The client
Peterborough-based Screenreader.net is a not-for-profit, community interest company founded and managed by Roger and Margaret Wilson-Hinds, a blind couple, with a big vision. They want to empower visually-impaired people around the world by delivering Thunder, their free talking screenreader computer software available to blind people anywhere in the world for their personal use at home.The website
The website, created for the launch of Thunder in July 2006, enables users to download Thunder, delivering access life-changing benefits of modern technology for free.It also showcases and sells a range of software and other accessories for blind, partially-sighted and Dyslexic computer users which are competitively priced.
And is home to the Blind Blogger – aka Roger.
The solution
The blind-friendly site was created by Granite 5, whose senior developer Peter Davison has five per cent vision.To ensure the site was accessible for its audience, it needed to be compatible with different browsing technologies such as screenreaders and magnifiers.
The hosting also had to be robust enough to serve the large traffic of downloads. And the content management system was also re-worked to enable Roger and Margaret to update the site themselves.
The verdict
"Thanks to the website, we've had 70,000-plus downloads of Thunder and it’s now on course to become the most used screen reader in the world. In January, we received a £100,000 European Union grant to enable the software to be translated and promoted in the UK, Ireland, Austria, Estonia, Solvakia, Italy, Germany and France. We also have funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to research and pilot a new version for people with learning disabilities."Roger Wilson-Hinds, Screenreader.net
