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大象传媒 Radio 4 In Touch |
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Listen to this programmeFactsheet of this programmeTranscript of this programme Print this page FactsheetDAVID PATERSONYesterday David Paterson became the first 鈥渓egally-blind鈥 Governor of New York State. Peter talked to the 大象传媒鈥檚 North America Editor Justin Webb about Mr Paterson. THE GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK SOCCER SIGHT Mani Djazmi took a trip to Ipswich Football Club to find out about a new project led by the RNIB. Soccer Sight helps clubs install their own in-house commentary service at no cost to themselves. The RNIB also ran a competition to find two commentators, this competition has now closed but the RNIB have asked anyone interested in commentating to email the address below to be considered for future projects. CONTACT RNIB SOCCER SIGHT Tel. 01273 262 221 Email: audiodescription@rnib.org.uk DIGITAL HELP With the analogue TV signal being gradually switched off around the UK In Touch looked into the help available for visually impaired people to go digital. Peter talked to Leen Petre, of the Royal National Institute for Blind People. The current regional switchover start dates are: Whitehaven: Autumn 2007 Border: 2008 West Country, Wales, Granada: 2009 West, Grampian, Scottish: 2010 Central, Yorkshire, Anglia: 2011 Meridian, London, Tyne Tees, Ulster: 2012 Channel Islands: 2013 CONTACTS RNIB GUIDE TO DIGITAL SWITCHOVER Current information and advice from the RNIB on the digital switchover. DIGITAL UK Tel. 0800 519 2021 For information and advice on the switchover. GENERAL CONTACTS RNIB 105 Judd Street London WC1H 9NE Helpline: 0845 766 9999 Tel: 0207 388 1266 (switchboard/overseas callers) Web: The RNIB provides information, support and advice for anyone with a serious sight problem. They not only provide Braille, Talking Books and computer training, but imaginative and practical solutions to everyday challenges. The RNIB campaigns to change society's attitudes, actions and assumptions, so that people with sight problems can enjoy the same rights, freedoms and responsibilities as fully sighted people. They also fund pioneering research into preventing and treating eye disease and promote eye health by running public health awareness campaigns. HENSHAWS SOCIETY FOR BLIND PEOPLE (HSBP) John Derby House 88-92 Talbot Road Old Trafford Manchester M16 0GS Tel: 0161 872 1234 Email: info@hsbp.co.uk Web: Henshaws provides a wide range of services for people who have sight difficulties. They aim to enable visually impaired people of all ages to maximise their independence and enjoy a high quality of life. They have centres in: Harrogate, Knaresborough, Liverpool, Llandudno, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Salford, Southport and Trafford. THE GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND ASSOCIATION (GDBA) Burghfield Common Reading RG7 3YG Tel: 0118 983 5555 Email: guidedogs@guidedogs.org.uk Web: The GDBA鈥檚 mission is to provide guide dogs, mobility and other rehabilitation services that meet the needs of blind and partially sighted people. ACTION FOR BLIND PEOPLE 14-16 Verney Road London SE16 3DZ Tel: 0800 915 4666 (info & advice) Web: Registered charity with national cover that provides practical support in the areas of housing, holidays, information, employment and training, cash grants and welfare rights for blind and partially-sighted people. Leaflets and booklets are available. NATIONAL LEAGUE OF THE BLIND AND DISABLED Central Office Swinton House 324 Grays Inn Road London WC1X 8DD Tel: 020 7837 6103 Textphone: 020 7837 6103 National League of the Blind and Disabled is a registered trade union and is involved in all issues regarding the employment of blind and disabled people in the UK. NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND (NLB) RNIB Customer Services on 0845 762 6843 Email: cservices@rnib.org.uk Web: The NLB is a registered charity which helps visually impaired people throughout the country continue to enjoy the same access to the world of reading as people who are fully sighted. Trustees from the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and the National Library for the Blind (NLB) have agreed to merge the library services of both charities as of 1 January 2007, creating the new RNIB National Library Service. EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION DISABILITY HELPLINE (England) FREEPOST MID02164 Stratford upon Avon CV37 9BR Tel: 08457 622 633 Textphone: 08457 622 644 Fax: 08457 778 878 Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9:00 am-5:00 pm; Wed 8:00 am-8:00 pm. Enquiry: englandhelpline2@equalityhumanrights.com EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION HELPLINE WALES Freepost RRLR-UEYB-UYZL 1st Floor 3 Callaghan Square Cardiff CF10 5BT 0845 604 8810 - Wales main number 0845 604 8820 - Wales textphone 0845 604 8830 - Wales fax 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday to Friday (an out-of-hours service will start running soon) Enquiry: waleshelpline@equalityhumanrights.com EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION HELPLINE SCOTLAND Freepost RRLL-GYLB-UJTA The Optima Building 58 Robertson Street Glasgow G2 8DU 0845 604 5510 - Scotland Main 0845 604 5520 - Scotland Textphone 0845 604 5530 - Scotland 鈥 Fax 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday to Friday (an out-of-hours service will start running soon) Enquiry: scotlandhelpline@equalityhumanrights.com DISABLED LIVING FOUNDATION 380-384 Harrow Road London W9 2HU Tel: 0845 130 9177 Web: The Disabled Living Foundation provide information and advice on disability equipment. The 大象传媒 is not responsible for external websites聽 General contacts Back to top TranscriptWhiteGood evening. America watchers are busily asking the question at the moment: Will it be the first African American or the first woman to reach the White House? But what about the first blind man? And we continue our exploration of audio-description, with a visit to the country's football grounds - Frankie may have gone to Hollywood but Mani is content to go to Ipswich. We've also got news of help for visually-impaired people as we approach the TV analogue switch off. Now it's nowhere truer than in politics that it's an ill wind etc. etc. So when the governor of New York state, Eliot Spitzer, resigned last week amidst allegations which linked him to a high class call girl agency he left a vacancy filled by this man. Clip I did not get to this position in the way that most people have, in the way that most people would want. I made a commitment when I gave my word to Governor Spitzer in January 2006, when I left as a Democratic senate leader to be his running mate, that I would be prepared to assume authority... White That's David Paterson, the new governor of New York state, who was sworn in yesterday. Most of the publicity surrounding his appointment has concentrated on his colour - he's an African American - but he's also what the Americans call "legally blind". What that means in his case is that he's completely lost the sight of one eye and most of the sight in the other and can distinguish outlines and some colours. So who is he and how significant is his appointment? Well I've been talking to our North America editor, Justin Webb, and I asked him to tell me more about David Paterson and his new job. Webb Well he's actually a long time politician who's reasonably well known to the people of New York, he hasn't suddenly come from nowhere, he's been lieutenant governor, the governor's right hand man, but he also comes from a political family. He's 53 years old, he's been in political circles all of his life, his dad was a pretty famous New York state politician, he's been a state senator for a long time. So he has a kind of record and people generally speaking like him. Where Eliot Spitzer was a prickly difficult character who made a lot of enemies on the other side politically, it seems that Mr Paterson is rather the opposite - has a lot of friends on both sides of the aisle. And of course, crucially, he is, as they say here, "legally blind". He has optic atrophy, he lost most of his sight when he was a baby after he had an infection. He doesn't use a walking stick or a guide dog. He's never learnt Braille interestingly, so when he makes his speeches he has to memorise them completely. White It's interesting - I mean there seems to have been more comment though in the States about the fact that Mr Paterson is Afro Caribbean than that he's legally blind. I mean is that your perception and what does that say about the United States attitude to sort of minority issues? Webb Well, yeah Peter it says one thing - the fact that he is an African American, he's a black politician, is of course hugely important at the moment, it has an enormous salience - if I can use that word - right now because of Barack Obama and because of all the discussions that there are about whether there is about to be this huge breakthrough at a presidential level. So that makes it very interesting to Americans that a black man has become a governor. And frankly there haven't been that many black governors, there's a handful - there's a guy up in Massachusetts - Deval Patrick - so it's not a complete strange thing for New Yorkers to see a black man in charge of their state. But remember to be the governor of a state is a very, very senior position in US politics, people quite often go into it after they've been in the Senate, so it's pretty near the top for any American politician, so it is a big deal. As for the fact that he's legally blind - well there are articles about it and there will be interest in it but politically of course it has so much less importance, I think that's why there's been more of a concentration on his blackness than his blindness, if I can put it like that, at least up to the moment that he takes control. White Yeah and that's my next question: Could it become an issue if things go wrong, for example, one thinks of David Blunkett here, who went from being something of a hero really because of his blindness but when he became a tough Home Secretary and started upsetting people then people seemed to mind less about putting the boot in about his blindness? Webb Yes, I'm not sure about that. I think Americans - there is a culture here in politics that - although there's an awful lot of rough stuff there are also areas upon which people don't like to tread. And I think - I suspect actually that it won't become an issue even if he makes a lot of enemies or does very badly. I also think he's been tried and tested as a politician and as someone who can get things done before this moment, if you see what I mean, it's not as if he's come from nowhere to get this job and people can then turn round and say oh look told you so, you see, he wasn't up to it, I don't think that's really going to be the pace. I'm sure he'll make enemies but I doubt very much that his blindness is going to become an issue. White It's interesting you say he doesn't read Braille, because this was quite an issue as far as David Blunkett was concerned because he reads Braille but not all that fluently in a kind of public situation, so how does he cope, what about his fluency, how does he handle a crowd? Webb He is incredibly sharp, incredibly sharp, really, really quick witted and absolutely never at a loss. I've seen him working a crowd, I've seen him sort of going up and down and feeling out - reaching out - to people and shaking hands and things. But when someone says something to him he's absolutely back of them. I'll give you an example, he was asked shortly after Eliot Spitzer - it became obvious that he was going to go and I think he held a press conference - Paterson - and sort of one of the reporters said in this kind of slightly unironic way that they have in this country: Mr Governor, elect - or however he addressed him - Mr Lieutenant Governor, have you ever, while you have been in elected office used the services of a prostitute? And I mean absolutely with no hesitation at all he said: No, only when dealing with lobbyists. And there was - it was absolutely the right answer, it made everyone laugh, it was very clever, it was very quick. But to answer your question he was very, very sharp and he has no need of any kind of notes with Braille or any other form, it's all there in his head. White Now as you indicated it's a big year for so-called minorities, I mean Barack Obama could be the first African American black president, Hilary Clinton could be the first woman president - what chance a first blind president sometime in the future? Webb Well he's blazing a trail I suppose. I mean I'm not sure whether this is the most senior office that a blind person has ever held but I suspect it's pretty likely to be because as I was saying the office of governor is a very senior office and the office of Governor of New York is a very senior position, it's a position from which, if you do it well, you could perfectly legitimately say this is my jumping off ground to be president. I mean Bill Clinton, after all, was Governor of Arkansas, it's a tiny little place compared with New York, of no importance at all. So this is - yes it's a very, very good jumping off point, you should certainly keep an eye on this man because if he does well for the rest of this term, if he wins another term, he's young - he's only 53 - yes he could well be in line in 8 or 12 years time. White Well we keep an eye on him and perhaps you can help us do it. Justin thank you very much. Now being able to go to a football match and get as much out of it as everybody else is particularly close to my heart - as I may have let slip every now and again - and to be fair these days it's much more likely that a match will have commentary on it, either from your local radio station or the home club. Soccer Sight is a project led by the Royal National Institute of Blind People which helps clubs install their own in-house commentary service at no cost to themselves. Well we sent Mani Djazmi, who's been known to be able to raise a bit of enthusiasm for the odd football match now and again, off to a Soccer Sight club last weekend to hear how it works. Djazmi I've come to Portman Road, the home of Ipswich Town Football Club, they're playing Charlton today in what is a pretty crucial match for both sides as they chase promotion back to the land of milk and honey that is the premier league. Ipswich are currently tenth in the table and Charlton are fifth, it's so tight that a win for Ipswich would actually take them above Charlton. I'm sitting next to Fran Ling who is one of Ipswich's visually-impaired supporters and she uses a headset provided by the Soccer Sight service. So Fran, just how good is it? Ling If I didn't have it I wouldn't be here. I can only see the first - well the first third of the field and I can't see faces, so I need someone to explain who's got the ball and where the ball is going, if it goes out whose throw it is in and whether there's a corner, a near shot at goal, it's just a lifeline. Neil I am Sue Neil, National Soccer Sight Development Officer. The RNIB and leisure services team had received some feedback from a lot of the users saying that there was a lack of facilities at the football grounds and lack of services available for visually-impaired people who wanted to attend football matches. There was a lack of any kind of commentary service for visually-impaired spectators. If there was anything provided they were like ghettoised in one particular area. The Disability Discrimination Act had basically just come into being and so stadium managers were aware of issues regarding wheelchair users but in terms of blind and partially-sighted people they had been missed out of the group if you like. Ling They're shouting for a penalty but I don't think it's been given. So the referee's getting booed now. Djazmi Did it sound like it was a penalty to you? Ling Well yes it did, he was supposedly inside the area, the commentator thought he was inside the area, they can very biased these referees. Djazmi Unlike the commentators. Ling Unlike the commentators yeah. Clip of commentary Wigg My name's Sid Wigg and I'm one of the Soccer Sight commentators here at Ipswich. I took early retirement at 60 and the wife had it spoken about or advertised on Radio Suffolk. So she phoned up and got all the details sent through and sort of filled them in and sort them off for me and the next thing I knew I was invited to a training day. We had a talk from one of the Radio Suffolk commentators who came in and spoke to us and gave us some tips on how they commentate on the games. Djazmi Commentating here is voluntary, you're doing it every other week from August to May, so it's a reasonable commitment - it takes up your Saturday - what's in it for you? Wigg I've supported Ipswich for as long as I can remember, we'd always come up to Ipswich football and I just enjoy doing it, it's something I can do for other people that can't come and watch the games as well as I can and if I can help them to enjoy the game more well that's fair enough. I get to see the games for free as well, so every little bit helps as I always say. Clip from commentary Djazmi But why does Soccer Sight's projects manager Sue Neil think that audio-described commentary is better than the bog standard radio coverage? Neil The commentators are trained to ensure that the spectator at all times knows exactly where the ball is on the pitch. And with this commentary there are no interruptions. What we found with feedback from visually-impaired spectators is that when they listen to radio commentary there are often a lot of interruptions, sometimes the commentators have to go off and give reports on other matches or other sporting events and often - but their greatest bug bear really is listening to all the analysis of what's happening rather than where the actual ball is on the pitch. Djazmi So it's literally a breathless description from start to finish of a passing to b passing to c passing to d? Neil It can be like that but I mean it's far more colourful if you like than that, you know you're still go into what colours the guys are wearing, it there's a little brawl on the pitch then you're going to talk about that, you're going to talk about the weather, you're going to talk about - you know the whole picture, a whole picture is built up within the commentary. Djazmi Soccer Sight is funded by charities We Are V and the Football Foundation as well as Halifax Bank of Scotland Foundation. So it doesn't cost clubs anything to sign up. Yet only 18 clubs out of the 92 in English professional league football either provide it or about to and West Ham is the only premier league club which has shown any interest. This is mainly because the RNIB has a finite budget and can't help everyone but in the case of Ipswich Town the adoption of Soccer Sight has meant that Fran Ling is once more able to follow her team despite her deteriorating vision. Ling I didn't think there was much point, if you can't see what's going on it's pointless, you don't know which way the ball is, who's shooting at goal, you just don't have a clue. It's just fabulous being here again. White Ipswich supporter Fran Ling ending Mani Djazmi's report. And still on the topic of audio-description a few weeks back we looked at the growth of it on television and the various ways in which it could be accessed. It clearly wetted a few appetites and a number of people wanted to know more about what would happen when the so-called analogue switch off takes place and digital TV becomes the only game in town. Well there is specific help available for visually impaired people and we invited Leen Petre of the RNIB to return and tell us what's on offer. Petre There is indeed quite a bit of help available. The help scheme that's been set up by the government does cater for blind and partially-sighted, people are entitled to it if they're registered blind or partially-sighted then that's something that RNIB insisted on. People are also entitled if they're over 75 and if they receive Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Mobility supplement. But the main thing, I think, for the listeners to this programme is if you're registered blind or partially-sighted you're entitled to this help scheme. White So what kind of help can you get? Petre You get help with choosing your equipment, you get help with the installation of it and someone actually comes round to your house and installs the equipment for you if that's what's necessary. People don't have to pay anything for this help if they are on income related benefits. White So in particular the kind of thing that you might get help with would be in choosing your box or indeed choosing a television with integrated help if that's what you wanted? Petre Yeah that's right, they advise you on all the options and help you choose the one that's best for you and if you opt for a digibox that delivers Freeview, so not an integrated digital television but a digibox to upgrade your analogue television to digital, then you can get a box that the government's purchased for this scheme. And that box again is something that RNIB's been quite involved in developing and advising the government on it because it does, for example, have one button to switch audio-description on and off, it does have a remote control with very good colour contrast with [indistinct words] so that partially-sighted people can read them better. White So how can you access this help because obviously it's crucial - you want to do it before you outlay any money at all don't you? Petre Well it depends on when you want to switch really. People who are happy to leave switching until a couple of months before their region goes can apply for this help scheme and that'll help them convert one television set in their house. But people who want to go digital now, either because they want to access a wider range of channels or because they want to get audio-description now, shouldn't wait for the help scheme really because the help scheme only kicks in a couple of months before switch over happens in your region. So if you're in London that's a little while out. White On the issue of audio-description specifically, I mean last time we talked about the fact that there are quite a few ways that you could do that and you know there is sophisticated equipment. Would this be a good time to get your audio-description needs sorted really? Petre If you're someone who feels that they have problems watching the television but they'd really like to be able to do it and you find that you've got problems seeing what's happening on the screen my advice to you would be don't wait for the switch over to come to you region, get digital television now. White But are you - are you entitled to financial help with that and might you miss out on that if you did it now, as it were, instead of waiting for the help that might be associated with the switch over coming to your part of the world? Petre The switch over help scheme doesn't ask you whether you have already gone digital. So really what you could do is if you've got several televisions in your house why not convert a television in your living room, when switch over comes to your region you can move that television to your kitchen or your bedroom and get the one in your - for your main set converted. My other piece of advice for people is if you want to qualify for the help scheme then make sure that you're on register of blind and partially-sighted people because people register and then they might move to a new local authority and they don't bothering registering again, you need to be on the register of the area where you live and then you'll automatically get contacted by the scheme. White Leen Petre. And that's it for today but don't forget we always welcome your queries and your comments, you can call our action line on 0800 044 044 or you can e-mail In Touch via our website. You can also download a podcast of today's programme. From me Peter White, my producer Cheryl Gabriel and the rest of the team, goodbye. Back to top |
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