Access For Sight Impaired ConsumersAccess For Sight Impaired ConsumersWe have created this page to serve as a forum to communicate the availability of alternate format materials (i.e. billing statements) now available from companies that have responded positively to our requests. We will also use this page to advise visitors of other initiatives or general items of interest with respect to the availibility of, or sources for, the production of alternate format materials.
On January 13 2010, CNIB officially launched its national initiative to garner public support and awareness for its "Right to Read" campaign. For several years prior to this launch, several discussions and requests had been made to the Federal Government to recognize that providing library services to 800,000 Canadians with print disabilities is a government responsibility - one that should be shared between the two senior levels of government and not left to a not-for-profit charity to fulfill.
With a formal request and proposal before the Federal Government, CNIB staff and volunteers set out to solicit additional temporary support from each of the Provincial and Territorial Governments. Two years of bridge funding from each of the provinces and territories would enable the CNIB Library for the Blind to continue its operations, supplying digital and large-print books through local, municipal libraries to non-CNIB clients with print disabilities as well as ensuring its clients continued to receive direct library services.
The formation of a federally funded alternate format library service would ensure that all print-disabled Canadians would have the same right to access and read library materials as do all other Canadian citizens. It would also enable Canada to catch up with all other "G8" member countries which have already recognized their responsibilities by providing alternate format library materials to their print-disabled citizens.
For more than 90 years, CNIB has operated Canada’s largest library of Braille and accessible audio materials, funded entirely through donations. CNIB can no longer sustain the $10 million annual operating cost of the service without partnering with governments.
Additional information as to how you can support this "Right to Read" campaign by investing but a few minutes of your time can be found on the CNIB web site.
By getting the CDs back, the CNIB Library protects its copyright exception and its relations with publishers. They can Also ensure the CDs are disposed of in an environmentally appropriate manner.
We share the text of a letter, penned by former President & CEO Jim Sanders addressed to Library staff, announcing this signifacant change with the introduction of single use circulation of DAISY books.
To discover several sources of alternate format reading material, we invite you to visit our Resources link dedicated to alternate format books, magazines and newsletters.
While many others have successfully lobbied for alternate format statements from credit card companies, chartered banks and utility companies, Access for Sight-Impaired Consumers is pleased to have successfully lobbied BC Hydro & Power Authority, Terasen Gas Inc. and Shaw Communications to ensure their billing statements are available to their customers with print disabilities in various formats.
In June 2009, > BC Hydro introduced the option of Braille billing statements to compliment their existing large-print offering. This introduction rounded out a suite of alternate format options thereby giving BC Hydro customers the option of reviewing their statement on-line or receiving either large-print or Braille formats through the mail./p>
Shaw Cable was the first service provider to respond promptly and positively to ASIC's request to provide billing statements in alternate formats. In a Shaw Cable press release dated March 15 2005, they announced that they were the first cable company in Canada to make its monthly bills user-friendly for sight-impaired customers by offering large-print, Braille and on-line formats.
On June 16 2008, Terasen Gas Inc. introduced the availability of billing statements in a Braille format. Fifteen months later,< in September 2009, Terasen Gas announced a large-print statement option for residents of BC, thereby joining other utility providers by offering their statements in three, common, alternate formats.
There are many sources for arranging to have print material transcribed into Braille format or to have Braille directly embossed onto the printed item (i.e. business cards, restaurant tent cards, etc.). We invite you to visit our list of various transcription services.
After several years of providing an "auto-bill" transcription service for a variety of service providers and utility companies, the CNIB Library for the Blind elected to dedicate its limited resources and donor dollars toward the production, cataloguing, storage and distribution of library materials for clients with print disabilities. As a result, the well-established T-Base Communications acquired CNIB's auto-bill transcription service