BARD materials are also available to U.S. citizens outside of the U. S. 

73
Scott
N0HOK / ZL1CHM
Auckland New Zealand

Sent from my iPhone

On 19/01/2013, at 6:19 AM, Lou Kolb <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 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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>