Focus on Airs
From the collection of
The Sheffy Boys
- Sheffield
- 1993
Focus on Airs
A glimpse into the fascinating, vanished world of a local audio news service on hand-delivered cassette tapes.
Several local councils in Britain offered an Access to Information and Reading Service until as late as 2012. These AIRS organisations would make local news available through audio recordings which were delivered to people with hearing impairments, then collected to be re-used and recorded over with fresh content daily. Text-to-speech technology on computers and smartphones has made this service largely redundant, but the details of how the process worked are still interesting historically to a 21st century viewer.
A video about the Access to Reading Services (AIRS) run by Gateshead Borough Council, which provide access to reading material for the visually impaired as well as producing a daily talking newspaper, the only one in Britain.
Tags
Inclusive, Introspective, Inspiring.
Brave voices from historically marginalised groups share inspiring and uplifting stories of hope.
In the late 20th Century, people with a physical or a sensory impairment faced daily battles against a society geared to the needs of the able-bodied mainstream. Here we see authentic stories of affected individuals and institutions creating imaginative solutions, paving the way for a socially-inclusive model of disability which would benefit generations to come.
10 videos in this collection
1
The Sheffy Boys
2
Reality Sandwich
3
Central Taxis
4
Focus on Airs
5
Milan
6
The Visual Quiz
7
A Sporting Chance
8
Grasping the Future
9
Operation Easy Diner
10