Audio-Reader expands telephone reader service to include weekend KC Star

LAWRENCE -- Audio-Reader will expand the offerings on Telephone Reader starting July 12 to include the Saturday and Sunday editions of the Kansas City Star. Previously only recordings of the weekday editions of the Star and a few weekend sections were available

Engagements, Anniversaries, Travel, Arts and Simply Food are just a few of the Star's weekend sections that will be included on Audio-Readerÿs Telephone Reader system, which is accessible via touchtone phone at a toll-free number.

The expansion was made possible by the recent hiring of a weekend telephone reader operator. Volunteer readers record the newspapers on special equipment at Audio-Reader or at home, and more volunteers are needed to help record on weekends.

Audio-Reader is a special reading service for the blind and visually impaired, offering closed-circuit radio broadcasts of books, newspapers, magazines and other printed materials. The Telephone Reader service was added July 5, 1994, and the offerings on this system have expanded during the past nine years.

Other publications available on the Telephone Reader system include USA Today, Dos Mundos, TV Guide listings, selected Audio-Reader radio broadcasts and synthesized speech recordings of the Wichita Eagle and the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Anyone who is unable to read printed materials may be eligible for Telephone Reader and other Audio-Reader services. Offered as a public service of the University of Kansas, Audio-Readerÿs services are available free of charge. To request an application for service or to inquire about volunteering, call (785) 864-4600 or (800) 772-8898.