Visually-impaired stay current with VoicePrint

Newsstand available at the click of a switch

By Sue Careless - Special to ChristianWeek

TORONTO--If you were blind, you would not be able to finish this sentence, let alone this article. Or would you? What would allow you independent access to in-depth, same-day news coverage?

Many blind and vision-impaired Canadians are hearing the front page of The Globe and Mail read every day on a national, specialty cable service called VoicePrint, which broadcasts articles from more than 100 Canadian publications including Maclean’s, Equinox and Saturday Night. And the selections are not mere snippets: each article is read in full.

"When you lose your eyesight, what you miss most are the faces of your loved ones–your family and friends," says Cheryl Bristow, financial resources officer at VoicePrint. "Secondly, you miss the ability to read print. VoicePrint can’t alleviate the first grief, but it can the second."

Since 1990, VoicePrint has been available in 5.2 million Canadian cable households with eight hours of original programming daily, retransmitted twice for a 24-hour broadcast day. It offers same day news and sports, business, health and entertainment.

Saints of all sorts | Vol. 11 No. 14 Index