CRIS Radio App Provides Audio Streaming of Newspapers and Magazines

Author: Ian C. Langtree - View Credentials
Published: 3 Oct 2014 - Updated: 6 Nov 2023
Publication Type: Announcement / Notification

Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Overview - Related Content

Synopsis

New free Android smartphone app provides a method for blind, or those with print disabilities, to access narrated versions of newspapers and magazines.

Overview

CRIS (Connecticut Radio Information System, Inc.) has announced the release of an Android smartphone app that makes it easy for people who are blind, and those with other print disabilities to access human narrated versions of newspapers and magazines from Android smartphones.

The mobile application called "CRIS Radio" was developed for CRIS by Apps4Android, the world's largest developer of Android accessibility applications.

The fully-accessible app is being provided at no-cost-to-users and is available for downloading from Google Play.

• Live streaming broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• User-driven bookmark reminders notifying listeners five minutes before their favorite program(s) are broadcast.
• Program guide (updated daily) to all audio broadcasts of human-narrated articles from nearly 50 newspapers and magazines.

According to Diane Weaver Dunne, executive director of CRIS;

"Making CRIS broadcasts easily available on smartphones with the new CRIS Radio app provides our listeners with the same access to newspapers and magazines as their friends, family, and colleagues enjoy. Apps4Android has made access to print information easier."

Steve Jacobs, CEO of Apps4Android, stated;

"It's great being able to partner with the likes of CRIS Radio to deliver high-quality human narrated audio programming to individuals who are blind, worldwide."

Author Credentials: Ian C. Langtree is a writer, editor, and the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, which he established in 2004 as one of the longest-running independent resources for disability news and information. Over more than two decades, he has written and edited thousands of articles on disability rights, health, accessibility, and assistive technology. Drawing on a global perspective shaped by extensive travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed advocate of the Social Model of Disability, the framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that focuses on removing societal barriers rather than on individual impairments. His writing is grounded in that framework and in a lasting commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.