Everyone has the right to read....

To support Right to Read Week last year, the Scottish Braille Press launched two new Braille books in the new Thistle series .

 

The first title, I’m Not Scared is available in three volumes price £6.99. The second title, Highest Tide is available in four volumes price £7.99.

 

According to the Right to Read Campaign, over three million people in the UK are denied the right to read just because they have a sight problem or print reading disability.  Even more concerning is the fact that a shocking 96% of books are not available in large print, audio or Braille. 

 

At the Scottish Braille Press a publicationcan be tailored to suit an individual and the press fully supports the move of the Right to Read Alliance to ensure that everyone is able to read the same book, at the same time and at the same price.

 

Right to Read Week aims to raise awareness that people are being denied the right to read just because they have a sight problem or print reading disability.  For example in the UK there are approximately 20,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 with a visual impairment severe enough to require specialist educational support (figures taken from Campaign report ‘Where’s my Book?’ based on research by Loughborough University’s Library and Information Statistics Unit and RNIB). 

 

However, blind and partially sighted pupils are still not receiving educational materials in the format they require when they need them.  The current system of providing accessible textbooks is simply not working. It lacks any national coherence or co-ordination, and is far from cost-effective. In an age of digital technology dedicated staff are often reduced to cutting, pasting and photocopying textbooks page by page to get them to their pupils in time.  Therefore, the Scottish Braille Press, working with other partners in Scotland has produced a proposal for a national educational transcription service that will ensure that the needs of these children are met.  This proposal is currently sitting with the Scottish Executive, awaiting a decision.
 
‘I’m proud to work for one of the UK’s leading providers of information that is produced in alternative formats,’ said John Donaldson, Scottish Braille Press, ‘but from the figures recently printed by the Right to Read Alliance there is still a lot to be done to ensure the rights of individuals to choose what they want to read and how they want to read it.  Our children are especially important and unfortunately one size does not fit all, so I will work closely with partners to hopefully ensure a better future for the blind and visually impaired.’