Hi Kelvin,

BARD is an acronym which stands for Braille and Audio Reading Downoad.  It 
is the digital download portion of the Library of Congress program that 
makes all sorts of reading materials available to those who are blind in the 
U.S.  They're also available by mail but of course those of us who are 
comfortable with computers, (and that includes everyone on this list,) would 
much rather download them.  I believe your RNIB does something similar.

And yes, they do make QST available, although it's usually a couple months 
old by the time we get it.  Nevertheless, it's nice to have it at all.

You might want to explore the program's web site:

www.loc.gov/nls

The NLS stands for National Library Service.

Hope this helps and please let me know if I can help further.
Lou Kolb
Voice-over Artist:
Radio/TV Ads, Video narrations
Messages On-hold:
www.loukolb.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kelvin Marsh" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: Off Topic: Learning ally closing studios


> Hi Lou,
>
> What or who is Bard?  Does QST get recorded?  I'd like to put references 
> to
> any and every other amateur publication on the Active Elements site, so
> everyone can easily find out where to get recordings.
>
> I find I'm very happy reading a lot of things using Text to Speech, but I
> still prefer amateur magazines and general fiction to be read by a human! 
> I
> like to have pictures and diagrams at least mentioned, and I'm less tied 
> to
> the PC when I put audio on a portable player.
>
> This isn't true for all magazines, as I prefer New Scientist as an
> unabridged and fully indexed text file.
>
> Best wishes, Kelvin Marsh - M0AID
>
> Working to improve accessibility for radio amateurs with disabilities
>
> www.active-elements.org
>
> For accessibility evaluations of amateur equipment and MP3 manuals
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Lou Kolb
> Sent: 18 January 2013 15:48
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Off Topic: Learning ally closing studios
>
> Probably right, Andy.  I recall reading the A B C's of ham radio from
> recording for the blind on flexible disks back in the 60's.  Of course, I
> read QST these days from Bard and that is still my prefered source of
> reading material, despite the time it takes to become available.  About 10
> years ago, when bookshare first came online and before Bard existed, I 
> went
> through a 3-year period where I read nothing but Bookshare material on one
> of the original book ports. While I sorely missed the human voices, i have
> to say I found the immediacy of what was available and being able to read
> what I wanted, when I wanted to be seductive.  I'd love to see the digital
> edition of QsT as available to us as to the sighted world.  Barb,  could 
> you
>
> check with Betsy and find out if any progress has been made on that front?
> 73,  Lou WA3MIX
> Lou Kolb
> Voice-over Artist:
> Radio/TV Ads, Video narrations
> Messages On-hold:
> www.loukolb.com
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Andy Baracco" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 8:24 AM
> Subject: Re: Off Topic: Learning ally closing studios
>
>
>>I recall when they were Recording for the Blind. Their reel to reel tapes
>> helped get me through college. I think this is a harbinger of a trend, 
>> now
>> that content is becoming available in other formats. I think you will see
>> a
>> similar decline with NLS and even Bookshare.
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message----- 
>> From: Lou Kolb
>> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 4:05 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Off Topic: Learning ally closing studios
>>
>> Sad news from learning Ally.  They've closed 8 of their studios, 
>> including
>> the one in King of Prussia, outside Philly, leaving 10 or 11 still
>> operating.  I know many here use or have used their services so thought
>> you'd be interested. i hate to see us lose resources.
>> Lou Kolb
>> Voice-over Artist:
>> Radio/TV Ads, Video narrations
>> Messages On-hold:
>> www.loukolb.com
>
>
>
> -----
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