´óÏó´«Ã½

If you've been glued to the hit ´óÏó´«Ã½ show Strictly Come Dancing in recent years, then here's some big news: wheelchair users will soon be getting the ballroom glamour and glitz treatment too.

Later this year, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three will be showing a six-part series with the working title of Dancing on Wheels, in which some top celebs join forces with wheelchair users who have never danced before, all of them competing for the top prize of a place representing the UK in the Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships, due to take place in Israel in October. They'll have only five weeks to master everything from the Cha Cha Cha to the Paso Doble.

The celebrities include some former Strictly competitors - M People singer Heather Small, medal-winning swimmer Mark Foster and rugby legend Martin Offiah. In addition, lead choreographer Brian Fortuna - a professional ballroom dancer who appeared in the last series of Strictly, and who has been teaching wheelchair dancing for the last eight years - will be putting the couples through their paces each week, as they take on a variety of exhausting dance disciplines.

The wheelchair users are: Simone, a 22 year-old Cambridge graduate; Diana, a 48 year-old magazine editor and mother; 27 year-old Carolyne, who enjoys nothing more than a night out; James, a cocky 31 year-old with some impressive acrobatic abilities; Paul, a 24 year-old festival-goer who is looking forward to Glastonbury this summer; and 23 year-old Harris, who recently got married to a girl he met whilst travelling in Thailand.

Wheelchair dancing is an extremely popular international sport, which is practised in 22 countries and with competitions and championships held across the world. In the series, the couples will be competing in the 'combi' event, where a standing able-bodied dancer partners a wheelchair user. If you want to get a taste of what it involves, check out we found on YouTube.

We'll bring you more details on the series as we get them, and keep a look-out for it on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three later in the year.

If you were listening to the programme on Radio 4 this morning, you may have heard disabled musical prodigy on the programme. Reporter Sanchia Berg met pianist Derek, who is blind and has autism, to get first-hand experience of his incredible talent for improvisation, which enables him to instantly reply any piece of music he hears. If you missed the item, don't worry, because you can still .

It's a busy time for Derek - he's off on a short tour with the Emerald Ensemble Chamber Orchestra, visiting Bristol, London and Gloucestershire. He'll be performing classical, blues and jazz standards as well as sensational improvisations based on audience requests. Full details of the dates are on his .

Plus, Derek will also be tinkling the ivories for Ouch at an event in Hampshire coming up in early July, so keep your eyes peeled for that. It's not the first time we've enlisted his piano-playing magic, of course - take a listen to our special Christmas edition of the Podcast, recorded in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Theatre in December 2007, where he provided festive music in his own inimitable style.

C´óÏó´«Ã½ has just launched its Accessible Newsreader service - an alternative interface to the website. It's been created to help fill the gap in good quality content available on the web for older disabled children or teenager who use computers operated by switches,

The C´óÏó´«Ã½ team behind the Newsreader worked closely with industry experts and special needs schools to produce a greatly simplified interface, which is capable of being controlled by a single switch.

Being able to do this kind of thing on a standard website using only a regular internet browser, rather than by downloading a dedicated piece of software, is an exciting development, according to Ian Hamilton, a senior designer in the C´óÏó´«Ã½ Online team. Hopefully, it's something that'll be carried across to other sites, too.

As well as complex motor disabilities the Accessible Newsreader caters for other needs too, with features such as full speech synthesis for the menus and stories, and fully configurable fonts and colour schemes. There have already been some interesting findings during C´óÏó´«Ã½'s teating, in particular with users on the autistic spectrum, who found the site especially usable due to its combination of a simple interface, simultaneous text and audio, and the content itself having a strong link to the real world.

This is the first phase of the project, with more functionality is due to be added in, so check out the site and give them your feedback..

• You can read much more about the Accessible Newsreader project and how it was developed in an entry by Jonathan Hassell, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Head of Audience Experience & Accessibility, on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Internet Blog.

Forget for a moment all those MPs' expenses claims that are making the headlines, because there's another financial scandal brewing, and at its centre is the heady mix of disability and top rating ITV1 talent show Britain's Got Talent.

Last Saturday night, a 73-year-old pensioner called Fred Bowers made it through to this week's semi-finals of the series, performing breakdancing spins, flips and body-popping. Amazing acrobatic antics, most definitely. But amidst all the intense media scrutiny this latest series has been receiving, some newspapers are now reporting that Mr Bowers has for some years been receiving over £70 a week in disability allowances due to a . Allegedly, he's also in receipt of £49.10 a week in Motability, which has secured him a 'free' Ford Focus. The Department for Work and Pensions has apparently already launched an investigation.

Fred's defended his actions, saying that although his leg has not affected his dancing, he cannot walk without the aid of a stick. "My left leg is out of order, but it doesn't stop me dancing. I mostly stand still during the dancing and I don't chase around the stage. It's mostly my back, neck and head that I move, so I don't see what the problem is because it is my leg that's bad." In an echo of many MPs' statements over their expenses, Fred has also offered to if the DWP uncovers any wrongdoing, and said: "To be honest, I want shot of my Motability allowance and I don't care if they stop my Disability Allowance." He's even suggested that he knows who reported him, and claimed they are "just envious".

Fred - whom you can see strutting his stuff in this from the show - is set to be back on screen in Thursday night's semi-final. Unless circumstances intervene, of course ...

Returning hit ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three series Don't Tell The Bride is looking for couples who ache to get hitched but don't have the cash to do it.

So if you're dreaming of the perfect wedding and think you've got what it takes to plan a day to remember ... then they have £12k to make your big day happen!

Renegade Pictures, who are making the show for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three, would very much welcome some applications from disabled people, so why not show the world how expensive and tricky it can be to plan a wedding involving a disabled bride or groom?

To apply, email the show at weddings@renegadepictures.co.uk.

Good luck!

E-book readers - those mobile electronic devices that allow you to download books onto them to read immediately - have been causing quite a stir over the past few months, with lots of discussion about whether they signal the beginning of the end for conventional paper-based books.

One of the most popular on the market - at least in the US, since it's not available on this side of the pond yet - is the Amazon Kindle, which we wrote about on the blog back in February. When it launched, it sparked interest amongst visually impaired people because of its text-to-speech feature, which enables any book downloaded onto the system to be read aloud in a synthetic voice. Not as good as a conventional audiobook, maybe - especially if it's being read by Stephen Fry (though I admit that Mr Fry's dulcet tones are a very personal preference) - but certainly a quick way to get access to a title that might not be available in an audio format.

The problem is that the latest version of the Kindle - called the - has made the text-to-speech feature voluntary. Individual book publishers can decide whether a particular title can be read aloud, and if they object to it, it can be disabled (no pun intended). Now, leading publisher Random House has taken up this option and on 40 prominent books, including works by Toni Morrison and scary horror specialist Stephen King.

So why have they done this? Well, it follows concerns from an American organisation called the Authors Guild that text-to-speech . They've argued that the technology is getting increasingly close to the quality of a real human performance - though many visually impaired readers would likely disagree - and that authors are therefore entitled to extra royalty payments, or else should have the right to turn off this feature.

A group calling itself the has been campaigning against the Authors Guild's move, even going so far as to stage an outside the Guild's New York offices. This prompted the Guild to retaliate and denying that they were discriminating against the 'print disabled', and suggesting other solutions to the problem, such as allowing people for whom text-to-speech is a valuable tool to become 'certified users', meaning that they would be able to activate the feature. It's all turned into quite a battle of press statements and opposing viewpoints.

In the meantime, have you used the text-to-speech option on the Kindle or other similar e-book readers? What did you think of it? Does it offer a good replacement for conventional audiobooks, and has it allowed you to get access to books that you otherwise wouldn't have been able to read? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The following titbit caught my eye in the latest newsletter from , which is known for its irreverent take on celebrity gossip and scurrilous rumours:

"Best 'fact' we heard this week: People with Down's Syndrome have a particular liking for Abba ... Anyone know any more about this?"

Okay, so this looks like a bit of a sweeping statement, but could there be any truth in it? After all, we thought it was soaps that people with Down's Syndrome were supposed to like?

Well, if anyone's going to know whether this has any basis in fact or is just some kind of urban myth, it's going to be Ouch! readers. So have you ever heard anything like this before? Tell us in the comments.

While we're at it - are there any other impairment groups that have a fondness for particular bands or singers? Do blind people tend to like The Beatles? Do CP'ers favour David Bowie? Do wheelchair users roll along to The Rolling Stones? Or should I just stop now?

With our growing concern for the environment seemingly not diminishing our desire to have our own personal transportation, electric cars are becoming a big deal. Whilst true all-electric vehicles are still comparatively rare due to their small size and limitations in how far they can travel between charges, hybrid cars - combining a standard internal combustion engine with one or more electric motors - are increasingly common on the roads.

There's only one problem with these kinds of cars. Like any form of battery-operated machinery, they're virtually noiseless. That's great if you're travelling in them; not so great if you're visually impaired and trying to listen out for traffic when crossing the street. The solution? It sounds rather bizarre, but you force them to make some noise.

They've already done that in America, where manufacturers have been legally bound to install simulators in hybrid and electric cars that mimic the sound of petrol engines. Now these simulators are coming to Europe - the Lotus car company and are conducting joint trials on them to see if they can make electric vehicles safer for visually impaired people.

The technology is pretty basic - just a speaker attached to the car's accelerator pedal. When the pedal is pushed down, the noise of a revving engine is pumped through the speaker. The simulator can be adjusted too, so that it belts out the growling sound of a sports car or the smooth and reassuring hum of a family hatchback. It's all very simple, yes, but it should do the job.

Except if you're Jeremy Clarkson, of course. The outspoken Top Gear presenter was quoted in last weekend's Sunday Times as saying: "The EU hasn't done its sums. Something like 80% of the noise of cars comes from the tyres, not the engine or exhaust". That's probably true at the speeds that he and The Stig race the latest supercar round the Top Gear test track, but not for the average suburban high street where visually impaired pedestrians are most likely to encounter electric vehicles.

But what do you think? Is this a sensible move to aid safety, or a rather over-the-top solution? Are there better ways to make low-noise electric and hybrid cars more 'visible' to visually impaired people?

If you're looking at the title of this post and thinking "Erm, and how is that news? We all know that!" - well, that might be true, but it's good to have it confirmed by a genuine survey. And that's what has happened thanks to a recent 'mystery shopper' style undercover investigation called , which was carried out by , a nationwide organisation of young disabled and non-disabled canpaigners between the ages of 16 and 30 - part of the .

To compile the report, over 100 young disabled people from all over the United Kingdom spent the past three months going undercover on the nation's public transport system. Between them, they racked up over 200 journeys. But what did they discover? These are some of the key findings:

• Wheelchair users pay more to use public transport than non-disabled people, because of a lack of choice in accesible transport.
• On the railways, over half the stations used lacked basic disabled facilities; the same was true on board the trains.
• On a third of bus journeys, the mystery commuter was unable to board the first bus which arrived at the bus stop.
• Two out of five of the young disabled people involved in the investigation were forced to pay more to use a wheelchair accessible taxi, compared with their non-disabled counterparts.

The full report was presented to MPs at the House of Commons last week, and the young campaigners called on the Government, local authorities and transport providers to review their accessibility policies. Watch this space, as they say.

In the meantime, [note: this is a link to a PDF file], or see how your region of the country fared via this .

Here at Ouch, we get lots of emails into our inbox from disabled people looking to get into acting. Well, now the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is launching a nationwide search to find new actors with disabilities.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Talent Alert is an open call to find new disabled performers. Once people are past the initial stages, there will be workshops and training possibilities, plus ongoing support to help them achieve a viable career in the industry. Before all that, however, they need to meet you - the talent!

Open auditions are going to be held across the UK in three major regional cities - Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow. These aren't just for people who live in the local areas, though - if you can get there from where you live in the country, then you're very welcome to attend.

The auditions start with Manchester on Wednesday 10th June. So if you're disabled, have an interest in performing and would be able to attend an audition in Manchester - even if you have no acting training or experience as yet - then this could be your chance.

Send an email to sarah.hughes@bbc.co.uk, ideally attaching a photograph. Describe yourself, say something about your interest in acting, and where you believe your talents lie. Good luck!

It's not often that an Ouch! columnist gets a play written about them and broadcast on Radio 4 - though Disability Bitch keeps hoping, of course. However, that's exactly what's happened to Ouch's very own Seaneen Molloy.

Tomorrow (Friday 8th May) on Radio 4 at 2.15pm, you can hear a play entitled Do's and Don'ts for the Mentally Interesting. Written by Louise Ramsden, it's based on Seaneen's immensely popular blog , and charts her determination to cope with her diagnosis of bipolar disorder and to live life independently.

It promises to be a fascinating listen, and you'll be able to catch it again on the iPlayer after broadcast. Plus, if you fancy hearing what Seaneen herself thought about being at the centre of a radio drama, download or play out the latest edition of Ouch's disability talk show, which has just gone online, as she was Mat and Kiruna's special guest in the studio this month.

It's only the start of May, but festival season isn't really that far off, especially if you're planning one or more weekends of camping out in the countryside in order to watch some of your favourite bands whilst trying not to sink into the mud.

, the organisation that works to improve deaf and disabled people's access to live music, are especially busy. They have just announced that this year's Glastonbury Festival will feature the event's first stage specifically for disabled performers. , which will be located in the Shangri La field, is being organised by Attitude is Everything in collaboration with the festival, and will feature a Club Atttitude showcase on Saturday 27th June from 2.00pm to 6.00pm.

It's a stellar line-up of performers, with learning disabled punk band (they've been on our talk show, you know), sci-fi pop with stylophones, theremins and glockenspiels from , and the London indie-pop meets afro-beat of Al Cool and the Stranger Wines. There'll also be DJs and, we're promised, some "very special guests". There are more details of the whole thing on Attitude is Everything's .

Attitude is Everything are also running their again this year at the Glastonbury, Leeds and Reading Festivals. There's no pay, but you do get a chance to catch some bands and soak up the festival atmosphere whilst working on site, as well as helping to run Attitude is Everything's information tent. They're looking for 5 volunteers for Leeds and Reading, with 10 places at Glastonbury. Again, all the details are on their .

Time to check there are no holes in your tent and that you've got your rain gear handy, then.

It's been a busy week on Ouch! From Tuesday to Thursday, the team were up in Birmingham attending , the disability trade exhibition, where we had a particularly bright and colourful Ouch! stand. Now that it's all over and we're back in the office, trying to get our voices back after all that talking, check out our photo slideshow of what we got up to.

Click here to view the slideshow »

We mentioned it a few posts back, but now the day itself has arrived: today is the fourth annual - or BADD, as it's come to be known fondly. So get writing about disablism in all its many and varied forms, post it on your blog, and then go tell The Goldfish about it on her site.

So far, about 170 blogs have signed up to take part, but it's still not too late to get involved. And if you're not writing anything for BADD, start going round the sites that are taking part to read what they have to say.

All the latest - plus links and information galore - can be found on .

A big thanks to Ouch! reader Kirsty Martinsen for sending us this from South Australia, where a primary school in Waikerie thought they had come up with a great plan to both promote disability awareness and raise money for a clinic in Bangladesh that repairs cleft lips and palates in children. The idea? A "disability day", planned for 29th May, in which children would come to school "dressed as a person with a disability". The newsletter that parents received telling them of this grand occasion went on: "There will be prizes for the best students dressed as a person with a disability. Get your thinking hats on and see what disability you can represent!"

Sounds brilliant, doesn't it? I'm picturing keen pupils getting hold of wheelchairs or white canes, over-sized hearing aids or dark glasses. Some of the really keen ones might even stick a home-made yellow harness on the family pooch and bring it to school for the day as a guide dog. And the kids will surely have hours of fun recreating those various wobbly disability movements and walks.

Or maybe not. It seems that the Student Representative Council, who came up with this wheeze, had little more in their minds than an intention for pupils to come in with a bandaged arm or leg. Which to me sounds more like a plain old unfortunate injury rather than the chance to try mimicking an exciting impairment.

Of course, there's also the significant matter that the "disability day" could well be regarded as offensive. And so it was. Australian Paralympic swimmer said that whilst he was sure the school's intentions were good, it was not "the best way to raise attention", and there was criticism from disability advocacy groups too. When the Student Council received feedback from parents that the idea was in distinctly bad taste, they quickly dropped it. On 29th May, pupils are now being encouraged to come to school wearing bright colours and badges with smiley faces.