News

• IRIS goes digital: Reading and Information Service piggybacks on digital TV signal to deliver audio content without interference
• Blind youth test Braille reading and comprehension skills
• Iowa Braille Challenge participants' favorite tech gear
• 2011 Legislative Breakfast

IRIS goes Digital

Reading and Information Service piggybacks on digital TV signal to deliver audio content without interference

Early this winter the Iowa Radio Reading Information Service (IRIS) began to roll out new digital receivers that dramatically improve access and the quality of its signal. IRIS provides free newspaper and periodical content throughout the state using specialized receivers for print-impaired Iowans.

Until now, IRIS listeners would hear the service’s programming from a pre-tuned receiver that picks up an FM signal for a local radio station. For instance, a listener in Cedar Rapids can receive the IRIS signal from KSUI-FM and a listener in Des Moines can hear IRIS off the WOI-FM signal. But for someone who lives in an area of Iowa that does not receive any radio signals, such as the northeast or southeast corners, IRIS has been unavailable.

The digital signal, transmitted from Iowa Public Television’s channel, will reach everyone in the state, says IRIS Executive Director Maryfrances Evans. “The signal will not be as vulnerable to obstacles, like distance and weather,” she said. “With digital you either have it or you don’t. There’s no static or noise. When it’s there it’s clear as a bell.”

IRIS received its first shipment of 45 receivers from a manufacturer in Colorado. They are being tested in areas of the state previously unserved because of geography or other obstacles.

Thousands of Iowans listen to IRIS now, and Evans said she is very excited about giving even more Iowans access to this resource. “We’re really excited about the potential of doubling and perhaps tripling the number of people we serve,” she said. “These receivers are keeping more people connected.”

Long-time listener Deb Caldbeck spoke during a press conference in February at IPTV, telling reporters she was “grateful” for the digitization of the signal, as she lives in an area where the analog reception is poor.

Field staff from the Iowa Department for the Blind will travel the state with Evans to help get the new receivers out to blind and visually impaired Iowans who want them.

IRIS, a nonprofit funded by donors, will be doing more fundraising to purchase additional receivers, which cost more than $100 each.

IRIS is also planning programming changes, including a cooking/recipe show, a fitness show, a reading of mail-order catalogs and a few programs geared towards men’s issues. Program schedule changes will be announced on the air and posted on IRIS’s website: www.iowaradioreading.org

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Blind youth test reading and comprehension skills

Sixteen students from across Iowa came to Des Moines Feb. 12 to test their Braille skills and vie for a spot in the National Braille Challenge this summer in Los Angeles.

The annual Challenge, a regional contest sponsored by the Iowa Department for the Blind and the Iowa Braille School, proved to be a lively and informative day where kids could feel good about Braille literacy and be among peers, and where their parents could gather information on educational resources and technology.

The Challenge began at 10 a.m. at Callanan Middle School with a pep rally and a message from IDB Director Karen Keninger, applauding students’ efforts and ability to utilize Braille.

Students were separated into four groups based on their grade level: apprentice (grades 1-2), freshman (grades 3-4), sophomore (grades 5-6), and junior varsity (grades 7-9). Each of the groups were put into separate rooms and, over the course of three hours and 15 minutes, students were tested on Braille speed and accuracy, reading speed and comprehension, Braille spelling, proofreading and chart and graph reading.

First place prizes went to apprentice participant Sillet Yae, freshman participant Sawyer Deevers, sophomore participant Lauren Thomson and junior-varsity participant Annabelle Costanzo.

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Braille Challenge participants weigh in on their favorite pieces of technology

Taylor James, 11
Turin, Iowa
“A toss-up between the BrailleNote, Digital Book Player and the Book Pro Plus. You can listen to stories on them.”

Nautica Whitehead, 14
Des Moines
BrailleNote Apex, which has applications that are “useful for school.”

Annabelle Costanzo, 14
Polk City
BrailleNote or her computer: “I can do a lot of stuff on a BrailleNote, like go online and Facebook and stuff.”
Computer: “I like it because I can write programs on it.”

Tyler Juransek, 14
Council Bluffs
Computer: “Because you can mess with different programs and stuff.”

Emily Boehm, 11
Des Moines
BrailleNote: “It’s like a computer and it’s easy to use.”

—Kelsey Anderson

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IDB visits with state leaders during annual open house

During the 2011 Legislative Open House at the State Capitol, representatives from the Iowa Department for the Blind visited with state legislators and aides to provide information about IDB services and make personal contact with leaders.

The annual open house, which invites legislators to have a bite to eat for breakfast and meet key IDB staff and Orientation Center students, was a great success. This year’s theme was “A Sure-fire Return on Investment,” which illustrated the many ways that IDB services give back to the state.

A handout detailed the nuts and bolts of the theme:

For every state dollar appropriated to the Iowa Department for the Blind, the federal government provides another $4 in matching funds.

Rehabilitating blind and visually impaired Iowans pays:

• A blind person who receives $1,004 monthly in Social Security Disability Insurance at the age of 25 will receive more than $480,000 by age 65.
• An employed blind person earning $16.22 an hour will pay over $250,000 in state and federal taxes throughout her working life.
• The earnings of a blind Iowan, employed following training and services from the Iowa Department for the Blind, can result in over $730,000 return on investment to taxpayers.

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