Here's news of a new audio web site for the blind.  It aids the blind
computer user in taking advantage of the growing number of listening
opportunities on the World Wide Web.  I will be forwarding on the site's
tips for beginners.

kelly



From: Jonathan Mosen <[log in to unmask]>


Newsletter

30 June 1999
In this Issue
1 HearToday.com launches on 1 July, take a sneak preview now.
2 What happened to the original plans for hearTOday.com?
3 Download with ease in the hearToday.com Software Centre.
4 HearToday.com EasyNews makes listening to the news as easy as tuning your
radio.
5 Show the world your talent with hearToday.com Showcase.

1 HearToday.com launches on 1 July, take a sneak preview now.

Audio on the PC is fascinating. Sitting in front of your PC, you have access
to a world of radio stations, MP3 files, and your humble PC can even be a
production studio that sounds like you have thousands of dollars of
expensive equipment. But there's a problem when you're blind. Only through
trial and error can you know which software follows Windows conventions and
is therefore accessible. In many cases, manuals for PC-based audio products
focus on mouse-based means of doing things, even when keyboard access is
available. And who takes into account the fact that software speech
synthesisers can conflict with other audio software? To cap it all off, most
multimedia authors also like their web pages to be visually pleasing, and
these can also sometimes pose access challenges.

Now there's a resource designed specifically for blind people who want to
make the most out of audio on their PC. HearToday.com, the Accessible Audio
Authority, is the place to turn for downloads, advice, and accessible
gateways to audio resources on the Web. Listening to audio on the PC just
got a whole lot easier! Although the site is officially announced on 1 July,
you can take a look at it right now by visiting http://www.heartoday.com.

2 What happened to the original plans for hearTOday.com?

As those of you with us from the beginning will know, the hearToday.com
domain was originally registered as the home for a Shoutcast radio station
on the Web run entirely by blind people. The idea behind this was that the
bandwidth required to run such an enterprise is often expensive. By blind
people pooling their resources, we could all use a common server at
different times, and put out a good radio product. Sponsorship for this
project proved remarkably illusive. And then, a new service came along that
made HearToday.com somewhat redundant. Live365.com now offers anyone a
Shoutcast server and enough bandwidth to serve 100 simultaneous users
absolutely free. If interested, visit http://www.live365.com.

We know of two Shoutcast radio stations being run by blind people. The first
is Wolf FM at http://www.wolffm.com. The second is MBSFM at
http://www.mbsfm.com. MBSFM is also looking for DJs, so if you fancy
broadcasting to the world for an hour or two a week, give this site a visit.


3 Download with ease in the hearToday.com Software Centre.

Tired of poking around impossible web sites to get the audio download you
want? Visit http://www.heartoday.com and take a look at the Software Centre.
We have provided direct links to many files, and the numbers will grow
steadily. Where a file is just too difficult to get from its own server,
we've stored it on ours for easy downloading.

4 HearToday.com EasyNews makes listening to the news as easy as tuning your
radio.

Want to find out what's happening around the world from the perspective of
some of the world's leading news authorities? Then visit
http://www.heartoday.com and enter the EasyNews section. With just one press
of the ENTER key, you can listen to the latest bulletins from NPR, the BBC
World Service, the Associated Press and more. And if you don't wont to hear
a particular bulletin, just press the page-down key in your Realplayer. It's
as easy as turning the dial. Watch for other easy audio services to come in
the near future.

5 Show the world your talent with hearToday.com Showcase.

There are blind people doing some great things with audio production and
MIDI. Now, you can show off your masterpiece to the world thanks to Showcase
at http://www.heartoday.com. You can upload as many of your compositions or
examples of audio production as you want. To find out how to get them to us,
e-mail [log in to unmask]

We are always interested in your feedback on HearToday.com. Please e-mail us
at [log in to unmask] with any suggestions and comments.

Jonathan Mosen


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