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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 45 - October 2003
For the second year, COTIS (Confederation of Transcribed Information Services) was asked to judge the annual Talking Newspaper Tape Competitions. You may remember from last year's reports that COTIS has been working for some time to establish just what 'quality' means to listeners in general. By collaborating with tape users around the country, COTIS had already established that a 'quality' tape in general requires all four main elements to be right:
For the competition, after work with individuals and at two workshops, we tailored the criteria more precisely to TNs. Timeliness of delivery is an obvious production constraint; and although dictated to a large extent by what is in the print paper, the content needs to be varied, well-arranged, and selected with the particular interests of blind people in mind.
Feedback from last year led us also to take into account the facilities available (is the TN recorded in a dedicated purpose-built studio or the Church Hall?), as well as how customer feedback was elicited and acted upon. It is clear that some of you really do interact with your members and get responses to your requests for feedback. [I wonder if there is any correlation between the TNs that do this well and those who don't, and those whose numbers both of volunteers and listener membership is buoyant and those where it is flagging?]
We have been talking for some time of establishing a 'Corgi' quality mark for all accessible formats, and are delighted to report that we are now working with the British Standards Institute to establish a recognised British standard. In the meantime, Tim McDonald came up with the name 'RAINMARK' for TNs which met a given standard on all the four main elements of importance to TN listeners: Readers, Audio, Identification, Navigation, as well as content and reader responsiveness. In due course, the RAINMARK will be incorporated into the BSI standard.
And so to judging: each entry was judged by two panellists. It was
interesting to see how discrepancies between judges often highlighted different
aspects. For instance, in answer to the question:
"Could you tell who it was from?"
"Yes" said a partially-sighted panellist of a tape with a lovely
print label.
"No" said a totally blind panellist as there was no tactile mark.
Nor could the blind panellist tell which was side 1, as the label fitted so well into the indentation on the tape. (Some blind panellists could distinguish side 1, if the TN had abided by the old convention of screw holes being on side one).
So without more ado - here is the complete list of who won.
The panel's verdict: "Excellent. Good clear readers and good quality audio" - and this despite having to set up equipment from scratch each week in a borrowed meeting room. Plus they really seemed, with humility and humour, to listen to their listeners.
Snapping at the heels of Sound News and Highly Commended - Wymondham and Attleborough
This recording was particularly praised for its well-balanced range of information, the result being an interesting and well-read tape. (It is realised, though, that teams' hands are tied by the content of the print newspaper.)
TNAUK Award of Excellence - The North Norfolk Mardler
The panel verdict was: "… bright, friendly, confident presentation, making a relaxed 'read'."
Runner up and Highly Commended - Kenilworth Talking News.
Comment from a panellist: "… would like to listen to this tape on a regular basis. The listeners are very fortunate."
COTIS Category Awards - Talking Newspapers
Readers:
Joint Winners: Jewish Care, Oldham TN, Wymondham & Attleborough.
Highly Commended: Darlington, Lothiansound, Morpeth & District,
South Lakes, Turra Talk.
Audio:
Joint Winners: Jewish Care, Sound News Milton Keynes.
Highly Commended: Darlington, Lothiansound, Morpeth & District,
Turra Talk, Wymondham & Attleborough.
Identification:
Joint Winners: Portsmouth TN, Sound News Milton Keynes.
Highly Commended: Bromley & District, Darlington, West Shropshire.
Navigation:
Winner: Sound News Milton Keynes
Highly Commended: Morpeth & District, The North Norfolk Mardler,
Spelthorne TN, The Talking Banffie.
COTIS Category Awards - TN Magazines
Readers:
Joint Winners: Lea Valley, West Shropshire TNs.
Highly Commended: Chichester Area, Kenilworth, The North Norfolk
Mardler, Stowmarket & District, Southampton Talking Echo.
Audio:
Joint Winners: Chichester Area, The North Norfolk Mardler.
Highly Commended: Fareport, Kenilworth, Lea Valley, Mansfield &
Ashfield, West Shropshire.
Identification:
Joint Winners: Kenilworth, Mersea Island Lions, Wymondham &
Attleborough TNs.
Highly Commended: Link-Line TM, West Shropshire TN.
Navigation:
Winner: Mersea Island Lions
Highly Commended: Bexhill, Kenilworth, Link-Line, Stowmarket,
Soundaround.
Simply by taking part in the competitions you had the opportunity of having your recording assessed for RAINMARK accreditation. We are delighted to report that the following organisations met the relevant criteria and have been awarded the RAINMARK accreditation. In addition, all were shortlisted in the 2003 competitions.
Talking Newspapers
Darlington, Lothiansound, Morpeth & District, Oldham, Sound News Milton Keynes, South Lakes, Turra Talk, Wymondham & Attleborough.
Talking Magazines
Chichester Area, Fareport TN, Kenilworth TN (KTN), Lea Valley, Mansfield & Ashfield Echo, Mersea Island Lions, Southampton Talking Echo, Stowmarket & District TN, The North Norfolk Mardler, West Shropshire TN, Wymondham & Attleborough.
CONGRATULATIONS and very well done to ALL.
All entries were respected for the efforts being made, but it was felt that some would benefit from a critical ear being applied. So do listen - to your own team's recording, to the recordings of other teams on your TN, to any other TNs which come your way. And remember that the Talking Newspaper is there to meet the needs of its listeners, not its volunteers. Sadly, the time comes for all of us to recognise we need to retire gracefully - even from voluntary activity.
by Karen Hannah, Social Inclusion Manager
AIRS (Access to Information and Reading Services) is part of Gateshead Council's library service. We are unique (as far as we know!) in being the only council in the UK to offer a free regular talking newspaper service as well as a range of transcription and accessible library services.
The talking newspaper was originally started in 1987 as a project and was followed a couple of years later by the transcription service. Both officially became part of the library service in 1994, demonstrating the council's early and ongoing commitment to providing accessible information for people who are unable to read standard print.
AIRS produces and delivers its talking newspaper and magazine service on audio cassette four times a week to residents in Gateshead free of charge, and on subscription to our regional and national listeners (the full service is available to non-Gateshead residents for £45 a year). We have our own recording studios and team of full-time and part-time readers and researchers who all write for and read on our tapes, plus regular external contributors such as a Methodist minister, local writing group members and a local TV sports reporter.
On Tuesdays, listeners receive 'Sunny Side Up', a light-hearted magazine with fiction, quizzes, book serialisations and talking book reviews, with a competition to win the featured book. On Wednesdays, there's a talking newspaper with national and regional news on Side 1 and a half-hour magazine on Side 2. 'Sounds Northern', dedicated to Gateshead and the North East, is delivered on Fridays. It has extracts from the local Gateshead Post newspaper plus features and What's On information. The final tape of the week is delivered on Saturdays and is a talking newspaper with more news and features, plus a sports run down with a local TV reporter.
AIRS has an extensive transcription service, converting a wide variety of print information such as birthday cards, financial and utilities statements, leaflets and company literature into large print, Braille and audio cassette. We can also translate English into British Sign Language (BSL), the first language of approximately 70,000 people in the UK.
Our Information Assistant (Braille), who is blind, and Information Assistant (British Sign Language), who is a deaf BSL user, work closely with our library colleagues to make our services accessible for sensory impaired people. For example, we recently set up a Visually Impaired Readers' Group and now have 12 partially sighted or blind members who read large print, Braille and listen to audio books. The group meets once a month in a local library and we are currently reading 'Bel Canto' by Ann Patchett.
As part of Local History Month, we ran a series of family history workshops for deaf people, given by a local deaf person (in BSL) who had researched his own family tree. As a result of these workshops, we will be setting up a monthly support group and Internet training for deaf people.
If you would like any more information about any aspect of AIRS, please contact Karen Hannah, Social Inclusion Manager, at the following address:
AIRS (Access to Information and Reading Services)
Gateshead Central Library
Prince Consort Road
Gateshead
Tyne and Wear
NE8 4LN
Tel: 0191 433 8450
Fax: 0191 477 7852
E-mail: karenhannah@gateshead.gov.uk
This year COTIS and UKABP (United Kingdom Association of Braille Producers) are holding their AGMs in London on the same date. Unfortunately we could not find a venue which met all our needs, so the COTIS AGM in the morning will take place at RNIB, 105 Judd Street, London WC1H 9NE and UKABP's in the afternoon at Salvation Army in Oxford Street.
This means that we are sufficiently close for both groups to meet at Salvation Army, Regent Hall, 275 Oxford Street, W1R 1LD between the AGMs during lunch (remember to bring your sandwiches with you!). We also hope to hold a joint session to discuss common interests, in particular, issues about standards and how we can make progress together.
The COTIS AGM will start at 11 am and will be a business session only, which should last about 30-45 minutes. Immediately after this session, we will have time to discuss the progress we are making on standards and our collaboration with the British Standards Institute (BSI). For COTIS committee members, there will also be a short meeting to allocate roles within the committee, before we make our way to Oxford Street to meet up with UKABP members.
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.
Committee members
Each year a third of the committee stands down in rotation. Committee members may re-stand. This year Linda Downey, Ruth Frampton, Deane Houston and John Proudler are standing down. On behalf of COTIS members, the committee sends it very grateful thanks for their hard work over the years. COTIS is dependent on such dedicated help and representation.
We are delighted to say that Ruth has indicated that she will re-stand.
Monday 24 November 2003
RNIB, 105 Judd Street
London WC1 9NE
Meeting Room 3
AGM: 11.00 am - 12.45 pm
Welcome tea/coffee
11.00 am.
Re-standing: Ruth Frampton
Close of AGM
(NB Minutes of the last AGM were in the January 2003 issue of On Track.
Please let us know if you need another copy.)
The AGM will be followed immediately by a discussion on our collaboration with the BSI, and a short committee meeting to allocate roles.
Charity: COTIS - Confederation of Transcribed Information Services Charity Commission Reference Number: 299024 |
|||
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Opening balances: | |||
| Bank accounts | 2,973.42 | ||
| Building Society account | 3,914.29 | ||
| Petty cash | 46.45 | ||
| 6,934.16 | |||
| Income: | |||
| Subscriptions | 939.00 | ||
| Sale of Guidelines | 362.30 | ||
| Sale of Self-help tapes | 170.10 | ||
| Postage | 8.25 | ||
| Bank interest | 4.22 | ||
| Building Society interest | 124.95 | ||
| 1,608.82 | |||
| Expenditure: | |||
| Committee members travel/ Subsistence/room bookings | 187.19 | ||
| Telephone conferences | 656.28 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 121.63 | ||
| Contract work | 1,494.60 | ||
| TNAUK competition prizes | 225.00 | ||
| Petty Cash | 4.08 | ||
| 2,688.78 | |||
| Deficit | (1,079.96) | ||
| Closing balances: | |||
| Bank accounts | 1,772.59 | ||
| Building Society account | 4,039.24 | ||
| Petty cash | 42.37 | ||
| 5,854.20 | |||
| Prepared by Linda Pearce Treasurer | |||
| Checked by L J Plumb ACCA | |||
Subscriptions are now due for the year 1 September 2003 to 31 August 2004. 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.
October 20th sees the launch of Right to Read Charter and a new report highlighting the fact that over three million adults and children in the UK who cannot read standard print are effectively denied the Right to Read as so little is converted into other formats such as audio, braille, large print etc.
The Right to Read Alliance is a partnership of 14 voluntary organisations, including COTIS, who are concerned that, despite all the technological advances, so many people are effectively barred from reading. Over 95% of books published in the UK are NOT available in a format that print disabled people can read.
The Right to Read Alliance believes that this is discrimination and the situation must be improved. Print disabled people risk being isolated from education, work and society through being denied access to reading.
We are calling on government, publishers, booksellers and libraries to play their part and deliver the Right to Read. Right to Read Week, launched at the British Library on Monday 20th October 2003, is part of an ongoing campaign to improve access to books and information for 3 million print disabled people across the UK.
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS CAMPAIGN!
We need you, your work-mates, your customers, and your friends and family all to sign the charter. All libraries have been sent a copy of the Charter and asked to display it near the book issuing desk. Many local libraries around the UK are holding events that you can get involved in. We'll also be asking people to write to their MPs, MSPs and Assembly Members and their local press.
Please use the Charter on the following pages in your work-place, and make the campaign as widely known as you can. The Charter will be presented in Autumn 2004, so you have twelve months to amass signatures. An electronic copy of the Charter is available on our website, (www.cotis.org.uk ) together with links to other organisations who are taking part.
As members of COTIS, you obviously have a strong interest in making information available in non-print formats. So do please take part in this crucial campaign.
At last the Secretary for State has signed The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 which means it will be in force from the end of October 2003.
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