IT began as a way of allowing those who were visually and reading impaired to access talking newspapers and also to feel connected to the communities around them.

Once recorded on a weekly cassette tape in 1983, the Talking Newspapers project has kept up with the times and after securing funding has been able to launch their Alexa Skill app.

When the pandemic struck it meant they were no longer able to record from their Bishopbriggs Media Centre, but had a team of volunteers at the project, run by charity Cue and Review Recording Service, who gave up their time to read and record newspaper content including from the pages of The Herald and Herald on Sunday and our sister titles the Glasgow Times and The National.

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Now 14 months on from what was a pivotal moment for the charity, they are proud to be able to launch the Alexa Skill Talking Newspaper.

Through £50,485 from the Scottish Government’s Community Recovery Fund through the National Lottery Community Fund it has allowed them to work on the project from the beginning of this year, with the British Wireless for the Blind Fund (BWBF).

They had originally planned to have their three daily audio newspapers and weekly magazine available on Alexa. Now through an extension of the funding they can pull all 29 Scottish talking newspaper titles available on the current BWBF Talking Newspaper phone app onto Alexa.

And with the charity’s close links with the Erskine Veterans Charity, they have donated 50 Alexa Gen 4 devices. The globes will be accompanied by a tutorial video and audio instructions for the residents to be able to test out the Talking Newspaper skill. They hope that the veterans’ feedback will enable further tweaks to be made as they rollout the skill to visually impaired people across Scotland and the UK.

Alastair McPhee, who founded Cue and Review in 1982, said: “Talking newspapers for the blind are highly dependent on volunteer readers. In this our 39th year I personally wish to applaud the commitment of those volunteers who, over the last twelve months, have learned how to record and upload articles from home - a whole new skill for many of them.

“I especially appreciate those colleagues who have been tech support for the team, advising on how to improve the recording environment while also demonstrating remotely how to use recording software. The additional readers recruited during Lockdown have not only meant our core team can take the occasional break but also that they can expand the articles read from the Herald and Times group.”

Working with the British Wireless for the Blind Fund in recent years has meant that visually impaired people can not only access the service via the internet radio boxes provided by BWBF. They can also access the service on their computer, the phone app, and now Alexa.

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Mr McPhee said they are always keen to hear from anyone who could become a volunteer.

He added: “Volunteer readers need to have clear reading voices but there are many ways in which you can work with our team from your home as well as our base in Bishopbriggs. With 44,000 blind people in the West of Scotland alone, taking posters to your local health centre, talking to a local group or helping promote us in your local shops are all great ways to increase awareness of our talking newspaper service.”

Cue and Review chair Amy Ogungbemi said she was proud they were able to secure the grant.

She said: “This enabled four charities to benefit by increasing awareness and access to talking newspapers, as members of the Talking Newspaper Federation and long-term supporters of the digital projects developed by BWBF. With past readers being supporters of Erskine we are excited to know that not only Cue and Review titles but the wider Scottish Talking Newspapers network will be heard on Alexa by the veterans at Erskine before being further rolled out.”

Donald Martin, editor-in-chief of Newsquest Scotland, said: “We are delighted to support the outstanding work at Cue and Review and applaud this valuable new initiative. It will help modernise the service and more importantly allow more people easy access it.”

Margaret Grainger of BWBF said the new Alexa skill is going to be a huge benefit to all Cue and Review listeners and to those people in the Erskine Care homes in the initial stage.

Gordon Stevenson, of Erskine Veterans Charity, said they have four care facilities across Scotland and would like to put Alexa speakers in every communal area of the homes initially.

Mr Stevenson added: “We would like to provide every single Veteran with their own Alexa to listen to Erskine Veterans Radio station at will, and use it for other purposes also including talking newspapers, to keep them connected and informed. Our residents, and particularly those with dementia, will benefit greatly from regressive music therapy, amongst a whole raft of other benefits. In the very short term, this also provides an engaging link between Veterans and families during the continued Covid restrictions via our radio show, launched in May. Alexa is more widely adopted than any other smart audio device, and from an accessibility aspect, wins hands down for ease of use and household penetration.”

Go to www.printtoaudio.org where you can add the live skill to your Alexa device.