Publications Archive

New Beacon, September 1995

Summary: leading monthly magazine on issues concerning people with sight problems

• In Depth
• Letters
• Insight
• In Brief
• Leisure for All
• Leisure Notes & News
• Obituary

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Editor: Ann Lee

© Royal National Institute for the Blind

Actor Richard Wilson helps RNIB to celebrate 60 years of ‘Talking Books’ by reading from the book based on his popular BBC 'One foot in the grave'. The service now has over 10,000 titles - all recorded by professional narrators or by their celebrity authors. See ‘Talking Books jubilee’ in the ‘Insight’ section. For details of membership, contact the Talking Book Service.

In Depth

What is superhighway anyway?

An alarming amount of news about the future potential of information technology has suddenly burst upon us. But most of us have little idea what a 'superhighway' is, let alone what it might do for us, Peter Bosher, who has just started a secondment as RNIB's Project Coordinator (Information Superhighways), attempts to guide us through the maze.

I'm attempting to answer three main questions in this article:

• What are 'information superhighways'?
• Why should you care? - What use are they to blind or partially-sighted people?
• What is RNIB doing about it?

So why 'superhighways'? Since we are stuck with the term, let's look at the analogy for a minute. If you need to get from Penge to Preston (and who wouldn't?), there are many ways you could do the journey. If you have a fast car, and you use the M1 and M6 on a good day, you may get there quite quickly and painlessly. If you don't, you might decide to go by coach or train, or maybe you will decide it's far too much trouble and forget the whole idea.

For blind people, difficulties with transport - the fiddling matter of not being able to drive for example - are as nothing to the difficulties in getting information: information of all shapes and sizes, from job vacancies and medical information, to reference, specialist magazines, news, books - fact or fiction. I could go on, and so could you...

The crux of the reason why this whole area is so important for blind people is the ability to use information that is stored electronically. Instead of relying on people reading on to tape (with all the difficulties of the trouble and time taken to record, and then to find what you're looking for) or producing braille (still expensive, requiring walls of shelving and used by a minority), you can now have the Bible, an Oxford dictionary, the ‘Kama Sutra’, Delia Smith, the Beatles or today's ‘Times Education Supplement’ on your PC, taking up no shelf-space at all, or on a diskette or two, or on a CD-ROM. You can search in seconds for what you want, hear it read back, print out an extract in braille, or enlarge it on your screen.

That is how you can now use the information, but where do you get it from? Enter the Superhighways.

Instead of struggling with the rigours of the railways or putting up with other threatened species like National Express, it is rather as if someone had invented a safe, fast car that blind people could drive. I'm in danger of stretching the analogy too far, but there's a little mileage in it yet: electronic information takes, at best, seconds to move from anywhere in the world to anywhere else. If, for example, I need a detailed explanation of retinopathy, or a potted history of Robert the Bruce, it doesn't matter to me whether it's sitting on a computer somewhere near Alice Springs or in Bognor Regis. If I know where to look, I can have it on my PC at home, at work, school or college in seconds, and do with it what I will.

This is already a reality for a small number of blind people with access to a computer, and the technical knowledge, patience and perseverance needed to make the technology work. But it's not easy.. yet. If that safe fast car existed, and it may yet - automatic control and guidance systems are coming on apace - the prototypes would probably be expensive, and possibly still difficult to use. It would be a few years before the majority of blind people were on the roads, but you would expect RNIB to help make this happen sooner rather than later.

The equivalent, in information terms - and I promise not to labour the metaphor any further - is trying to find ways for blind individuals, of all ages and backgrounds, to benefit from the immense potential I've described.

I haven't mentioned the Internet yet, and at the risk of preaching to the converted, I really must stress that - despite all the hype, and the scepticism, some justified, about whether the Internet is really the best thing since Blu-Tack for everyone - the benefits of this technology for blind people in particular just can't be overestimated.

Now that I have mentioned the I-word, I'll try, in a few lines, to explain broadly what it is, and start by saying that it is not the same thing as 'The Information Superhighway'. Parts of it could be seen as potential highways, super or otherwise, but it can also resemble the M25 or a back-street in Bromsgrove. The Superhighways are mostly not built yet, but exist as visions of what is now possible using emerging technology and infrastructure, such as the growing cable networks.

A network of networks

The Internet can be compared to any other network, such as the world's telephone and postal networks. 'If you need to know someone's phone-number or a train time, you might ring your friend who happens to know, or you might consult a recorded information service. The same is true of the Internet - it's just more powerful. You might e-mail a friend in Japan, or consult the Austrian rail timetable, but all from your desk, in seconds, and with all the information readily accessible and searchable. The Internet, like the global phone system, is a network of networks. It doesn't matter whether you're calling from a call-box in a remote village in Brazil, or from your home, which might be connected via Mercury or a cable service. The price may differ, as may the quality of the line and the time it takes to get through, but what you can do is determined more by your imagination than by the limitations of the system.

There are a myriad uses for the Internet, and depending on the particular thing you want to do you may use different applications - a little like using a word- processor for one task and a spreadsheet for another. With Internet you can use e-mail to send simple messages or complex documents in seconds anywhere in the world for no extra cost; or FTP (file transfer, for any sort of file stored anywhere); or Telnet (using a computer remotely); or Gopher (information searching); or the most powerful and rapidly-growing World Wide Web.

An article could easily be devoted to the Web alone, but suffice it to say that using this you could jump seamlessly from reading the TV schedules on the BBC's computer to watching an audio-described video-clip from Hawaii, without needing to know where each item was physically stored. For school or university projects, you can research freely, as the principle of hypermedia makes it possible to cross-reference between texts, images and audio, allowing you virtually instant access to further detailed information as and when you need it.

On-line services like Compuserve, CIX, Delphi, the new Microsoft Network and so on are all connected to the Internet, as are the British Library, the White House, Oxford University, McDonald's and Sainsbury's. The point, yet again, is that for blind people the access to all this brings proportionately even more benefit than for sighted people.

A vision for the future

The vision encapsulated by the term 'Information Superhighways' is a world where all these things actually work properly. At the moment, you may stumble across a video-clip while researching for a report, only to discover that it takes twenty minutes to transfer and then won't play on your machine anyway. Or you might see reference to a text of great interest, and then discover it is stored only as an image and can't be read by a speech synthesiser. These are perhaps the equivalents of traffic-jams, penny-farthings, losing your way or being diverted to avoid roadworks. Happiness, I'm told, doesn't come from meeting no obstacles in your path, but from overcoming them, and we must learn to turn stumbling-blocks into stepping-stones (or should it be flyovers?)

There are many angles and approaches RNIB might take to help this potential become reality, and if progress up to now appears rather sluggish, it's at least partly because people within RNIB have strong and differing ideas about just what to do. The Electronic Newspaper, which delivers the Guardian to your PC even before sighted people can get a copy, is an example of an early prototype superhighway application. Using on-line systems, you can now look at parts of many newspapers, and if you can afford it, search archives of all newspapers for years past. But to do this you need the right equipment - a computer with some sort of connection, often via a modem, and the system set up in such a way that you know what to do to find the information you're looking for.

To help with this, RNIB might try to help you get the equipment you need, help set it up, help get concessions on telephone charges, help you learn to use the software and navigate the system, help compile guidance about how to do all this. It might also provide a special service, produce special material in special formats designed to be easier to use by blind people, design hardware and software to make access easier, campaign to make sure that existing providers keep their services accessible...

There are people who would advocate some, any or all of this work, and the first aim of the project is to prioritise this and agree on how to use the limited resources we have in the most effective way to benefit the most people. This is a tall order, and a steering group with two directors and senior managers from all RNIB divisions has just started to work on it.

My job as coordinator is to bring together the strands of existing work with potential work, so that the group can agree a coherent strategy and actually start putting services in place.

We have made a start. The first step was to gain funding for at least the first two years so that pilot work could begin. We have also coordinated a response to the government's consultation on 'Superhighways for education' and, at a more immediate and practical level, are working on making available more magazines and books on disk, on how the Electronic Newspaper should evolve, on information about how to get connected and where to find what, and with Compuserve and other providers to keep their services accessible in the face of moves towards graphical, Windows-like systems (which still need more expensive and less reliable solutions for most blind people).

RNIB is already on the Internet, using e-mail extensively, and with a pilot World Wide Web service. An important task for the steering group is to agree on what this Web service is used for, and how it is designed. It has already been accessed by three thousand people in its first six months, and that was without any publicity whatever.

It could ultimately serve as a way of providing some of the material RNIB currently transcribes, as a way of ordering goods, as an information service for individuals and for other organisations, for fundraising, for providing advice on benefits, employment opportunities, education - in fact almost all aspects of what RNIB already does. It should ultimately be integrated into mainstream services, just as the telephone is now.

Because this is such a new area, the steering group is needed to make this as quick and painless as possible. The better it does its job, the sooner there will be no need for it at all.

The first mile?

That is still a long way off, though RNIB is not alone in struggling with this. A recent Government conference on Superhighways was called 'The First Mile'. The Government's Web service was brought to a grinding halt on Budget day by more people than the system could handle. This dropped to an all-time low of ten thousand accesses on Christmas day, and is now averaging a hundred thousand per week.

This thing is here to stay, and RNIB could not afford to lag behind in any such a field of activity. Given the immeasurable extra benefits for blind and partially-sighted people, it should be among the leaders.

• If you have any queries following from anything in this article, then please contact Peter Bosher: Telephone 0171 388 1266 extn 2381. E-mail: pbosher@rnib.org.uk
• If you would like to have a look at the RNIB home page on the World Wide Web, the.URL (universal resource locator or web-address) is: http://www.rnib.org.uk

The versatile Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope

Veronica Bevan of RNIB's Ophthalmic Advisory Service and Zoe Wavell, Prevention of Blindness Officer, describe the exciting possibilities offered by this new equipment.

In April this year, the ‘Daily Telegraph’ published an article about the Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (SLO) and its usefulness in enabling people with some healthy retinal tissue to see simple text and video images.

But production of SLOs for specific functions enables a wide range of potential uses.

At the moment, the SLO is used in hospital settings, is large and costs in the region of £50,000.

Exciting clinical and practical possibilities are now in development which include:

• earlier and more accurate diagnostics
• potential prevention
• improved treatment
• an aid to viewing texts and images
• telemedicine and sight enhancement via the Internet.

The SLO is primarily an instrument for imaging the retina, using a much lower light intensity than any other method.

The projection of an image is one of the secondary facilities, and can determine the condition of the eye by projecting an image directly on to the retina, which improves diagnosis by assessing retinal condition and reaction.

Clinically, the SLO permits a unique study of the living eye, in detail which was previously only possible during post mortem examination.

In low vision assessment and image projection work, the central significance is that SLO is able to bypass obstacles caused by front-of-the-eye damage, and identify and utilise healthy remaining retinal tissue capable of converting light received into nerve impulses for transmission to the brain where sight is produced.

Pioneering Internet work in Massachusetts

Ten years ago, during psycho-physics (looking at visual function and usual visual stimuli) trials to assess the usefulness of the diagnostic SLO for telemedicine undertaken at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, doctors in one location could observe the retina of patients many miles away.

Elizabeth Goldring - a poet based at the Centre for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT - took part in these trials. As a result of ocular haemorrhages, she had been unable to see for some months, but she succeeded in identifying the images transmitted by the ophthalmoscope (a stick figure of a turtle and the word 'sun').

Seeing faces

SLO now offered a non-medical potential. Ms Goldring contacted the inventor of the device, Dr Robert Webb, and their association produced remarkable results. In 1990, Ms Goldring was able to see the face of a close friend. Although by that time surgery had restored some vision, faces were seen only as moons with demarcations for features.

Ms Goldring approached Computer Resources Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to link SLO to an Apple computer and transmit simplified images via Internet.

An experiment involving Ms Goldring in a teleconference over Internet was successful, and Ms Goldring was able to see live pictures of those taking part whilst they saw an enlarged image of her retina on their monitor screen, demonstrating the advantages to the visually impaired person and a distant medical adviser.

Ms Goldring says use of the device is very tiring, but she is nonetheless developing a 'visual language' by integrating graphics into words.

It is recognised that SLO will not facilitate reading a newspaper, for example, but it may enable recognition of the faces of loved ones.

SLO for early detection of ocular changes

There is a critical need reliably to detect individuals at an early stage of ocular damage caused by glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Whilst existing measurement of visual function by computerised visual fields tests are valuable, they are not reliably accurate.

Preventing blindness due to glaucoma and other hypertensive conditions is the central focus of the work of Mr F Fitzke (Institute of Ophthalmology), in collaboration with Mr Hitchings of Moorfields Eye Hospital, Professor H P Wynn of City University School of Mathematics, Actuarial Science and Statistics, and D F Edgar City, University Department of Optometry and Visual Science.

This work on image analysis and spatial modelling of visual function in glaucoma marries the varied skills of science, mathematics, statistics and clinical medicine. Results demonstrate diagnostic benefits to people with glaucoma by the unique ability to examine the head of the optic nerve, where sight-threatening changes can occur, and by combining this information with that obtained by collecting, storing and retrieving precise and detailed computerised records of ocular fields.

Low vision uses of the SLO

Dr Fitzke supervised Dr Louise Culham's earlier, successful work on SLO, which identified new techniques for low vision training specific to people with macular degeneration.

Dr Culham's current clinical trials at St Thomas's Hospital aim to expand the original work for the purpose of clearly understanding specific low vision assessment and needs for training in individuals with juvenile macular degeneration. Funding has been found for Siv Ighe (a well respected low vision therapist) to participate in developing the protocols.

Although the basic work has equal applicability to age-related macular degeneration, until additional funding has been attracted the work cannot be expanded.

RNIB role in.SLO research

All three key players in the UK developments of the Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope have close links with RNIB.

Both researchers, Dr Fitzke and Dr Culham, say that they have only been able to further studies into this exciting new area because they are receiving, in the case of Dr Fitzke, and have recently received, in the case of Dr Culham, funding from RNIB.

Siv Ighe, now collaborating with Dr Culham, was with RNIB Education and RNIB Community Services Divisions for a year in a training, advisory and developmental capacity.

Dr Fitzke is studying the Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope to improve knowledge of changes in the optic nerve as part of his work on early identification of glaucoma and other ocular hypertensives. Studies are also under way on retinal changes in macular degeneration to improve basic and diagnostic knowledge.

Dr Louise Culham's work is groundbreaking and has international importance in the field, but from a completely different viewpoint and application. All the tests and techniques now in daily use for the trials were developed during the five-year period that Dr Culham received RNIB research funding.

The role of individual scientific research is to chart knowledge. Both positive and negative results contribute to overall progress. Over the past 50 years RNIB has financially supported scientific studies which have added to the sum of knowledge which contributes to improved prevention, identification and treatment of blinding disease.

With improved longevity and increasing sight loss among the ageing population, if services are to match demand it is vital to reduce numbers.

People who can avoid blindness will benefit, and those for whom no useful treatment has yet been identified will benefit from improved support.

Dr Culham and Dr Fitzke, the two leaders in the field of SLO research in this country, both demonstrate the value, both clinical and non-medical, that RNIB funding provides to progress the fight against blindness.

Letters

A thank-you from Bosnia

Mostar Association for the Blind send their thanks for the response to the appeal for the Association (‘New Beacon’, June).

Donors may wish to know that the first load of equipment was sent by convoy on July 5, and will be delivered directly to the Association.
Mary Kennan, Chair - View Chapter for Teachers, Leigh

Moon, myths and management

We read with interest the article ‘Moon, myths and management’ in the June issue of ‘New Beacon’, and would like to state that we agree with the sentiments of the writer.

Over the past seven years, Moon has successfully been used with three multi- handicapped visually impaired pupils. In the early stages, our involvement was very much on a trial and error basis due to the lack of commercially produced resources. The lack of an acknowledgement by RNIB that Moon could be an alternative to braille for the less able pupil has also hindered our progress.

Since January 1992 the School has been involved with the Birmingham University project ‘Moon as a route to literacy’ which was of great encouragement to the staff involved here and has enabled two of our pupils to achieve a basic reading level which would otherwise have been impossible. This begs the question that if this success has been achieved independently, how much more is possible with the backing and support of RNIB? Until RNIB acknowledges its value as an alternative code for some pupils, Moon will always remain the poor relation to braille.

Regarding the comment towards the end of the article about the imminent introduction of a Moon font for computer users, computerised Moon has been used with our pupils at Penn Hall School for the past two years, and has proved to be of tremendous value to both pupils and staff alike.

As far as we are concerned at Penn Hall, we are doing our best to promote Moon wherever appropriate and await with interest RNIB's decision regarding its future.
A J Stoll, Headteacher, Penn Hall School, Wolverhampton
Mrs Ida Westwood, Mrs Maureen Hutt, Teachers of Visually Impaired Children

I was really interested in reading ‘Moon, myths and management’. As a deafblind person I can read both braille and Moon. It is true that there are a limited supply of books, but it's no reason to stop making more. A large number of deafblind people rely solely on Moon. If Moon was to die out, these people would have to rely on the deafblind manual as their only source of information.

No, there isn't a big queue of people waiting to talk to these people. A lot of deafblind get very little human contact, especially the ones in institutions.

As regards Mark Prouse's letter about the newspaper service (June), I can confirm that it covers a wide range of topics, and it really is worth getting. The only problem is it can be hard and expensive to get the equipment.

Some deafblind people are unable to use this equipment anyway - either because they are too nervous of new technology or because they don't know braille.

Others are able and willing to use it but they find it hard to approach charities. Even charities such as 'Electronics for the Blind' don't answer in braille and send printed forms to fill in. I know a couple of bright, capable deafblind people who are still waiting to get this equipment. So only a few lucky deafblind people actually have this service.
Helene Ryles, Peterborough

A number of people (including the author of the ‘Comment’ which appeared in your June issue) have been understandably worried at reports that RNIB might be ceasing the production of books, magazines and other items in Moon. I am pleased to be able to take this opportunity of reassuring people that we have no such plans for the foreseeable future.

RNIB's financial position is extremely tight, and in trying to balance our books we sometimes have to make difficult decisions which can lead to reductions in service. At different times, most of our services come under the microscope.

Earlier this year we did conduct a detailed analysis of the cost of our Moon services, that is to say the subsidy which we allocate to this area of our work. The sums involved are significant, but having weighed them against the importance of Moon as a means of literacy for its users, we have decided not to make any reductions in our Moon work in the current financial year. No cuts are planned at this stage in future years, either.

This means that we shall be continuing work on the development of Moon literacy and teaching material, as well as producing magazines and books, for general customers and for the National Library for the Blind.

For more information on these services, please contact RNIB Customer Services, PO Box 173, Peterborough PE2 6WS, or call 0345 023153.
David Mann, Group Manager, Support for Independent Living, RNIB

Boomerangs, come home to roost

May I express, through your ‘Letters’ column, my appreciation to the many readers who have responded to the ‘Canes Survey/Questionnaire’ in the July/August issue of ‘New Beacon’. I am honestly awed, not just by their cooperation, but by the intensity of their participation. There can now be no room for doubt about the scope of what users think, feel, want, and expect from their choice of cane/stick and of RNIB.

Within three weeks of publication, I have received well over 60 replies (by print, braille, cassette, computer disk, telephone, e-mail and personal visit). At the time of writing, the momentum still appears to be increasing, so I shall be some time yet in analysing all of the replies.

Clearly, my published boomerang was no stick, and is bringing me back splendid dividends. So, to those who have responded, many thanks for your help. I shall write back to you all in due course. Any others who wanted to participate, but have not yet managed their return, please do so as soon as possible. I will be grateful for your effort.

I shall do everything in my power to be true to your confidences.
H. Neslen, Commercial Products Development Officer, RNIB TCS Division, Support for Independent Living

Mobility

How I agree with Frederick Jakeman about textured paving. I have no idea of the significance of the different types, and even if I had, in normal walking shoes and using a long cane I could not identify them. There are so many things to remember, listen to and feel for when you can't see. I can tell the difference between smooth and rough. To have a contrast at places of interest such as pedestrian crossings and flights of steps is helpful to me.

It was reading Walter Thornton's articles in ‘New Beacon’ that inspired me to ask for long cane training as a back-up for the times when I could not work my guide dog. I am very grateful to him! I think the teaching of good mobility skills is very important and I am glad there are people interested enough to make it their profession. Rather than fancy textured surfaces, ! think we need more mobility instructors and better quality long canes.
Judy Manning, Great Yarmouth

I welcome the letter on mobility from Frederick Jakeman. It does expose flaws in research about the provision of mobility aids. And it is not much fun to have to admit that for all the time and money spent on the problem we do not yet seem to be hitting the target.

I represent the blind and partially sighted on a committee organised by Lancashire County Council on their provision of such things as dropped kerbs, tactile paving and rotating cone crossings. When I talk to blind people it is clear that the great majority are entirely ignorant of these facilities and have had no information or instruction on their use. All the specialists on the committee applaud the work done in providing these aids, but I seem to be regarded as ungrateful and eccentric when I question the value because blind and partially sighted people are not told of or instructed in how to use them.

I do a lot of walking and cycling on the back of a tandem, so I know many of the specialised tactile surfaces. I find them so over-complicated as to become unhelpful. I am proud of my long cane and mobility skills, but suspect I am guilty of 'unconscious arrogance' in this respect. I get very irritated with people who struggle with their mobility and don't find it quite the adventure I do. Maybe we are setting our sights too high. I think the Cranfield Institute and the Joint Committee on Mobility are guilty of the same arrogance. Over-enthusiasm might lead to the same pitfalls that have overtaken the basic concept of pedestrianised areas. I cannot think of a more lethal area for blind and partially sighted people to traverse, after the enthusiastic planners have done their work - we have a nightmare of bollards, flower beds, and assorted parings which are crazy in every sense of the word, leading to complete disorientation.

It is also noticeable that the mobility specialists always seem to trial new ideas with university students on campus - nice for monitoring and feedback, but hardly typical of the average blind person and their environment.

So, can we keep our mobility aids simple and practical, get the ideas and information across in a co-ordinated way and, most important of all, get rehabilitation officers out there on the streets passing on the knowledge? The responsibility is where the money is.
R J Mills, Preston

Intractable problems

Might I ask readers for advice and comments on a local problem for us, which I am sure is repeated all over the country. I represent the local blind society on a number of committees dealing with mobility and road safety. Many issues are discussed, but three which come up time and time again are:

• Problems of getting a good rehabilitation package from social services
• The difficulties of illegally parked vehicles on footways
• The growing menace of cycling on the pavement

How can we get a positive response from the relevant authorities? Despite all these issues having being faced and argued about, there seems to be little progress made. Social Services claim there is no waiting list for long cane training in this area, but this is hardly surprising if it is not openly offered. A symbol cane and liquid level indicator seems to be standard from an assessment - hardly adequate in this day and age. Police and other local authorities offer a Gallic shrug when the question of parking on pavements is raised, intimating that the problem is now too huge and overwhelming to tackle. All attempts at education seem to fail and the problem is getting worse even in rural areas.

The local society does all it can in educational visits, especially to schools, where the question of cycling on pavements is always raised. Generally children are receptive, but it is very demoralising to find the people you would expect to help are undermining your efforts. It is clear that teachers, road safety officers and the police are encouraging children to cycle on pavements because they perceive the roads are too dangerous and because they are coming under parent pressure - a fine example of duty, quite apart from encouragement to break the law!

You may get the response from the police and local authorities that if you specify black spots they will see what they might be able to do. And from Social Services a request for the names of people who want mobility training.

All these organisations are staffed and resourced themselves to do these things, and it should not be the job of individuals or local charities.

How do others deal with these intractable problems? Have you any tips to pass on?
R J Mills, Preston

Home workers schemes

I am very concerned about employment problems affecting blind people.

We live in an age of change from the point of view of the employment of blind people. This has many implications, not least the fact that so many blind people are unemployed and don't have the advantage of obtaining and retaining gainful employment.

One of the traditional avenues which "has always been open to blind people up to recent years is home workers schemes.

I feel that it is up to the individual blind person to determine what they want to do with their lives, therefore it is important for their aspirations and the rights of blind people to be taken into account. I speak with the experience of being a home worker who is also blind and of fifteen years' standing. Up to now, it has been the responsibility of charities such as the RNIB, Action for Blind People and RLSB - they have made a

significant contribution. It is therefore useful to look forward to a new age where all of us should be independent. It is a very hard task, but we must do all we can to show others what our capabilities are and not to be told by others how well we performed.

As a consequence of my speaking out about my dissatisfaction with the present scheme, I have been taken off it.

I know of other blind people currently on the scheme who aren't happy with it, but are too frightened to speak out.

This concerns me greatly and must be addressed by those responsible for it.

The RNIB have a self employment unit. It is making a valuable contribution.
Francis Rwama, Sutton, Surrey

Mountbatten Brailler

The Mountbatten Brailler (‘New Beacon’, July/August) should be used as an adjunct to and not a replacement of the Perkins. To think otherwise is to say that with the advent of the car the bike must go, or that word-processors must replace the pen.

Ever since the fairy-tale of Sparky's Magic Piano we have known how liberating technology can be, in this case turning Sparky into a world-class pianist.

However, the story shows us how technology, if used incorrectly, can lead us to worryingly high levels of dependency. When the Magic Piano refuses to play, Sparky is revealed for what he is - an impressionable, untalented child with barely a note in his head.

In any society, the powerless must pay a price to the powerful if they wish to take advantage of their skill and knowledge. The price Sparky played to the Magic Piano was that of looking extremely foolish in front of a large audience. The price the users of the Mountbatten Brailler can expect to pay to its producers is exactly that - a bill, and another one, and another one, and so on. This is because the moment you purchase any piece of electronic equipment you have joined the upgrade parade. There's no getting away; I know!

Two scenarios illustrate the problem graphically:

"Miss? My brailler's stopped working; the batteries have gone."

"You'll have to learn to organise yourself a bit better than this, you know. You have had all weekend to charge it up."

"I've charged it Miss, but someone had it before me and I think the batteries must be worn out."

"Well, you'll have to ask your dad to put some new ones in then."

"He can't, Miss. It's got to be sent off."

"In that case, you'll have to use your spare machine."

"Haven't got one."

Or we could have:

"We have got your machine OK, but I'm afraid there's a bit of a problem. We've tried to convert your machine to act as a soft braille display, but you've got the Logrhythm 3 software which, as I'm sure you know, is out of date now, so the 'braille display' option doesn't work."

"Oh Heck! What do we do now?"

"We can fit an upgrade to Logrhythm 3. It would normally cost £795, but because it's an end-of-line program we'll supply it for £400."

"What's going to replace it?"

"That's the new Softuch 2000 (excellent program!) You've got to buy that with the built-in Speekeezee synthesiser module."

"How much is that?"

"£1,295, but as an introductory offer we're selling it for £995."

While at work, I use sophisticated electronic equipment every day, and it's wonderful stuff! But it has to be uprated frequently, at my own or the Government's expense, and often has to be sent back to 'the men who know'.

So it's nice to come home to an old friend, a venerable 'war horse' which, apart from purchase price and paper, hasn't cost me a bean in its five-year life.
Sion Andrew Booth, Tattenhall, Leicester

Tapes offer

Further to my letter published in the July/August issue, I have now taken delivery of all the cassettes.

I have enough to satisfy the requests of all those who have responded, and will be in touch with each of you by telephone to let you know when to expect the tapes in the post. There were far fewer long tapes than short ones, and all the long ones have now been taken.

I have decided that I shall have to ask 15p for the long tapes, the short ones remaining at 10p - but no money yet please.

For any of you who didn't see my previous letter, service engineer friends of mine who are anxious to assist blind people have asked me to distribute a large quantity of slightly used Philips cassettes of the type we use in the pocket memoette recorders which can be obtained through the RNIB. There are still plenty of the short ones left, having fifteen minutes a side, and I shall be pleased to respond to a ring on 0121 449 3073, or to a request in any format to me at 35 Greenhill Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B 13 9SS.
Peter Jarvis, Birmingham

Insight

Westminster Round-up

Disability Discrimination Bill

In the May issue, I updated ‘New Beacon’ readers on developments on the Disability Discrimination Bill, currently going through Parliament. It is high time for me to give a further update outlining developments since May.

A brief recap: The Disability Discrimination Bill will establish two new rights for blind and partially sighted people: the right not to be discriminated against unfairly in the provision of goods, services, and facilities, and a similar right within employment. EmpIoyers and providers of services will be required to make adjustments to make life easier for visually impaired people. The Bill will also establish a National Disability Council with the power to advise the Government on what needs to be done. There will be some exemptions from these new rights and limited grounds for treating disabled people less favourably in certain circumstances.

The Bill establishes a number of key principles. Information about what these new fights mean in practice will emerge when Regulations are drawn up from next year onwards. This Bill will become an Act later this year, but, like many other Bills, it will not come into force straight away. The first stage of implementation will be the establishment of the National Disability Council (early in 1996). The second stage will involve the implementation of the employment sections of the Bill in late 1996. Other sections of this Bill will be implemented later, with the costliest changes taking anything up to twenty years to be implemented in full.

In May, I reported a number of changes. These include:

• a clearer commitment to establishing a right for blind and partially sighted people to receive information in an accessible format where it is deemed reasonable
• plans to bring access to new buses and trains under the Bill
• outlawing taxis from discriminating against guide/hearing dogs by refusing entry or charging extra
• schools and colleges to provide disability statements outlining how they intend to counter discrimination
• extending the definition of disability to cover people discriminated against on the basis of a past disability which they have overcome subsequently.

Developments since May:

A number of additional changes have been made whilst the Bill has been wending its way through the House of Lords. The most significant developments include:

• Public transport and visual impairment: During a full debate on this issue, the Government promised to consider extending obligations on the carriage of guide dogs to cover buses and trains. We also received confirmation that the public transport regulations will refer to issues of concern to blind and partially sighted people, including audible announcements and good design practice (lighting levels, colour contrast, handrails)
• Minicabs: We obtained confirmation that unlicensed minicabs will not be covered by the section of the Bill applying to taxis and the carriage of guide dogs. RNIB is currently working with the Department of Transport to ensure that this anomaly disappears when the Government's intentions to licence private hire vehicles come into play.
• Responsibility of manufacturers: The Bill will not place any obligation on manufacturers not selling directly to the public to improve the design and labelling of their products. Neither will it oblige a similar manufacturer to provide instruction manuals in alternative formats. - We had a debate on these issues which centred on the concerns of blind and partially sighted people. The Government stated that it has sympathy with these concerns but believes that the best approach is for the National Disability Council to develop a voluntary code of practice.
• Position of parents: The Government confirmed that blind and partially sighted parents and carers should have an equal right to receive accessible information about the person for whom they are caring. This represents a change of heart. There will have to be a separate consultation on schools information since the Bill does not establish a general right of access to education.
• National Disability Council: Attempts to increase the powers of the Council to reflect those already given to race and gender commissions were defeated by 164 to 136.
• Smaller firms: We also failed in our attempt to limit the exemption from employment aspects of the Bill to firms employing less than ten employees.
• Quota scheme and monitoring: In a debate, the Government confirmed that the Bill will do away with the quota scheme and registration for employment purposes (the green card). - In rejecting calls for compulsory monitoring of the employment levels of disabled people, the Government pledged to use the employment code of practice to encourage voluntary monitoring by employers.
• Access to Parliament: The Bill has been amended to enable disabled people to have access to Parliament and its information services. A Member of Parliament will also be deemed to be a service provider and will be covered by the new obligations.
• Treating disabled people less favourably: RNIB was concerned that the wording for these justifications was so vague that many examples of discrimination could go unpunished. The Government has now completely reworded these sections.
• Access to Work: More debates have taken place on the possible effect of the Bill's provisions on the scheme. Little progress has been made, with the Government remaining tight-lipped in advance of the full review of the ‘Access to Work’ scheme in the Autumn. When pressed, a Government Minister did say that nothing would be done to undermine the scheme. RNIB has already undertaken a monitoring exercise amongst ‘Access to Work’ users, and a major campaign is planned for the autumn to coincide with the review.
• Definition of disability: The Government was defeated on a vote which means that people who are discriminated against because of a perceived disability will be covered by the new right of access to goods and services. The Government has pledged to overturn this amendment when the Bill returns to the House of Commons. The Bill lists a number of prescribed conditions to be covered. This list will now make a specific reference to HIV.
• Industrial tribunals: The Government has pledged to look into extending the restricted reporting arrangements so as to maximise confidentiality for disabled people wishing to take cases forward under the new right of employment.
• Education: The Government pledged to bring forward an amendment requiring local education authorities as well as colleges to bring out disability statements. The Government is considering bringing forward strengthened guidelines on obligations to provide transport to Further Education colleges to disabled people.
• Contract work and trade associations: Amendments have been introduced to ensure that hirers of contract workers come under the scope of the legislation, although a few technical questions remain unanswered. Trade unions and employer organisations will also be obliged to adhere to the employment provisions of the Bill.
• RNIB is developing two databases, one for individual blind and partially sighted people and organisations, and the other for employers and the providers of services. Our intention is to keep those on the databases informed about developments to the Bill and their implications as they emerge. If you would like your name to be added to the database please contact Alun Thomas at RNIB by phoning 0171 388 1266 extn 2434.

Alun Thomas, RNIB Parliamentary Officer.

RNIB Week - Raising awareness to challenge blindness

Richard Lane writes:

RNIB week is around the corner: from September 11 to 17 the general public (both visually impaired and sighted) should be having their awareness levels of RNIB significantly raised as a large-scale national communications campaign gets under way.

'Challenging blindness' is the theme for RNIB week, and a multitude of RNIB activities and key messages will be communicated through a variety of national and local media. The aims of the campaign are to raise awareness of RNIB and visual impairment to the general public and to act as a catalyst to RNIB fundraising activities in the lead-up to Christmas. So, what is going on that will put RNIB on the map in mid-September?

Lots of things. One of the most potentially newsworthy items will be the publishing of a report on September 11 based on a telephone poll of blind and partially sighted people. Earlier this summer RNIB conducted this poll amongst 500 blind and partially sighted people of different ages and backgrounds to identify the main everyday frustrations and experiences of discrimination that visually impaired people encounter in everyday life. The results of the poll will be a powerful tool for RNIB as lobbying continues on the Government's proposed disability legislation, which becomes law later this year.

RNIB's ‘See It Right’ campaign will enter a new phase in RNIB Week. RNIB President the Duke of Westminster will launch the 'See It Right' Awards. This will provide an incentive for organisations to communicate appropriately with blind and partially sighted customers - in other words, in large print, braille, tape and computer disc. Once the Awards are launched, RNIB will be seeking nominations from blind and partially sighted people, and there will be a ceremony in the spring of next year to reward those companies and organisations that provide the best information service to blind and partially sighted people.

The main fundraising activity will be a series of 'Jail & Bails' which will take place at selected 'prisons' all over the country on Tuesday 12 September. Well-known business people and celebrities will be 'arrested' and locked up with their mobile phones and filofaxes and not released until they have been able to raise a designated amount of money for RNIB to bail them out!

Other exciting activities taking place in RNIB Week include:

• Escape in an emergency - Students at Reading University have designed a simulated environment which will determine the best lighting and signs for sighted and visually impaired people to escape from a building in an emergency
• Four new audio-described videos will be launched
• The 2000th Perkins brailler will be assembled at a prison in Cambridgeshire and presented to a braille-reading student
• The Chester and Tarporley Express Reading Services will combine to form the North West Transcription Centre, which will be opened by RNIB President John Wall on September 11.

All this and much more. Look out for RNIB Week - September 11 to 17.

Access to Work

The ‘Access to Work’ scheme has proved its worth and is well worth defending, according to a TUC report which was published last month.

The scheme is currently under review by the Employment Service, and the TUC report - which discusses its strengths and weaknesses - has been submitted to the ES to be considered in the review.

In summary, the report says that:

• Access to Work helped 9,000 disabled people to get or keep jobs in 1994-95 - an increase of more than 5 per cent over the previous year.
• The scheme saves the country more than £23,500,000 in benefit payments. At a total cost of £15 million, Access to Work is therefore good value for money.
• The upper limit on the help individual disabled people can receive discriminates against people with more severe impairments. The TUC believes it should be abolished.
• There have been suggestions that the Government may introduce an obligation on employers to contribute towards the cost of Access to Work. The TUC is opposed to this idea, and suggests that it would undermine the Government's own policy on the employment of disabled people.

The report also discusses the impact of Anti-Discrimination legislation, and expresses concern that the Government may try to save money by limiting Access to Work to those adjustments, employers are not required to make by the new legislation when it is enacted.s

• Access to Work - A TUC report. Published August 1995 by TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WCIB 3LS.

Eurostar and beyond

Sue Meek (Secretary, Joint Committee on Mobility of Blind and Partially Sighted People) writes:

As readers may already be aware, visually impaired passengers travelling through the Channel Tunnel are not offered a concessionary fare. However, if travelling with a companion, they will pay as follows

Discovery Gold (1st Class)

Blind person: £195.00

Companion: £116.00

Discovery (2nd Class)

Blind person: £155.00

Companion: £77.50

APEX (2nd Class)

Blind person: £95.00

Companion: £77.50

Wheelchair users can only be accommodated in the First Class section of the train (which has wider external doors and an accessible toilet). Consequently, they are automatically upgraded and offered an inclusive meal, and both wheelchair user and companion will pay £116.00. A child wheelchair user will pay £77.50 (and the escort £116 - with a second companion permitted at the same fare).

In addition to this, it has now been confirmed by British Rail International that blind people travelling by Eurostar with a companion can obtain the concession whereby the escort will travel free of charge for the onward journey from Brussels or Paris to the final destination elsewhere in Europe.

The beyond-Eurostar ticket must be purchased from a BR International authorised outlet before the blind person and companion leave the UK. The ticket must be cross-referenced to the Eurostar ticket, which has to be retained until reaching the final destination. The escort will be issued with an identical ticket free of charge.

Other conditions are that the blind person must purchase a First or Second Class international return ticket or tickets in connection with Eurostar, and must travel with the escort throughout the entire journey. The blind person must be in possession of a Certificate of Registration (obtainable from social service departments) which should also be retained throughout the journey.

Should the blind person hold a Rail Europe Senior (RES) card, or in the case of a blind child, a return ticket incorporating the appropriate reductions may be issued, and the blind persons may be accompanied by an adult attendant free of charge.

Finally, this concession is available to destinations in the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the ADN/HML ferry.

• Please contact the Secretary, JCMB, for further information: Joint Committee on Mobility of Blind and Partially Sighted People, 224 Great Portland Street, London W1N 6AA - telephone 0171 388 1266; fax 0171 383 7613.

RNIB Springfield Service

RNIB's multiple disability day service at Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, was officially opened in June by Sam Galbraith, Member of Parliament for Strathkelvin and Bearsden. Sam Galbraith was welcomed by representatives of RNIB, including the Manager of the RNIB Springfield Centre, Frances Miller. After a tour of the building, during which he had a chance to meet some of the clients, Mr Galbraith presided over the opening ceremony.

The RNIB Springfield Service is a day care service for multiply disabled, visually impaired adults - the first of its kind in the UK. It is designed to help visually impaired people develop independent living, communication and mobility skills, thereby maximising their levels of independence and giving them a better quality of life. Springfield offers a purpose-built, visually stimulating environment, including facilities such as a Multi-Sensory Room and a scented garden.

Speaking after the opening ceremony, Mr Galbraith said: "The excellent work done by RNIB is widely known. They are to be congratulated on this new service. It is an outstanding example of what can be done to assist visually impaired people by providing first-class facilities, run by dedicated staff."

New look for Birmingham charity

One of Birmingham's oldest charities has launched a new name and a new look as it makes plans to increase fundraising and raise its profile.

Brib is the new name for the Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind, which has been providing services for Birmingham's blind and partially sighted people since 1846.

The new name style has been chosen both to be more easily distinguishable to people who have a sight disability and to give the charity a more modern image. It will set the tone for a major appeal next year to mark the charity's 150th anniversary.

Brib's Fundraising Manager, Gail Mattocks, who will spearhead the campaign, explained:

"Our old name and image was old-fashioned. The very word 'institution' gives a very misleading impression of the work we do. Brib is concerned with enabling people who are blind and partially sighted to live as independently as possible within the community, not caring for them all within a single unit.

"We also found that the name caused confusion, leading many people to believe that we are a part of the Royal National Institute for the Blind, which is not the case. Brib is the name which the staff have been calling the charity for several years so it made sense that this is the name we should now adopt for the outside world."

Talking Books jubilee

The sixtieth anniversary of the Talking Book Service was marked by RNIB at the end of June with a special 'Talking Book Week'.

Richard Wilson, the popular star of TV's ‘One foot in the grave’, helped RNIB to celebrate, and special events also included a visit to Talking Book headquarters in Wembley by RNIB's President, the Duke of Westminster.

The foundations for the Service were laid in 1935, when RNIB (then the National Institute for the Blind) agreed with St Dunstan's "to produce Talking Book machines and records on a large scale experimental basis". Sir Ian Fraser, the dynamic chairman of St Dunstan's, was a moving force behind its development. In the early days, the Service used-long playing records, with a playing speed of 24 rpm. In 1968, when cassettes generally were quite new, Talking Books switched to tape, using special tapes which held up to 12 hours of recorded material and a special British-made player - a version of which is still in use today.

The Talking Book Service is now the largest of RNIB's sixty services. At its Great Portland Street headquarters there are eight recording studios, where between 500 and 600 new, unabridged titles are recorded each year. - The books are read by some ninety professional actors and broadcasters. Each narrator undergoes a rigorous audition, and only about five per cent of those who audition are successful.

During recording, trained studio staff act as sound engineers and producers, constantly checking the quality of the reading and recording. When a book is finished, a master tape is sent from the studios to the Talking Book headquarters in Wembley, where up to 300 copies are made.

The first titles recorded in 1935 included two of the Gospels (St John's and St Luke's), selections from Shakespeare's plays, and works by Shaw, Thackeray, Buchan, Hardy and Mrs Gaskell. To mark the anniversary RNIB has drawn up a 'top of the pops' list of books requested in 1995, which includes no fewer than 34 titles by Catherine Cookson in the 60 titles listed (including the top nine). Appearing in the present-day list are four titles by Agatha Christie, who also appeared in the 1935 list. Instead of the Gospels there is now a complete new recording of the New Testament, which was made available to members in 1994 after three years of research and recording.

RNIB's Talking Book Service now has over 60,000 members, and over 12,000 cassettes a day are despatched from the Wembley headquarters. Membership is available to anyone unable to read 'normal' print even with glasses. For an annual subscription of £49 members can borrow any number of titles and have the player on free loan. In many areas local authority social services departments or library services pay subscriptions. An army of some 3,500 servicing volunteers throughout the country are also available to look after the Talking Book players in members' own homes.

• If you think you are eligible to join the Service, or know someone else who could benefit, please contact RNIB Talking Book Service, Mount Pleasant, Wembley, Middlesex, or telephone 0345 626 843 (for the price of a local call). A month's free trial is available on request.

New chairman for Opsis

Opsis - The National Association for the Education, Training and Support of Blind & Partially Sighted People - has a new Chairman. He is Sir Geoffrey Holland, KCB.

Before he retired from Whitehall this year, Sir Geoffrey was one of the country's top civil servants. He was Permanent Secretary at the Department of Education, and had previously held the same post in the Department of Employment.

His expertise has particular relevance to Opsis, which was founded three years ago as a consortium of seven long-established charity partners all delivering services to people with visual impairment*. Education, including further education, is a particular feature of their work, as is training and support in employment. Sir Geoffrey replaces Miss Elizabeth Chapman, OBE, a world authority on the education of children with impaired sight.

* The partners are: Action for Blind People, Brib, Catholic Blind Institute, Henshaw's Society for the Blind, Royal London Society for the Blind, Royal National College for the Blind, West of England School for Children with Little or No Sight.

Supermarket for VIPs

The first 'supermarket for blind and partially sighted people' in Germany has opened in Stuttgart (reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung).

The supermarket is situated near a college for blind students, and has been refurbished with their needs in mind. Partially sighted customers are guided in from the entrance by a colour-contrasted line along the floor. There is a plan of the supermarket in both large type and braille to show the direction to the various product groups, and signs on the spot show product descriptions in large type and braille. Instead of the usual shopping trolley, customers receive special shoulder bags so that their hands are free for a stick or a cane or for feeling the labels and goods (even the fruit and vegetables are clearly labelled). An easy-to-find till is also provided, and staff are required to assist visually impaired customers in every respect.

The manager of the supermarket (which belongs to the Nanz-KG chain) says that facilities cost very little extra in the course of normal refurbishment. He hopes that other supermarkets, especially those which have homes, schools or other facilities for people with impaired sight nearby, will follow their example.

Number spin

Young engineers at King Edward VII School in Sheffield have been working on a new device aimed at enhancing the joy and benefit of board games for visually impaired people.

The new 'number spin' device was developed as part of their GCSE Design and Technology course, following a visit to Tapton Mount School for visually impaired children. The prototype device - which has been tested and refined during several visits to the school - is designed to provide a substitute for dice.

The 'number spin' features a free wooden arm suspended over sensors. The sensors are connected to a vertical display of lights which correspond to the number of dots on a dice. When the arm comes to rest, after being manually spun, a randomly selected number of lights is illuminated on a prominent display.

A local firm, VT Plastics, has help with the supply of plastics from which the base and backboard are made. In tests, the 'number spin' has proved easy to use and greatly enhanced participation in board games. The device was among the prize winners in the 1994 Duracell Science and Technology UK Schools Competition.

In Brief

Infotech

A new cassette magazine on Information Technology for visually impaired people is being launched this month.

The new magazine is being put together by two totally blind people, who themselves use a wide range of 'gadgetry' in their everyday lives. The magazine will be copied and distributed by Disability Network.

The editors - Brian Hartgen and Jackie Cairns - say that they want to present an informative cassette magazine where users of technology may give their views on how they operate their equipment. Suppliers of technology will be invited to participate, but there will be no advertising.

The type of equipment being reviewed will range from calculators to sophisticated computer systems using Windows with braille or speech access. The audio cassette medium will enable listeners to sample the quality of speech products reviewed.

• Further information, together with a free 60-minute pilot issue, is available from Brian Hartgen at Disability Network - telephone 01744 451215, or write to him at 8 Wolverhampton House, 123 Church Street, St Helens, Merseyside, WA10 1AJ.

Musicians

A major report looking at the problems and difficulties faced by blind and partially sighted musicians in their struggle for artistic equality has been published by the Inner Visions Music Company.

The report, ‘Blind to the facts’, surveys blind and partially sighted musicians all over Britain, exploring some of the issues arising out of their special need, and makes recommendations for action.

It also provides a directory of organisations working to support them, with a brief funding guide.

• The report 'Blind to the facts' was commissioned by Inner Visions and published with support from the Platinum Trust and RNIB. It is available in print, braille, or on tape. Price £5 (plus £2 p&p), from the Inner Visions Music Company (Agnes Meadows - Administration), c/o Flat 6, Braunton Mansions, 28 Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4SY.

The Prestonian

Preston Borough Council's quarterly newspaper ‘The Prestonian’ is now available on tape for visually impaired people in the Borough, thanks to an initiative between the local society and the Borough Council.

• Copies of the tape can be obtained from the Preston and North Lancashire Blind Welfare Society, Howick House, Penwortham, Preston, PR1 0LS - telephone 01772 744148.

Access at M&S

Marks & Spencer has launched a new package of initiatives aimed at improving access in its stores.

A pilot project at the Swansea store, based on consultation with local disability groups, will be evaluated carefully over the next few months. New facilities at the store include tactile hazard warnings at the top of stairs and escalators and colour-contrasted borders on seats and lifts. Staff have had intensive specialist training from local and national disability groups to increase awareness and understanding of a range of disabilities and to learn how to offer the most practical assistance.

Leisure for All

'A fresh look and a fresh listen' - Poetry workshops at the South Bank

Matthew Sweeney, Writer in Residence at the South Bank Centre, 1994/95, reports:

On three evenings in April and May, I held, as part of my residency at the South Bank Centre, a series of open poetry workshops for visually impaired people. These were conceived as a series so each could build on the one before. It was therefore hoped that the same people would attend the three workshops, and this is how it turned out in the main. Previous experience of writing was welcome, but not essential. In the same way, it didn't matter if the workshop participants had experience of writing fiction but not poetry. Many of the techniques I would cover would be relevant to most of the main areas of writing.

The workshops involved the writing of new work, using exercises that emphasised particular techniques, and looking at poems that successfully illustrated these techniques. The general thrust of the exercises (as in all my workshops) was getting people away from a generalised abstract approach, and encouraging them, instead, to be specific, and to go for a fresh angle on the subject matter they were writing about.

Robert Frost's definition of poetry as 'a fresh look and a fresh listen' was a recurrent touchstone. A lot of the poems we listened to (sometimes in the poet's own voice, as recorded on record or tape) were full of the evidence of the senses. An example was Theodore Roethke's poem 'My Papa's waltz', which opens with the lines "The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy". This aspect of the poems was heightened for me by the necessary downplaying of the visual sense, which brought the other senses into prominence.

Within this approach we explored memory and secrets. We looked at how metaphors could enliven a piece of writing. We thought about hells that could arise out of everyday life, as opposed to clichéd hells with fires and devils. We explored monologues.

With each of these we had examples of existing poems that were relevant to the exercise, some by living poets, some by dead, all of them written this century, most though not all written in English, with a fair smattering of Americans among them. The fact that the workshops were held in the Voice Box, next door to the Poetry Library, made this poem-gathering easier than it otherwise would have been.

The workshops had, I hope, an element of fun as well as serious focusing on technique. I certainly enjoyed them, and enjoyed hearing the work that was produced in them.

Out of that work I have chosen a few examples for people to read…

Justice Bill: A conference speech

Solomon Odeleye

Put them in the cages
at London Zoo:
The young ones, and travellers;
Protestors, and tramps -
Genetic recessives
From years of excesses;
Pathetic defectives,
The handworks of lust!
Let the Good Folks from the shires
(Bred of native Christian stock)
Aim their kicks, discharge their spites,
At the damned exhibits there.
Do your duty
For Saint George:
Guard your Queen
And stately homes!
Flush the loonies
From their dens!
Scan the borders
For their friends!
Cosh them!
Lash them!
Tan their hides!
Give these feckless sods
Their due!
Help us
Crack and break
Their will!
We must cleanse the land
Of dregs - like a garden
Purged of weeds -
Make it fit for Arthur's race;
With the Great and Good, once more,
Holding firm
the reins of state.
Let the Good Folks from the shires
(Bred of native Christian stock)
Help us
Round their parents up,
With their teachers,
And their vicars -
All the fools
Who plead their cause!
Rednecks, blackguards, freaks,
Deformed: Fit (alas!)
For Botany Bay!

Letter from Loverston

Solomon Odeleye

Last night
They burnt down
Happy's place.

Last month
It was Joy's Palace.

Hope Street
They say
Will follow soon.

After the fire
They moved us
Into Heartbreak Hotel.

The drought
Is spreading
Unrelieved.

That is how
We live
In Loverston.

The wrong train

Terry Lloyd-Jacob

As the train came to rest,
I stared out at the platform,
But recognised nothing
In the thickening gloom.

Then the resting train
Shuddered into motion
And drew gently away
From the lights of the station.

Through the breath-misted window,
Darkness and drizzle
Became like a curtain,
Obscuring my view.

As I peered at the glass,
The carriage light above me,
All I could see was
My own blurred reflection.

The train chuntered on
And on and on,
No more stations, just blackness,
Destination unknown.

Your voice

Terry Lloyd-Jacob

Your voice is like
Melting chocolate, dripping from a spoon,
Like an engine purring in a vintage car,
Like cream being licked from a succulent strawberry,
Like the wings of a swan, swooping in to land,
Like a male voice choir lamenting,
Like wave after wave, lapping on shingle,
Like long grass rustling in a summer's breeze,
Like laughter in a cathedral,
Like a boulder rolling downhill.
Your voice is like the lullaby
Which caresses and soothes me,
Carrying me gently, softly into sleep.

The piano accordionist

Sunethra Goonewardene

Every note is spaced just right
Like the Ivory and the Ebony
That drips from her neck.
Her rhythm is just accurate
Like the tick tock tick tock
Of her starry gold watch.

I cannot reach it, so high, such a climb.
When I did, she pushed me
Right down to the depths of my glory,
No gold in my mum's brown eyes
Filled with bright happy tears,
No silver to hold up to my family
The cup filled with bubbling beer.

She had it, she always did
For she was the judge and jury all rolled
into one.

On Hungerford Bridge

Sunethra Goonewardene

The train on concrete cranked and rattled
Above the buzz and din of the cars
and the snorting barges just under our feet.
Voices! voices! all around.

Hello! he said to the bagpipe man.
Why do you come here to play?
I'm healing the water! was the reply.
It is sick and dirty down there.

Emma! I thought of Emma,
how she sings, coos and warbles
sitting on a hard wooden chair
solid as the concrete it stands on,
her voice so vibrant,
the cooing of her bagpipe song.

• Note: The Poetry Library, which is in the Royal Festival Hall, has a number of special facilities of interest to visually impaired people, including an extensive range of poetry on cassette, record and video. For full details, see ‘Leisure Notes’, June ‘New Beacon’, or phone the Library on 0171 921 0943/0064.

BCA chess championships: The contenders - 2

The second of two articles by Ivor Wagner focusing on the BCJ main contenders for the 1995 British Chess Championship for visually handicapped chess players, which was held from August 12 to 19 at the Grange Park Hotel in Willerby, near Hull. The first article, in the July/ August issue, looked at defending champion Paul Benson. This article considers the main challenger, Graham Lilley.

At the time of writing, the Championship Tournament is barely a fortnight away. The blind chess world has now fallen silent and waits...

Ten years ago at the 1985 BCA Championship, Graham Lilley achieved one of the most important goals he had set himself by winning the title of British Champion of Visually Handicapped Chess Players, an achievement which had eluded him on many previous occasions. That milestone in Lilley's chess career introduced a phase of dazzling performances by Lilley, unprecedented in British blind chess history.

In the years following his great victory, Lilley placed his indelible stamp on national and international chess at tournaments for both visually handicapped and sighted chess player's, achieving one success after another with breathtaking regularity. His first major test came in 1987, when he was obliged to defend his title, which he accomplished with skilful ispatch. At the 1989 Championship, Lilley successfully resisted a serious challenge, and did so yet again in 1991.

In the meanwhile, Lilley had played in a total of five Olympiads, playing top board for Britain in 1988 and 1992. In addition, he played seven times on top board for the UK in the Six Nations Tournament, winning the trophy for the best score by any player in 1987, and captained the British Team which had its first ever Six Nations victory in 1989.

In 1986 and also 1990, Lilley played in the World Individual Championships, and it was in this latter year, at peak performance, that he had a run of 35 consecutive games in a series of major tournaments without conceding a single point - including checkmating Krylov, the world's blind chess champion.

While Lilley's rise within the blind chess world assumed meteoric proportions, his impact on the sighted chess circuits in the mean time was of equal, if not greater, significance. Apart from securing various joint first and second prizes at national tournaments in earlier years - such as the Blackpool Major in 1980, the Liverpool Open in 1983 and the Warrington Open in 1989 - Lilley chalked up a most incredible victory over British Grandmaster Tony Miles at the Goodyear Tournament in Wolverhampton in 1991. He subsequently won the Grand Prix for the best blind player in a calendar year of all the tournament circuits, and in June 1993 he was awarded an ELO rating of 2180 (which is an international grade of just below Master class).

When one reads Lilley's CV, one cannot but help re-reading it again and again to take it all in. It all started when Graham's father came home one night and told seven-year-old Graham that he was going to teach him a game called chess, which he had just learnt from one of his workmates. "I loved the game immediately I saw it", says Lilley. At the age of 12, he won his first tournament - for the under 13s section at his local secondary school.

At 15 Lilley was registered partially sighted and went to the Assessment Centre at Queen Alexandra College, Harborne, after which he became a pupil at Henshaw's School for the Blind in Manchester. At about the same time he joined a sighted chess club at Knotty Ash, about nine miles from his home in St Helens (where he still lives).

Knotty Ash gave him the opportunity to develop his chess considerably, and in 1971, at the age of 17, Lilley joined the BCA, as a result of a circular which was sent to all schools for the blind. "It was the best thing I ever did", says Lilley, "and it was then that my chess career started very seriously". Lilley had by this time lost all his sight.

"My first real big tournament was the BCA AGM Congress in 1974, where my results were very encouraging. I managed to get fourth place at the BCA Championship in 1975, so I was selected as a reserve player for the Olympiad Team in 1976. It was that Olympiad experience which made me realise how much I had yet to learn."

There is too much to tell, and it would do no justice to Lilley to make an attempt to cram it all into such limited space. Yet there is an aspect of Lilley's life which cannot be ignored, and which makes his achievements all the more remarkable.

Lilley was born with certain physical deformities, and at the age of 17 he was diagnosed as suffering from Laurence-Moon-Biedl-Bardet Syndrome, a condition which is very rare. It affects all parts of the body and grows progressively worse over the years. The deformity to his hands was surgically corrected at an early age, but resulted in a permanent weakness in both hands. He has mobility problems, and has also developed a speech impediment over the years which has become severe enough to cause communication problems.

So, when Lilley received his ELO rating in 1993 he had attained a position which appeared to be unassailable, towering head and shoulders above his nearest rivals. He seemed unstoppable - until, that is, Paul Benson brought the entire dream to an abrupt halt by prising the title out of Lilley at the BCA Championship in August that year.

At the age of 41, Lilley approached the 1995 tournament with a determination to regain the title - while Benson was set on proving that his victory in 1993 was no fluke and putting his own position beyond doubt.

At the time of writing, the contest promises to be one of the greatest yet, the outcome of which even the most highly respected experts would not dare to predict.

The subject of the next report will be the championship itself.

Leisure Notes & News

Information on music

A revised edition of the resource document ‘Information on music for people with partial sight’ has been published by the National Music and Disability Information Service.

The document includes comprehensive information of interest to people with partial sight or anyone involved with providing services to visually impaired people in education, social, health or voluntary services.

• ‘Information on music for people with partial sight’ is available from the National Music and Disability Information Service, Foxhole, Dartington, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EB – price £3.60 non-members, £3 members, including p&p.

Chester Zoo

The zoo has launched a new service for people who are visually impaired.

Visitors will be offered a pack consisting of a tape with a guided tour, backed up by a folder of braille-labelled raised animal outlines. A tactile map is also included. You are invited to bring a Walkman-type tape player with you.

• The Zoo is at Upton, Chester, CH2 1LH - telephone 01244 380280 for recorded information.

Review: Venturers Drama Group in ‘Hobson's Choice’

by Hanscomb Whitton

'Hobson's Choice' might be thought of as a hackneyed northern comedy, but not as presented by the Venturers at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre in London on three nights in July, with a talented cast under the direction of Angela Touhig. Her name was writ large over the production, with her usual attention to pace, and with tension (of which there is plenty, noisy and subdued) both not far from palpable. Attractive and appropriate costumes, and costume changes, made a big contribution.

John Sheen, as Willie Mossop, was physically made for the part and brought his skills and experience to depicting the downtrodden employee transformed by Maggie Hobson (convincingly played by Val Slade) to a confident master bootmaker. The girl he jilted for Maggie, Ada Higgins, was played by Jane O'Connell, who made an exceptional impact in a tiny part. I suspect that Voldi Gailans was not as happy as Henry Hobson as in his many other leading parts, but he realistically depicted the many varied emotions as he fell as far and as surely as Mossop rose.

The versatile Sue Temnuik made a big impression in the very small part of Mrs Hepworth, and another versatile actor, Ken England, made what could be made of Jim Heeler, a very stolid philosopher-type. Lynne Goddard, beguiling as ever, was Alice, one of Maggie's sisters. Doreen Tyler, making her first appearance in a scripted production, was her positive self as the other sister, Vicky. Her confident movements were typical of the cast as a whole.

Robert Powell, also making his debut with the Venturers, was impressive as Albert Prosser, the solicitor, and Andrew Hodgson rather less so as Fred Beenstock, but the part gives very little scope. Two smallish but important parts were well done by Steve Eastwick-Field, an old trooper, as Timothy Wadlow, a Hobson employee, and Richard Stancombe, another Venturers debutant and another young one, as Dr MacFarlane, a role that might have seemed unsuitable but certainly was not. It will be interesting to follow his progress.

The lines were well learnt (important in a play running for two and a quarter hours' stage time) and they were almost unfailingly well delivered.

If there is a significant criticism it is that the Lancashire accents were not always well sustained. It would not be totally unfair to say that the most consistent accent was that of a native Yorkshireman in the cast!

Well done, everyone involved! Let's have another Angela Touhig production soon.

Obituary

Bill Pennington

1942-1994

Steve Willis writes:

The sudden death of Bill Pennington, on 13 December 1994, came as a grievous blow to his colleagues in Manchester's library service, to users of our services to visually impaired people and to the many workers in VIP services throughout the country who had come into contact with him during the past eight and a half years. Bill died nine days before his 52nd birthday and only six months after being promoted to the new post of Advisor: Library Services to Disabled People.

Bill was born in 1942, and his first job after leaving school was in a butcher's shop in his home town of Ashton-under-Lyne. After five years he became a driver with the local corporation bus service, and four years later he was appointed service manager with a Liverpool-based insulation company. In 1979, he achieved his ambition of owning his own business when he took over a news agency in Didsbury. Tragically, he lost his sight as a result of diabetes a year later, at the age of 38, and had to sell the shop.

Manchester had established its pioneering VIP Service in 1983, with the acquisition of two Kurzweil Reading Machines. When Bill joined us in 1986 as a VIP Worker, his qualifications were perfect: a degree from the 'University of Life', personal experience of overcoming disability and total commitment to making library and Information Services accessible to visually impaired people. He was based in the VIP Unit at Wythenshawe, our largest district library, and made his mark from the outset with his practical, no-nonsense approach. He built up a service there which was used by people of all ages and which was tailored to individual needs, offering training in the use of specialist equipment, tuition in braille, information, advice, or simply a chat over a cup of tea. (Bill always claimed that the most important piece of equipment in the VIP Unit was the kettle).

Although primarily responsible for services at Wythenshawe, Bill was always aware that he was part of a citywide team, and over the next eight years he made an immeasurable contribution to the development of VIP Services in Manchester. He was a keen advocate of the audio cassette as an effective medium of communication for visually impaired people, and developed a system for the distribution of information tapes throughout the city's libraries. In 1989, he was instrumental in launching ‘Library Sounds’, a bimonthly cassette magazine which now has a circulation of over 500, and was heavily involved in the establishment of a postal loan service for audio books in 1994. Bill was determined that visually impaired library users should not have to rely solely on a small team of specialist VIP workers, and he developed a blind awareness training package for mainstream library staff which has become part of our basic induction course for new employees. At the time of his death, he was organising a series of refresher courses for experienced staff, in order to keep them abreast of the latest developments in a rapidly changing field.

Bill was an indefatigable promoter of VIP Services and gave dozens of talks to community groups, schools, health workers and social services staff. He was frequently asked to talk to staff of other local authorities who were considering setting up a VIP service, especially after he had given a paper at the first Ulverscroft Study Conference at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, in 1990. He also spoke at the LA/RNIB seminar 'Libraries are for everyone' in 1993. He represented Manchester on the North of England KRM Users Group on many occasions; and chaired the Group's most recent meeting in October 1994. It came as no surprise to his colleagues when Bill was appointed Advisor in May 1994. Bill relished the challenge of this new post, with its dual role of managing VIPs Services and developing services to people with other disabilities. He was tackling it with typical enthusiasm when he was struck down by a recurrence of the heart ailment which he first suffered in 1986, not long after joining the library service, but which, like his blindness, he had not allowed to defeat him.

In his spare time Bill worked tirelessly for Tameside Blind Association since 1981, becoming its first blind chairman in 1992, and was a member of the Speakers Panel of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. He was a keen gardener and enjoyed following all sports, especially cricket. One of his proudest moment was interviewing the late commentator, Brian Johnston, for ‘Library Sounds’ at the Old Trafford Test Match in 1993.

It is probably true to say that Bill was personally known to more colleagues than any other member of Manchester's library staff, because virtually everyone had undergone, and enjoyed, one of his training sessions and because he and his guide dog (first Bess and latterly Della) were a familiar sight at libraries throughout the city. The numbers who attended his funeral bore witness to the affection of his colleagues, and the numerous telephone calls which have been made to the Central VIP Unit since his death are evidence of the esteem in which Bill was held by library users, the staff of other library services and members of disabled people's organisations. The greatest loss, though, will be felt by Margaret, his wife of 34 years, and their children and grandchildren.

Towards the end of January, a lady rang the VIP Unit to express her condolences. She explained that she had only known Bill since October, but that he had helped her to come to terms with losing her sight late in life and had been teaching her braille so that she could continue with her Open University course. She asked whether VIP Services will continue without him; the answer was that of course they will, but they will never be quite the same.

Steve Willis is Group Manager Humanities at Manchester Central Library.

• Note: As well as his work with Manchester Library's VIP Unit, Bill Pennington put a lot of time and effort into supporting and developing services to blind people through his work with Tameside Blind Association, becoming its first blind Chairman. Because of his interest in sport, Tameside Blind Association have arranged a charity football match to honour his memory, and the teams will play for the William Pennington Memorial Trophy, which will be an annual event.

Content author: ann.lee@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/10/2008 15:51