When You Can No Longer Read

Newsline

Dear Linda:

       My mother is no longer able to see. She was an avid reader and really misses the newspaper. Is there anything I can do for her?

Robert in Richland Hills

Dear Robert:

       Yes, you can arrange the gift of information for your mom. Contact The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) about its electronic news service called NFB-Newsline. The largest accessible information service in the United States, it operates in thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia, and serves over 50,000 registered users.

       Created for people (blind or disabled) who can no longer read regular newsprint, this valuable service enables access to current events and in-depth coverage in several magazines and more than 200 daily newspapers from around the country.

       NFB-Newsline is a free service to all registered-users and has been available to the over 75,000 disabled residents of Texas since 1995. The Fort Worth Star Telegram and The Houston Chronicle are the two newspapers in Texas that are accessible.

       As a registered-user of the on-demand, telephone (touchtone) service, your mom can access the newspaper by calling a local or toll-free number on the day it’s published or at her leisure twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and she can choose to hear the whole publication or just the articles in which she is most interested.

       The cost of making this important program available to all the disabled people in Texas is only $40,000 per year. The funding had been provided by a federal grant, the Texas Commission for the Blind, and the NFB in Texas (an affiliate of the national organization). Last year, however, that funding was not forthcoming and the program in Texas was in jeopardy. Last minute donations postponed its termination and ensured another year of operation.

       Call 866-504-7300 to support this critical service and to request a brochure, an introductory cassette, a list of available newspapers in registered states, and the application for registration, which requires a letter certifying the subscriber’s disability.