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Sylw!The Bulletin of Wales Council for the Blind.
No. 27 - December 2005.Submit an article...You may have something you wish to publicise or know of something which may be of interest to our readers. If you do, please use our submission form at http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/English/sylw/sylw_submissions.htm . WCB Services.Wales Council for the Blind offers Awareness Training and Transcription Services. If you or your organisation are in need of these services please contact us on 029 20 473 954 or email nicola@wcb-ccd.org.uk or richard@wcb-ccd.org.uk respectively.. Contents.1) WCB update.WCB Training courses 2006.Course programme for Jan - June 2006: ICT Network Project.WCB has received the go ahead and funding from WAG to run a pilot project linked to its ICT network scheme. This is a success, not least because of the cooperation from several divisions in the Assembly towards meeting the needs of a cross-sectorial initiative. You can read more about the project at http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/English/Downloads/ICT_pilot_AGM_presentation.pdf and http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/English/Downloads/ICT_pilot_project_AGM_summary.pdf . Database updating.Please help us to keep our contact details up-to-date. Contact deb@wcb-ccd.org.uk or telephone 029 20 473 954 to make any changes to the information we hold about your organisation on our database. 2) Consultations and lobbying.Lobbying for a better Rehabilitation Service.The most recent response to WCB's lobbying campaign was an event on 6th December for A.M.s hosted by David Melding, the health & Social Care spokesperson for the Conservative Group in the Assembly. A.M.s attending heard presentations by Alex Durbin (WCB V.I. Awareness Trainer) on the impact of rehabilitation on the individual; by Vicky Richards (WCB Rehab. Development Officer) on what v.i. rehabilitation is; and by Vanessa Webb on what is needed to develop an adequate service in Wales. Benchmarking VI Services.After nearly three years work, this Report is finally ready, approved by the Association of Directors of Social Services in Wales. It will be launched together with the Good Practice Guidelines on January 12th at the Village Hotel, Cardiff, to an invited gathering. The Report and Guidelines will then be circulated for use by Social Services Departments and service providers and an Implementation Group will be set up to involve those using the material to monitor service development. 3) Reports and publications.Out with the old...New Beacon will cease to be published this year. It shall be replaced by "NB" in January, a new magazine for all sight loss and eye health professionals from ophthalmologists to rehabilitation officers to policy makers. Existing subscriptions to New Beacon will be transferred to NB. On-Line Swansea Community Directory.The Swansea Community Directory contains details of a wide range of local organisations and services in the Swansea area, together with the ability to search by different categories such as 'health'. The directory is compiled by a partnerships of organisations including Swansea Libraries, the City and County of Swansea Council, Sport Swansea and the Welsh Assembly Government. It is available on-line at www.swanseacommunitydirectory.org.uk . 4) Events.Free Professional Development Event.Professionals supporting people with a visual impairment are invited to attend a one day event at Queen Alexandra College in Birmingham. The programme will include hands-on workshops in Orientation and Mobility, Access Technology and Braille. Places are limited. Contact Emma Perks on 0121 428 5041 or email enquiries@qac.ac.uk . Peter Pan - Audio Described Panto.This year's panto at the New Theatre Cardiff is Peter Pan, and there are audio described performances on Friday 27 January 2006 at 7pm and Saturday 28 January at 2:30pm. Tickets can be booked by ringing the box office on 029 2087 8889. Weights.Extant, the first British blind theatre company, presents a passionate and inspiring one-man show about a man who has overcome tremendous obstacles in life: the son of an alcoholic mother and abusive father who, at the age of 23, was shot in a bar fight, losing his sight completely. More information at http://www.extant.org.uk and http://www.lynnmanning.com . Performances remain at Oval House Theatre, London and Croydon Clocktower, Surrey ( http://www.ovalhouse.com and http://www.croydon.gov.uk/clocktower ). 5) Technology.Request for beta-testers for Usability Exchange.PhoneAnything is currently developing a "Usability Exchange" website that will allow organisations to test the accessibility of their websites with disabled users. The aim of the service will be to ensure that websites are as easy to use as possible for disabled internet users. When the service is eventually launched, organisations will pay to test their websites, and end users will get paid directly for providing testing services. If you are a disabled internet user with a computer, PhoneAnything would like to invite you to become a beta-tester for their new service. Unfortunately, during the beta-testing phase of development, there will be no payment for providing testing services. However, once the service is launched, beta-testers will be in an excellent position to start charging for testing services. If you would like to become a beta-tester, please send an email to testers@usabilityexchange.com indicating your preferred email address, your particular disability and the software and computer platform that you use, for example Jaws for Windows. PhoneAnything will then contact you with further information about their new service. Alternatively, call 01223 360060. NTL Customers receive audio description service.NTL is rolling out the provision of audio description on a channel-by-channel basis, starting with BBC1. For more information, contact NTL on 0800 052 2000 or read the accessibility statement at http://www.home.ntl.com/page/epgaccessibilitystat. Online tips on customising your computer.http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/myway/ is an online resource for customising your PC. The BBC has developed a site based on Abilitynet's called 'My Web My Way' and is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/ . It has support for the three main operating systems: Windows, Linux and MacOS. Accessible Mobile Phone Factsheet.RNIB maintain a factsheet giving information on making accessible and purchasing mobile phones. It's at http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_mobphonesfactsheet.hcsp . Online Text-to-Speech Demo.AT&T Labs offer this demo of text-to-speech software: 6) Opportunities.Rehab Worker (VI) Posts.Go to http://www.rehabwales.org.uk/vacancies.html for recent advertisements. 7) Other resources.Describe Online.Describe Online and Glasgow City Council is trialing an audible city guide to Glasgow. The service can be accessed at http://www.describe-online.com/glasgow/. Google Book Search.Google provides an on-line library. I'm not entirely sure how it works yet and it seems as if the pages are scanned as images, so I'm not sure how accessible the pages are. Give it a try at http://books.google.com. Online Accessible Books.http://www.bookshare.org offers downloadable titles, both public domain and copyrighted, while a podcast version exists at http://librivox.org . RNIB Children's Services Courses.For professionals in education, health and social services, and parents of blind and partially children: Cerebral Palsy and visual impairment: focus on children and young people: Thursday 2 February 2006, Cardiff. To find out more about this course and others in different areas contact: Liz Gutteridge on 0121 665 4221 or visit www.rnib.org.uk/training. 8) Miscellaneous.Toy Catalogue for Blind & Partially Sighted Children.This Toy Catalogue is a joint initiative of RNIB and the British Toy and Hobby Association. It features over 100 recommended toys for visually impaired children, grouped by age range, together with general advice on criteria to be used when choosing toys for these children. The toys themselves are not designed specifically for VI children, but have been chosen by a panel of parents, teachers and early years practitioners as meeting suitability criteria such as good colour contrast and interesting texture. The catalogue, which is also available in Braille, can be ordered from RNIB Customer Services, PO Box 173, Peterborough, PE2 6WS, or by phoning 0845 702 3153 or emailing cservices@rnib.org.uk. A Letter from Santa.Santa and his elves are eagerly waiting to hear from blind and VI children as they prepare for the Christmas festivities. RNIB is offering its support to Santa by collecting all the children's letters and sending out his replies. You can send letters to Santa Claus, RNIB, PO Box 173 Peterborough, PE2 6WS, to arrive by 15 December. Alternatively, you can use email - santa@rnib.org.uk. Please ensure the letter includes the child's name and address, and whether they would like a reply in Braille (grade 1 or grade 2), large print, or on audio tape. Marks and Spenser Audio Magazine.The Christmas edition of the Marks and Spencer magazine, 'Your M&S', is now available, featuring gift ideas as well as clothes and food for the festive season. The magazine is available free on audio tape to visually impaired customers, and can be obtained by ringing 0870 241 0772. 9) Reminders.Football for Adults with a Visual Impairment.A group of 7 players meets on Mondays 7-8pm fortnightly in Bridgend Recreation Centre and is looking for new members. It's for adults with a visual impairment. Contact Andy Fisher on 0797 7229016. Sports Development.The Merthyr programme is still running on Fridays and visually impaired adults who would like to take part in the activities in the leisure centre gym should contact Nicky Malson on 029 20 473954 or email nicky@wcb-ccd.org.uk. The emphasis is on confidence-building and socialising. There are projects running for vi children and their siblings at Carmarthenshire, Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent and there is a proposal for a new group in Neath Port Talbot in the new year. Contact Nicky for more information. WCB AGM.Read the summary of the AGM at http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/English/Events/WCB_agm_2005.htm . WCB Review 2005.This is available for download in MS Word format at http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/English/Downloads/annual_review_2005_english.doc and http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/English/Downloads/annual_review_2005_welsh.doc Review of Lottery Good Causes Post 2009.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have announced their intention to review the good causes funded by the National Lottery later this year. A consultation document and questionnaire relating to good causes of arts, sports and national heritage will be published on their website this month. Events and awareness sessions will be staged between now and the end of February, when the consultation closes. You may submit comments and complete the questionnaire at http://www.culture.gov.uk . Contact Ruth Hughes at ruth.hughes@wales.gsi.gov.uk (tel: 029 2080 1336) for more information about the consultation and the awareness sessions. RNIB/UCE Diploma in Rehabilitation Work (Visual Impairment).Applications will shortly be invited for the next full two year diploma programme starting in September 2006. For further information www.sightlossmatters.com or for an informal chat contact Vicky Richards at Wales Council for the Blind on Tel: 029 20473954 or vicky@wcb-ccd.org.uk
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