|
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 43 - January 2003
Held on 9 November 2002
at RNIB, 105 Judd Street, London
1. Present (in person or via teleconference):
Wendy Davies, Individual
Linda Pearce , RNIB
Sylvia Dey, TNAUK
John Proudler, Individual
Ruth Frampton, RNIB
Lesley Kelly, Individual
Winnie Morrell, NFB
Colin Antwis , Fieldsman Trails
Jessica Finch, Camread
Peter Howell , Dog Rose Trust
Marian Davis , Vision Support Trading
David Inness , Monument Tape Services
Lisa Bhogal , ABAPSTAS and UKABP
2. Apologies
Sir John Wall, President
Glenn Critchley, Individual
Linda Downey, Calibre
Tim McDonald, TNAUK
Paul Woods, Torch Trust
Mary Connelly, Individual
Fran Hawkins, RNIB Vocational College Loughborough
Deane Houston, The Blind Centre for Northern Ireland
3. President's Opening Remarks
John Wall sent his good wishes and apologies. He is still very active on the international scene - he had just returned from work on the international copyright front, and was about to chair a teleconference of the international technical representatives in advance of next year's disability summit.
4. Minutes of Previous AGM and Matters Arising
The minutes of the previous AGM held on 10 November 2001 were approved. Proposed: Lesley Kelly, seconded Winnie Morrell.
5. Chairman's Report from Wendy Davies
Last year, COTIS said we would work in collaboration with other media and vi groups to establish an Accreditation Scheme that is
- known to end users and to service providers
- adopted by transcription agencies, and
- used by COTIS itself!
We would concentrate on audio as we had already made more progress in this
medium than in the others and therefore likely to advance more quickly. To work
'for real', we agreed to offer our help to TNAUK (Talking Newspaper Association
of the United Kingdom) to run their annual tape competition.
How did we do against this agenda?
a. Communications:
· Two important explanatory documents were produced and are kept updated - one clarifying our overall COTIS strategy and one specifically setting out the case for quality standards in alternative formats. These were widely circulated in May's On Track and are still available through the On Track link on our website. They have been useful as background material to funding bids and as more general explanations of our aims.
b. Collaboration ·
We were delighted with TNAUK's co-operation, and the tape competition became a pilot study for testing the implementation of the Accreditation Scheme.
· The UKABP committee welcomed us to its meeting last Autumn and delegated a sub-committee to work with us. They have made some progress and we look forward to hearing directly from them.
· The National Centre for Tactile Diagrams also reacted extremely positively to our approach: with Dr Sarah Morley, COTIS was able jointly to undertake the closing session of their biennial international conference in July. This illustrated how COTIS is approaching audio standards. There was clear support and a number of people volunteered to work further with them should they be able to secure funding.
· RNIB has provided project funding (see later), help with customer contact, invaluable administrative support and provision of materials.
c. Progress
TNAUK Tape Competition
· In co-operation with TNAUK, we ran their tape competition. This became the main focus of our activity over the summer and enabled us to move from theory to practice.
· We increased our own understanding through running a workshop to establish which of our general quality criteria are of most importance to Talking Newspaper (TN) listeners. A report of users' perspectives was circulated by TNAUK to all member TNs.
· We have an improved understanding of what is important to listeners and how best to phrase questions and responses.
· We have a working administrative database.
· We judged the competition; hopefully those TNs who entered found the judges' comments helpful and constructive.
Pilot 'Media Champion' scheme - Complaints Service
· With funding from RNIB, we are advertising the availability of a 'media champion' pilot. If anyone receives information in a supposedly accessible format (ie braille, audio, large print or on disk) which they consider sub-standard, they can contact COTIS by phone, email or post. We will act as intermediary between them and the sender and/or producer to try to tease out the issue and find a solution. COTIS will report back on the issues raised to RNIB, who will then be in a position to decide on any future activity. We hope that the pilot will also highlight for us what are the crucially important points of quality.
Copyright
· Although COTIS as an organisation only played a small supporting role in the RNIB copyright campaign, we celebrate the fact that the copyright bill received Royal Assent on Thursday 7 November, and the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 should be in force by Easter 2003.
· Finally, Wendy warmly thanked Sheila Jones and Linda Pearce for their help in the day to day running of COTIS; Colin Antwis who put in many more hours than he invoiced us for; and the committee who have been consistently supportive and good-humoured, despite lengthy tele-conferences.
6. Treasurer's Report
The end-of-year financial report was circulated within On Track Issue 42 in
October 2002.
The current balance is approximately £5,000.
Membership 87.
Linda expressed her thanks to Sheila Jones for day to day assistance and
support, and also to Lisa Plumb for checking the accounts.
7. Ulverscroft - where now?
The negative response from Ulverscroft to our application for a grant seemed to indicate a lack of understanding of all that was submitted, ie the letters of support sent with application. They wished for more evidence that an Accreditation Scheme is needed.
We hope to achieve this:
· through the Complaints Service (ie the 'media champion' scheme), as we may get more documented evidence regarding poorly presented alternative formats
· through research via Service Providers (Local Authorities, Associations etc) to establish their preference in using accredited suppliers
· by contacting Soundings for a 2-3 minute slot re funding and the Complaints Service Action: Colin Antwis
· by obtaining support via NALSVI (National Association of Local Societies of the Visually Impaired) and Guide Dogs for the Blind Association magazine. Action: Colin Antwis
Some Talking Newspapers are keen to be accredited.
8. Nominations for committee
Wendy Davies, Lesley Kelly and Linda Pearce were all elected en bloc.
Proposed by Ruth Frampton, seconded by Winnie Morrell. David Inness: proposed
by Wendy Davies, seconded by Lesley Kelly.
Co-opted to committee: Peter Howell.
9. Any other business
On behalf of a member, a query was made about whether there are audio cassettes available which contain listings of library books and who supplies them eg Calibre, NLB, Playback etc?
The AGM closed at 12.30 pm.
by Julia Ionides
It seems a long time since we wrote for On-Track; it's alarming how quickly the time passes and consequently more difficult to remember what we have been doing!
Much of our work recently has been concentrating on outdoor walks. These became tied up with the foot and mouth problem and had to be put on one side until the crisis was over. We have recorded walks around the Shropshire towns of Clun and Craven Arms and these have accompanying tactile plans. The walks take the form of interviews, or chats, with people who know the area well and the interviewers are Eric Sayce, who is totally blind, and Denise Collier, who is both hearing and visually impaired. CDs and plans are available at £4 per set, the money going back into our work.
In May 2002, funded by Shell Better Britain, we organised an interpretation day for visually impaired walkers, centred around the legendary ancient Mitchell's Fold Stone Circle. Eighteen blind and partially sighted people came from far afield to take part. We had talks about various aspects of the circle including wild life, archaeology and geology. In the afternoon we walked to the circle, led by Paul Saunders, a medieval bagpiper. He also brought his medieval harp and as the wind was strong, it plucked the strings and played itself in a way that complemented the mysterious circle. It was a truly multi-sensory day with home made cakes supplying the taste. CDs, starring Eric Sayce and Paul Saunders, and plans are available and were given out to all participants.
We undertook a mammoth recording session with Edward Kelsey (of the COTIS Reading Masterclass and Joe Grundy of The Archers) to update the guide for visually impaired visitors to the Parthenon Galleries at the British Museum. The gallery has been modified, and we put a tactile model of the Parthenon there last year. The guide runs for over two hours, but don't despair, it has been put onto playback machines with selective numbers so listeners can choose long and short versions of descriptions of tactile panels and sculpture blocks. A composer friend wrote Music for the Parthenon for the recording, based on some fragments of music that have been found. Do go and listen to it sometime and enjoy the casts of the sculptures and the model that puts these into context.
Funded by the lottery Awards for All, we have also just completed the audio tour of York to accompany the bronze tactile model which was installed last year. Although this is principally a tour of the actual model, there is also information about the city itself and examples of the sounds to be heard as you walk around it - all actually recorded in the right places and complete with bells, Morris Dancers, buskers and a horse drawn carriage! The guide was written with the assistance of members of the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society and it will be available in the spring from the Society in Bootham, tel: 01904 636269.
For something completely different, Peter was commissioned to record the new compositions at the Presteigne Festival in Wales. This involved being there for six days, in glorious weather (in Wales? Yes, it was) and enjoying music that had not been heard before, with the composers on hand to talk about it. A great experience.
For light relief, the mini-disc recorder we bought in Japan three years ago goes everywhere with us and we now have a good collection of sounds, ranging from the Istanbul Bazaar to trams in Lisbon. Well, you never know when they might come in useful.
Good listening!
Julia Ionides and Peter Howell
The Dog Rose Trust
Tel: 01584 874567
Email:dogrose.trust@virgin.net
[Let this spur you on to write about what your organisation is involved in, and don't forget to send us a copy that we can publish. Ed]
To avoid being deleted from our membership lists at the end of February 2003, make sure your subscription is up to date. It is now overdue for the year 1 September 2002 to 31 August 2003. The rates remain at £6 for an individual and £12 for an organisation. Please send your cheque, made payable to COTIS, to the COTIS office. If you need another invoice, contact the COTIS office and we'll be pleased to send you a replacement.
by Marilyn Oldershaw, RNIB Copyright Officer
The Patent Office has issued draft Guidelines on the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002, which is due to be implemented this Spring. We have been asked to stress that although the Patent Office is content for the guidelines to be circulated to people who should have an opportunity to comment, this is a draft which as yet has not been cleared by their lawyers.
The second Exception in the Act, which refers to the making of multiple copies, will be overridden by any Licensing Scheme which may be in place. This is explained in more detail in the guidelines, but it is important to note here that no scheme will be able to be more restrictive than the Act and could in fact be more lenient. Rightholder groups have invited representatives of user groups to enter into discussions about the possible form of a licensing scheme, which they would like to see implemented as soon as the Act becomes law. Although we have not yet had our first meeting, we shall of course be consulting widely and endeavour to work towards a scheme which will benefit everyone.
A very brief summary follows and the full text is available in standard and electronic formats from RNIB and The Patent Office.
The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002
Guidance note
Introduction
1.This guidance will be of interest to visually impaired people who have difficulty accessing copyright material in the form in which it is published and not-for-profit organisations and educational establishments helping visually impaired people.
2. The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 introduces two exceptions to copyright that provide solutions to these access problems. The first one will benefit individual visually impaired people (Part I) and the second one applies to activity by not-for-profit organisations and educational establishments (Part II).
Summary
3. Exceptions to copyright set out activities that do not infringe copyright and so they can generally be undertaken without getting permission from copyright owners. Anyone wishing to benefit from the new exceptions in the 2002 Act should read the detailed guidance in Parts I and/or II and refer to the legislation itself as necessary, but in summary the 2002 Act provides:
· Part I: The 'one-for-one' exception: If you are a visually impaired person, you can make a single accessible copy of a copyright work for your personal use, subject to a number of conditions. For example, you must have lawful possession of, or be able to lawfully use, an (inaccessible) copy of the copyright work and a copy that is accessible must not be commercially available. You cannot keep the accessible copy if you no longer have the inaccessible copy, but may be able to transfer both copies.
· Part II: The 'multiple copy' exception: Educational establishments or bodies not conducted for profit can make multiple accessible copies of a copyright work and supply them to visually impaired people for their personal use, subject to a number of conditions. For example, accessible copies cannot be supplied to anyone who can access a commercially available copy. Within a reasonable time from making accessible copies, copyright owners must be notified of activity under the exception. Where copyright owners have established a licensing scheme covering the activity that would otherwise be permitted under the exception, licences under that scheme must be taken out. Details of relevant licensing schemes can be found in paragraph 14.
4. Annex A explains some general interpretations relevant to both exceptions and Annex B describes some general principles about copyright law and exceptions.
Status of this guidance
5. This guidance provides information about the effects of the 2002 Act but does not in any way replace the legislation. This guidance has no legal force, but is intended to help visually impaired people, educational establishments and not-for-profit bodies understand the new exceptions to copyright that are covered by this guidance.
If you have any comments or questions about either the Guidelines or Licensing Schemes, you can contact David Mann or Marilyn Oldershaw at RNIB who will be happy to discuss them with you.
Email: marilyn.oldershaw@rnib.org.uk
or tel: 01733 375012
Email: david.mann@rnib.org.uk or
tel: 028 9032 9373
By Colin Antwis, Fieldsman Trails
Many of us can and do put up with things for so long, but there comes a time when enough is enough.
Where do we vent our frustrations and our concerns? How do we get our voice heard above all the noise of commerce? How do we get through to the person who can make a difference in our lives?
The Complaints Service ('media champion' scheme) set up by RNIB and managed independently by COTIS is the answer.
We have already started investigating some issues around accessible information: such as the design and presentation of braille financial accounts; the order of items and navigation through audio magazines; and the late provision of the braille version of company reports.
Having gathered the information from you, it is then the responsibility of COTIS to locate the person who can make the difference by understanding the issues involved.
Your identity is not disclosed, and we shall be confirming or otherwise how large the problem is via the views of our nationally established user panellists.
It is a six month project so we won't put the world to rights this year, but we are sure that if the demand for such a service is proven, it could be extended.
Contact the COTIS Project Office by whichever means you prefer for the
attention of the Project Co-ordinator.
Email: administrator@cotis.org.uk
Telephone: 01829 733351 and leave a message on the answerphone
Fax: 01829 732408
Post to: COTIS Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire CW6 0DP.
by Wendy Davies, COTIS Chair
COTIS has been invited to an information day and discussion on the Right to Read Campaign at RNIB, Judd Street, London on Monday, 10 February 2003 from 2.00 to 5.00 pm.
In issuing the invitation, David Mann, RNIB Campaigns Officer, wrote: "You may already have heard of this campaign. The key aim is at least to double over the next five years the proportion of published material available in accessible formats.
"RNIB believes that this target can only be achieved with a significant increase in public funding for transcription activities. However, there are also a number of other strands to the campaign, for instance:
· There is plenty of scope to work with publishers and with public libraries.
· There are particular issues relating to curriculum material.
· Government can help in a number of ways, including changes to the tax regime for the publishing industry.
· The ways in which accessible material is commissioned and produced can always be scrutinised.
· Copyright and licensing issues are still very much with us.
"Clearly, there is strength in numbers, and the more organisations that are signed up to this Campaign, the greater strength and credibility it will have. We will achieve more if we collaborate, co-operate, and avoid duplication.
"The aim of the meeting on 10th February is to exchange information, update one another on current activities, and discuss how we might best work together in future. This might be achieved in a number of ways, such as a formal Consortium, an e-mail list, or more meetings!
"I have invited the major producers of alternative format materials, the umbrella groups for transcription services, various bodies from the education sector and the two main organisations of blind and partially sighted people. However, please feel free to pass this invitation on to any organisation you think I may have overlooked."
I shall be attending to represent COTIS, and would really appreciate hearing from all of you before then - would you want COTIS to support this campaign? What are your own particular issues or concerns? Would you too like to attend the meeting?
I'll be phoning some of you to 'test the water' before I go, but please
don't wait - pick up the phone yourself and get in touch with me directly on
01297 445853, or email me at
wendydavies@folksworth99.freeserve.co.uk
or via the COTIS office.
This is too good an opportunity to ignore for us all to push for what is
needed.
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