A radio reading service or reading service for the blind is a public service of many universities, community groups and public radio stations, where a narrator reads books, newspapers and magazines aloud for the benefit of the blind and vision-impaired. It is most often carried on a
subcarrier
A subcarrier is a sideband of a radio frequency carrier wave, which is modulated to send additional information. Examples include the provision of colour in a black and white television system or the provision of stereo in a monophonic radio bro ...
, with radio receivers permanently tuned to a given station in the area, or an HD Radio subchannel of the offering station. Some reading services use alternative methods for reaching their audiences, including broadcasting over SAP, streaming Internet radio, cable TV, or even terrestrial TV.
The International Association of Audio Information Services (IAAIS) serves as the primary member organization for radio reading services, and has member services or has consulted with and assisted local organizations in Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Panama, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The first radio reading service in the United States was the
Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network The Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network was the world's first radio reading service for the blind; the first on-air date was January 2, 1969. The purpose of a radio reading service is to make current print material available, through the medium of ...
, started in 1969 by C. Stanley Potter and Robert Watson. After six years of researching the concept, a Kansas philanthropist learned of the Minnesota service, and with their help in 1971 Petey Cerf founded
Audio-Reader
The Kansas Audio-Reader Network (generally called Audio-Reader) is a radio reading service for the blind in Lawrence, Kansas. The program began operating on October 11, 1971, and is the second to operate in the United States. Audio-Reader bro ...
, the second reading service in the nation, in Lawrence. In the late 1970s, Audio-Reader director Rosie Hurwitz and Stan Potter served as the first two presidents of the Association of Radio Reading Services, which came to be known as the National Association of Radio Reading Services, and, finally, IAAIS.
The first radio reading service in Canada was founded by Richard Moses and Gordon Norman in Oakville, Ontario, in the basement of the Woodside Branch of the Oakville Public Library in the mid-1970s.
In the United States, many public radio stations carry a local or regional reading service on an FM subcarrier. They are commonly affiliated with universities, libraries and other non-profit institutions. Reception of these stations require a special receiver, available at no cost to the listener, though most organizations require certification that the potential listener is unable to use normal printed material. Stations in other countries also carry such a service in this fashion. Some radio reading services are broadcast on standard FM stations. WRBH in
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...
has been broadcasting a two-hour-a-day service, the Radio Home Visitor, since 1974.
WYPL
WYPL (89.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that serves the area of Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. The station is licensed to the Memphis Public Library & Information Center and provides an open radio reading service to patrons, a ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...
, run by volunteers of the Memphis Public Library, devotes nearly its entire broadcast day to a mixture of live readings and prerecorded readings overnight.
Australia's Radio Print Handicapped Network has stations in all capital cities and some other areas.
The first internet-based reading service was Assistive Media, founded in 1996 by David Erdody in Ann Arbor, Michigan.Assistive Media /ref> Most of the over 100 audio information services in the U.S. today stream their broadcasts live on the internet, and some offer online archives of previously broadcast programming. Some organizations are providing their listeners with internet radios preprogrammed to easily find the internet stream.
See also
* Radio Information Service
* Audio description, an additional narration track for blind and visually impaired consumers of visual media, including television and movies, dance, opera, and visual art
American Foundation for the Blind
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is an American non-profit organization for people with vision loss. AFB's objectives include conducting research to advance change, promoting knowledge and understanding, and shaping policies and practi ...