Radio station keeps the visually impaired enlightened by reading news
Audio-Reader is a 24-hour radio station that puts the voice to print material for the visually impaired. The program also has an on-demand telephone service and a special request service to better meet listener needs. Started in 1971 by a Lawrence, Kansas, area philanthropist who was reading to a friend in the nursing home, it became her mission to find a way to read to anyone who has difficulty reading. The founder, working with the University of Kansas and a public radio station, started providing the service of Audio-Reader. It is currently the second oldest audio information system in the country. Audio-Reader is a member of the International Association of Audio Information Services, covers Kansas and Missouri and is free to listeners who apply.
“The primary audience we’ve always reached out to is people who have blindness and low-vision, but really anyone who struggles to read, such as individuals with brain injuries, physical mobility issues stemming from conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis that keep them from turning pages,” said Lori Kessinger, marketing and outreach director for Audio-Reader.
Kessinger said other listeners are losing their vision due to the aging process and since they had reliable vision most of their life, they never learned braille and often times they do not have access to a computer program that reads to them. They can suddenly lose their vision, so they are basically in the dark, both literally and figuratively, when it comes to reading and knowing how to cope with losing this fundamental ability.
“It’s broader than a radio station for the blind, it’s really anyone who struggles to read,” Kessinger said.
Kessinger said volunteers read local print information, local newspapers, regional newspapers, and publications like the High Plains Journal, that have information people want, but cannot access without the program. Some of the community newspapers include the Salina Journal, Hutchinson News, Great Bend Tribune, Wichita Eagle, Springfield News-Leader, Joplin Globe, Maryville Daily Forum. Books and magazines are also read on the program.
“People who use our service are from all regions and walks of life, so we try and hit a broad spectrum of things people want to listen to,” Kessinger said. “We have a program called farming and ranching, where High Plains Journal is read to listeners. We have requests for news about farming and ranching in the Midwest, so High Plains Journal is a component of that program.”
The content read from HPJ varies, but Kessinger said one of the listeners who requests agriculture news is an active farmer who is experiencing vision loss and wants to keep up with trends in agriculture. Additionally, when the pandemic hit this year, it made everyone follow the general news more closely, including the visually impaired.
“Especially this year, with the lockdowns and the coronavirus, people are becoming more and more isolated and it’s really hard to get information, particularly in your community or region,” Kessinger explained. “You can turn on the TV and get national information, but not what’s happening in your community and what farm markets are doing. Now many people aren’t able to physically get out in it any longer, so we bring the news to their ears.”
Kessinger said the programs is transmitted through a signal on a sub-carrier of public radio stations across Kansas and Missouri, so listeners need to have a special radio unit or closed circuit radio tuned to that channel to pick it up. Listeners can apply through Audio-Reader to receive the necessary equipment. For the telephone system, listeners can call a local 1-800 number, enter a code registered to them and listen to the audio via telephone. They can also stream online and have connectivity with the Amazon Alexa device. For more information about Audio-Reader, call 785-864-4600, 1-800-772-8898 or visit www.reader.ku.edu.
Lacey Newlin can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].
