionSustaining Members of IAAIS are individuals, corporations or audio information services who make a donation to IAAIS above and beyond their annual dues. If they are audio information services, they are entitled to all the benefits listed under the Full Member Definition. If they are individuals or corporations, they are entitled to all the benefits listed under the Associate Member Definition.
Sponsors, Partners and Conference Vendors are always welcome. For information, please contact Lori Kesinger at 800-772-8898 or [email protected]. |
| Station News |
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WJCT Celebrates 15 Years!
 WJCT Public Broadcasting recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of its Radio Reading Service. The station marked the occasion with a reception for listeners, readers and other community members at its studios in Jacksonville, Florida. The evening was a tribute and a celebration designed especially for the Radio Reading Service community and included presentations by local celebrities, blind or low-vision residents who followed their dreams and achieved success. The program kicked off with a musical performance by band students from the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida. Also performing was Jacksonville native Allan Bailey, a gifted violinist who has performed throughout the U.S. and is currently studying in New York.
The keynote speaker was Sister Elizabeth Fiorite, founder of the Women of Vision art program and social services counselor at the Independent Living for Adult Blind (ILAB), whose inspirational talk touched upon the difference between sight and vision.
During the evening, WJCT presented three Visionary Awards: Greg and Clara LeBlanc, owners of Clara's Tidbits; Jack Gillrup, who served as chief of Jacksonville's Disabled Services Division for many years; and Sandeep Grover, M.D., an ophthalmologist/educator/researcher at UF/Shands Jacksonville whose specialties include inherited retinal diseases and electrophysiology.
Notes from Other Stations
- The SCA conversion project continues as Maine AIRS switched from SAP to SCA broadcasting January 11. Local media publicity is helping to spread the word. Benefits include expanded broadcast hours and wider statewide signal distribution.
- Minds Eye Information Service covering St. Louis is now streaming on at www.mindseyeradio.org. Listeners also have access to archived programs for up to one week on the website.
- WLRN Radio Reading Service in Miami celebrated its annual volunteer appreciation dinner on Jan 16, 2009. Marilyn Davison, a volunteer who's been reading for over 18 years, took home the Meg O'Brien Volunteer of the Year Award.
- WFSU RRS has set up a remote reading site in the Cherry Laurel Retirement Community in Tallahassee Florida. It's across town from the WFSU station and provides a convenient location for approximately one-fourth of their readers. In additon this partnership provides an exciting and rewarding opportunity for Cherry Laurel residents capable of reading on air.
- Ben Martin, Director of WVTF Radio Reading Service in Roanoke and IAAIS Treasurer in enjoying good sales of his book, Bedford County by Arcadia Publishing. Since October 20, 973 copies have been sold. Currently, he is completing a book of fiction that he will also audio-record.
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Writer's Guidelines
Send us your station's latest news and accomplishments! In May, we'll publish information from our member stations in our Station News section. Station News should be no more than one paragraph. Photos are welcome and encouraged.
We're also taking article submissions. Articles can be on a variety of topics of interest to the IAAIS community: technology, volunteers, fundraising, you name it! Full articles should be no longer than one page typed in Arial 10 pt font or Times New Roman 12 pt font. Photos are welcome and encouraged.
Email submissions for the May issue to Deborah Kendrick at Deborah Kendrick [email protected] by April 15. | |
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