Talking News

Developed for the Cotswold Listener charity to deliver 'talking newspapers' to blind or partially sighted users in the Cheltenham and north Cotswolds (Gloucestershire, England) region. Similar talking newspaper organisations will be providing additional content for other regions.

Each downloaded news/magazine article is accompanied by a large text headline for the partially sighted, plus a spoken headline for the blind user. The user can select to listen to the full story, or move onto another story. All articles are saved, so the user is not restricted to the need for a network connection. Articles older than 30 days are automatically deleted. Stories can be paused, resumed at any time, and listened to in a continuous loop.

To support use by totally blind users, the app utilises the accelerometer to allow the user to navigate through articles by tilting their device left to right and up and down. Partially sighted users are supported by very large text and the ability to select from a range of text/background colour contrasts. The app can also be navigated by touch/gesture alone if preferred.