|
The Newsletter of COTIS
The Confederation of Transcribed Information Services
To promote the provision of information in alternative formats to print
Editor - Linda Pearce, Email:
ontrack@cotis.org.uk .
Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 ODP. Tel: 01829-733351
(Answerphone)
Reg Charity No: 299024 © Issue 42 - October 2002
"The Spirit of Talking Newspapers Lives On …"
by Colin Antwis
In the years since the first Talking Newspaper brought the news to the ears of its listeners, now each and every week across the UK over 500 organisations provide a lifeline to local information for local people. Volunteers, all with different roles to play, but each role vital, make up teams who produce their Talking Newspaper or Talking Magazine.
[Interspersed are comments from some of the teams who entered this year's Tape Competitions about their own processes and situations, as well as their experiences. Some may strike a familiar chord!]
"We have four teams of readers, which include an editor, recording technicians and three readers. We also have four teams of admin workers who sort the wallets and tapes in the morning ready for the evening team to send out that day."
Volunteers, old hands and new, trip into rooms - called studios - to eagerly put the printed word into an audio format. Words that may have been met for the first time only that evening by a reader, who quickly has to sort out pronunciation and the emphasis needed to give understanding to the listener.
"I must apologise in advance for the false start inadequately covered, and the strains of music towards the end of the second side of the tape. Unfortunately our studio (in a local church) is not sound proofed and on this occasion we shared the premises in close proximity to the local Morris Mens' Dance Display Team practising for their next event!"
A plastic wallet is, for most Talking Newspapers, the vehicle by which the words are transported across the UK. It's like "a friend dropping in", as one local evening newspaper once advertised, and in at least one case it really is:
"There is no wallet enclosed as we do not use them. Being a small island community, each tape is hand delivered thus we are able to ascertain each month whether anyone is in need."
To most recipients the noise of the drop onto the hall floor on a Thursday morning is sufficient to identify the package. With so many people of different sight conditions receiving a weekly or fortnightly edition, sound and touch outweigh the provision of raised or enhanced print labelling.
Listened to almost immediately, the tape is returned through habit, into its wallet, address label reversed and the whole dropped into a letter box. Once again in the hands of a volunteer, it takes a little longer to sort, clean, record and dispatch the next edition:
"The [check]boxes on the tapes are crossed every time they are used and when full, the newspaper or magazine is no longer recorded on them."
These processes continue uninterrupted, unchanged, recycling the news each week of the year.
Once a year there is an opportunity to share with your peers, your expertise, your ideas and your tape, through the TNAUK competition.
"I had my arm twisted to enter because I really did not think we could be amongst the winners. We did feel however that your constructive criticism would help us."
Your tape? No, not yours but the listeners', the thousands of Talking Newspaper and Magazine listeners. A large proportion of the COTIS User Panel is made up from these listeners across the UK. They guide our principles and represent the 'owners' of the tapes produced.
Perhaps the thoughts of COTIS allow us an opportunity to challenge what we have done previously and to seek improvement for everyone's benefit. Changes may be subtle or more dramatic. Let's take up the challenge to be open minded about our recordings.
It was clear from the delegates at this year's TNAUK conference that there is a will and determination to move forward - Talking Newspapers will live on … and on … and on.
AND …
What DID the panellists say?
[collated by Wendy Davies and Linda Pearce, COTIS Committee]
A Quality Tape depends on a Successful TEAM Effort
Every comment made during the judging process re-iterated what we've always known but sometimes forget: that the listener's enjoyment is dependent upon EVERYone getting it right. There is no hierarchy of tasks: an enjoyable tape is the result of all aspects being 'just right', in the same way as an enjoyable meal depends on the balance of the menu, the ingredients, the cooking, the presentation and the eating environment. Failure of any one aspect prevents enjoyment of the whole.
What was the panel looking for?
By working with tape users, COTIS had already established that a 'quality' tape in general requires four main elements to be right:
PLUS, most importantly, 'doing what your customers prefer'.
Regular TN listeners confirmed that two elements - audio quality and reader quality - are of over-riding importance, with one being of no use without the other. Navigation and Identification are not as important as for some other tapes, such as study material - but there were many spontaneous pleas from the judging panellists for a list of contents near the beginning.
Audio Quality: listeners wanted clear, clean recordings, with no background hiss, hum - or ongoing underlying music! A quick identifying burst of appropriate music, well faded as soon as the speakers started was appreciated, as was smooth and skilful transitions between items. The ideal was a signal, recorded as loud as possible without distortion. Most annoying were fluctuating sound levels - between readers or interviews, or between any music and the speakers.
Reader Quality: that is readers, contributors, compere: although this might be thought to be a very subjective area, in fact there was considerable unanimity on what constituted a 'good' reader or presenter. The absolutely essential criteria were clarity and accuracy. Clear diction, not a 'posh voice', was what was wanted. Accents were fine as long as the words could be understood. In the competition, accuracy was hard to judge but crucial.
Once these two 'essentials' were in place, 'desirable' characteristics were being enthusiastic, lively, interested and well-informed about the subject matter. However, this liveliness has to be natural, or it is seen as forced and overdone. Any apparent feeling of condescension towards 'poor blind listeners' or judgement on the subject matter was much resented. 'Good' voices sounded naturally relaxed and confident, as if they were enjoying themselves.
Identification: Most listeners are left to guess that if it is Friday and it is in a wallet, it must be their Talking Newspaper. This may be acceptable for some, but for those who receive many tapes a week, it is very frustrating not to know what has come through the door. Once the tape has been taken out of its wallet, how are the listeners to know which is their TN and which is their recipe tape?
Navigation: Two elements are needed: a contents listing (given in the order the items are actually recorded) and then a means to get to the desired point, for example alternate male and female voices. The comments section of our questionnaire was full of spontaneous moans on this issue - so are you sure your own listeners aren't frustrated in this way?
Each entry was listened to by two panellists and checked against set criteria. The results were converted into marks. Having totalled the marks in each category a short list was drawn up both for Talking Newspapers and Talking Magazines and these entries went forward to a very experienced tape user judge for the final round. From this final judging …
THE WINNERS ARE:
Talking Newspaper of the Year 2002 - Chichester
Scoring very high marks on everything (apart from tactile identification)
Runner up and Highly Commended - Bromley
TNAUK Award of Excellence -
The North Norfolk Mardler
With high marks on everything (except tactile identification), with an interesting mixture of entertainment and information, local history and geography, and interesting sound effects to one of the features, the range and mix of items giving them the edge over …
Runner up and Highly Commended - Chichester
COTIS Category Awards
Audio Quality: Kenilworth, and Lincoln
Reader Quality: Lothian, and Lea Valley
Identification: Havant (whose square of velcro would ensure their tape wouldn't get put into the 'cassettes-to-be-sorted-sometime' drawer!) and Bromley
Navigation - contents: Chichester
Navigation: Bromley
Navigation and Contents: Soundaround
CONGRATULATIONS and very well done to ALL.
by Marilyn Oldershaw, Copyright Officer, RNIB
The Copyright (Visually Impaired People) Bill has now almost completed the parliamentary stages it has to go through before it becomes law. Next month it will have its third reading in the House of Lords before receiving Royal Assent. By next Spring, this new copyright legislation should be in force.
Current copyright law in the UK, which is designed to protect the copyright of publishers and authors, makes it illegal to copy books and other literary and artistic material without seeking the permission of the copyright holder. However, the new law will create two exceptions for the benefit of blind and partially sighted people. The exceptions will apply to all literary, dramatic and musical works, apart from the making of an accessible copy of a musical work, which involves making a sound recording of a performance.
The first exception allows a single accessible copy of a work to be made by or for a visually impaired person, thus removing the need to seek copyright permission. The work must not already be commercially available in a format the visually impaired person concerned can access and a copy of the work must have been lawfully obtained. Accessible copies made under this exception must carry a statement that they have been made under the terms of the new legislation.
The second exception enables educational establishments and non-profit bodies to make and distribute multiple accessible copies to visually impaired people, without asking permission. Again, the exception does not apply if there are commercially published accessible versions of the work available, and a statement must also accompany these copies.
You will notice that no format or medium is specified. This is because we wanted to ensure that as far as possible this law was future-proof. An 'accessible copy' will therefore include braille, Moon, audio, large print and digital formats.
There is also provision for copies necessarily created during production (incidental or intermediate copies) to be transferred to other non-profit bodies.
This is a very brief summary of the Bill, which contains several safeguards to protect the rights of publishers and authors but which nevertheless will truly give visually impaired people the right to read. No longer will right holders be able to withhold their permission or simply not bother to respond to requests.
Detailed guidance notes about the new law will be available next year and people will also have the opportunity to attend workshops and presentations.
Subscriptions are now due for the year 1 September 2002 to 31 August 2003. The rates remain at £6 for an individual and £12 for an organisation for a further year. If you have not yet paid for this current year, the invoice is enclosed with this issue of On Track or has been sent directly to your treasurer. Please continue to support the work of COTIS through your membership and with your expertise.
This year our AGM is taking place at the new headquarters of RNIB at 105 Judd Street, London (near Kings Cross). The AGM itself will be a business session only, which should last about an hour. Afterwards we are holding an Open Forum when we will be discussing The Accreditation Scheme, funding and where we go next. Come and join us and let us have your ideas.
To give us an idea of the number of people hoping to attend, please return the completed form enclosed with the print issue, or leave a message on 01829-733351 indicating who is coming.
The COTIS committee meets face to face about three times a year otherwise we conduct our business by teleconference. This reduces not only the time needed for meetings and travel, but also the 'hassle factor' of delays, and it cuts costs too. If you would like to get more involved and help us take forward The Accreditation Scheme, for example, please complete and return the Nomination Form enclosed with the print issue or contact the COTIS office and give the name of person nominated and the organisation represented, if applicable, the name of the proposer and the name of the seconder. Please confirm that the nominee has given his or her verbal or written agreement to be nominated. You may nominate yourself.
A third of the committee stands down each year in rotation. This year it is the turn of Wendy Davies, Lesley Kelly and Linda Pearce. COTIS would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their hard work and dedication. They have contributed a great deal to the success of COTIS. We are delighted to say that all three are willing to stand for re-election.
Saturday 9 November 2002
RNIB, 105 Judd Street
London WC1 9NE
AGM: 11.30 am - 12.30 pm
Welcome tea/coffee from 11 am.
11.30 am.
Re-standing: Wendy Davies, Lesley Kelly and Linda Pearce
Close of AGM
(NB Minutes of the last AGM were in the January 2002 issue of On Track.
Please let us know if you need another copy.)
After the AGM we would like to hold an open forum to discuss: T he Accreditation Scheme and Funding. Where now?
There will also be a short committee meeting to allocate roles within the committee. Close by 3 pm.
Charity: COTIS - Confederation of Transcribed Information Services Charity Commission Reference Number: 299024 |
|||
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Opening balances: | |||
| Bank accounts | 1,771.22 | ||
| Building Society account | 13,530.57 | ||
| Petty cash | 51.49 | ||
| 15,353.28 | |||
| Income: | |||
| Subscriptions | 855.00 | ||
| Sale of Guidelines | 205.70 | ||
| Sale of Self-help tapes | 129.00 | ||
| Postage | 17.85 | ||
| Donations | 141.00 | ||
| Bank interest | 3.78 | ||
| Building Society interest | 383.72 | ||
| 1,736.05 | |||
| Expenditure: | |||
| Committee members travel/ Subsistence/room bookings | 1,311.21 | ||
| Telephone conferences | 238.94 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 229.68 | ||
| Contract work | 8,370.30 | ||
| Petty Cash | 5.04 | ||
| 10,155.17 | |||
| Deficit | (8,419.12) | ||
| Closing balances: | |||
| Bank accounts | 2,973.42 | ||
| Building Society account | 3,914.29 | ||
| Petty cash | 46.45 | ||
| 6,934.16 | |||
| Prepared by Linda Pearce Treasurer | |||
| Checked by L J Plumb ACCA | |||
by Wendy Davies, COTIS Chair
As you will see from the article on the TNAUK Tape Competition, we were able as planned to use the draft questionnaire in a live situation. This gave us much useful feedback and as a result, we are modifying the range of answers, but most of the questions seemed to be about right for Talking Newspapers.
However, we do still want to test out what readers think are the crucial criteria, not only with Talking Newspapers listeners, but with users in as many other situations as possible. We are welcoming the opportunity to work with ABAPSTAS (Association of Blind and Partially Sighted Teachers and Students) on academic materials. We would love to hear from any other user groupings who wish to develop specific standards for their type of information, as well as from any individuals who are interested - either to comment on a one-off basis, or to become a regular panellist.
Thanks to some funding from RNIB, we are also able to offer a pilot 'intermediary service' for a short while (ie until the money runs out!) to help bridge the understanding gap between service providers who have commissioned others to convert their print information to alternative formats, and their visually impaired customers who subsequently complain about the quality.
Can you help by inserting the following paragraphs in your own publications?
If you send out publications to blind and partially sighted people, or have contact with anyone who does, please consider including the following articles to help spread the word, adding the contact details shown at the end.
Thanking you hopefully in advance ...
Need a champion to explain your point?
Have there ever been instances when the quality of allegedly 'accessible' information (requested or otherwise) disappoints or even infuriates you?
It may concern packaging, quality, content or layout of a braille, audio, e-text or large print document; or even 'just' late arrival. Whatever the issue, you know it will take time and effort to track down someone who will take responsibility, let alone get them to understand your point; and why should you have to act as an unpaid quality check? Yet somehow, you feel an obligation to DO something.
Have you, at this point, ever wished you could just ring up someone who would quickly understand what you were talking about, and who would take up the issue for you?
For once, your wish has come true! Thanks to a £5,000 grant from RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind), COTIS (Confederation of Transcribed Information Services) is now running a pilot Intermediary Service to help ease these frustrations, and to champion issues about the quality of so-called accessible information.
So next time you receive 'accessible' information which is difficult to use or which you feel is of a poorer quality than the equivalent print, get in touch with COTIS. You can write or email, but probably the easiest method is to leave your name and phone number on the 24-hour COTIS answer-phone with an indication of the best times to contact you. We'll call you back within 3 days and take details of your concern. We will then endeavour to follow this up with the service provider; try to find someone who will take responsibility; ensure they understand the points being made and what might need to be done about them; and if necessary, arbitrate between them and the actual producer. The aim is to achieve an outcome which satisfies you. After six months, we will review the situation with RNIB and see if such a post would be useful for a longer term.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Help develop quality standards
Are you interested in improving the general standard of non-print materials? If so, then we'd love to hear from you.
Do you enjoy reading some recorded or brailled books and materials but find others hard to use? We have been working with as many people as possible to get overall agreement on what 'quality' means for various types of information in different contexts, so that we can develop an accreditation scheme for producers. Rather like hotel grading schemes, we hope to provide not only an idea of the range and type of services offered (for example, whether recordings can only be produced on compact cassettes and hand-labelled, or if digital mastering, bulk duplication and printed inlay cards are available; whether all braille is tagged or can it be bound; can subject matter of a technical nature or in languages other than English and Welsh be dealt with?), but also to indicate the level of quality usually achieved within these categories. This quality score will be awarded annually on the basis of assessment by at least two panellists using sample products.
If you have views on what makes good, usable, 'accessible' information, those views should be taken into account when setting the standards. Also, if you think you might be interested in becoming a panellist, do please get in touch with COTIS. It is always easier to develop an understanding by talking, so if possible, do give us call, leaving your phone number and telling us when it would be convenient to ring.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Telephone: 01829 733351 (answerphone),
fax: 01829-732408, email: administrator@cotis.org.uk
COTIS Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire CW6 0DP.
by Wendy Davies, COTIS Chair
Frustratingly, our hopes of funding from The Ulverscroft Foundation came to nothing. They felt we needed to do more market research to determine whether producers would accept and abide by standards developed by COTIS, UKABP (United Kingdom Association of Braille Producers) and the National Centre for Tactile Diagrams.
None of the three named organisations now has any funding available to pursue this issue: individuals are having to do what they can in their own time and at their own expense.
So if you DO feel that it IS important that quality standards for various types of alternatives to print are developed (by users) and that an accreditation system for producers is in place to help guide purchasers, then please ...
a) write a letter of support (to the Editor or to me, Wendy Davies, COTIS chair)
b) let me know of any potential funding
[Editor's note: As always, we need your views on this. Is this an important issue that we should pursue or is having such a standard unnecessary?]
by Linda Pearce, Editor
On Track brings to your attention details about equipment, materials and services that COTIS feels will be of interest to you. Please note that this is for your information only. COTIS is not endorsing them or making any recommendations. Equally, reviews are personal comments by the writers of the articles.
Please remember - if you would like to submit an article or send details of any forthcoming events which may be of interest to COTIS members, the latest dates by which material should reach the editor are:
18 September for October's issue,
6 January for January's issue and
1 May for May's issue.
© Written permission to use any On Track article or other COTIS
material to be obtained from
The COTIS Secretary, Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley,
Cheshire, CW6 0DP, tel: 01829-733351 (answerphone), or Email:
ontrack@cotis.org.uk .
or from the On Track editor.
COTIS, Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 0DP, United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 (0)1829 733351
Email: administrator@cotis.org.uk
COTIS President: Sir John A. Wall - Charity Number 299024
COTIS Web Site last updated 24th June 2005