CRIS Makes News Accessible For Those With Low Vision

A new automated system is making getting the news easier for people who are blind or have other handicaps that prevent them from reading their local newspapers.

Officials of the Connecticut Radio Information System (CRIS) recently launched their newest program called CRIS Telephone Reader.  The system allows people to dial in to a telephone reader and listen to news from their local daily and weekly newspapers.

The telephone reader is a voice response system. People who have visual or physical impairments and are unable to use the printed page for information can call in and hear readings of various daily and weekly newspapers.

The system was unveiled last month by CRIS and Lt Gov M. Jodi Rell, who has been a CRIS volunteer reader for more than five years.

“CRIS’ telephone reader is really a great new tool for Connecticut listeners,” Lt Gov Rell said. “By using a touch-tone telephone, individuals can hear readings from selected sections of their town newspapers. Best of all, they can listen anywhere, at work or at home, and at any time of day.”

The telephone reader, developed through funding from The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, SNET, and the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, uses a voice response unit that prompts listeners to select various newspapers and then various sections of that paper, such as town news, sports, and obituaries.

Based in Wethersfield, CRIS is a private, nonprofit organization that broadcasts readings over FM radio, cable television, and telephone.

“For more than 20 years, CRIS Radio has provided a valuable free service to people with print handicaps by broadcasting extensive readings from daily papers and from magazines,” said Paul A. Young, chairman of the CRIS board of directors. “With the launch of the new telephone reader service, our listenership has one more way to access the information that those of us without handicaps often take for granted.”

Callers to the toll-free number, 800/708-0004, are asked to leave their name and telephone numbers. CRIS staff members call the listener and give them a special telephone number and access number.

Radio reading programs originate from CRIS’ main studio in Wethersfield and from local studios in Danbury, Trumbull, Norwich, and West Haven, where volunteers read from local newspapers. Now volunteers in Waterbury and eventually other cities in Connecticut will read area newspaper content from the CRIS telephone reader right from their homes seven days a week.

Genie Wilmarth, associate director at CRIS, said that anyone who is interested in reading at the Danbury studio should call Brij Lal at 431-2149. Volunteers who would like to read from their own homes may call Elana Walworth at 860/956-3579.