[rehab] NFB-NEWSLINE® Now Available in South Carolina

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Parnell Diggs, President

National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina

(803) 254-3777
Parnell at sccoast.net






NFB-NEWSLINE® Now Available in South Carolina





Free Service Offers Independent News Access to
  Blind and Print-Disabled South Carolina Residents



Columbia, South Carolina (April 4, 2011): The 
National Federation of the Blind of South 
Carolina is pleased to announce today the 
availability of NFB-NEWSLINE® to all blind and 
print-disabled South Carolina 
residents.  NFB-NEWSLINE® is a free service that 
allows those who cannot read conventional 
newsprint due to a visual or physical disability 
to access hundreds of local and national 
publications as well as job and TV listings over 
the telephone or via online methods.  Using this 
innovative service, individuals who would 
otherwise not be able to read a newspaper can 
access, at any time and at any place, the same 
essential and entertaining news that their 
neighbors, classmates, and colleagues enjoy.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: “I believe every 
blind person in America should have access to 
NFB-NEWSLINE®, and I am thrilled that blind South 
Carolina residents can now benefit from the 
availability of this invaluable 
service.  NFB-NEWSLINE® caters to the interests 
of a wide variety of individuals with local and 
national publications as well as job and TV 
listings, allowing blind people, for the first 
time ever, to read the same edifying and exciting content as their colleagues.”



Parnell Diggs, president of the National 
Federation of the Blind of South Carolina, said: 
“I love knowing what’s going on in the world 
around me, and NFB-NEWSLINE® affords me that 
ability.  Further, I very much appreciate that 
with NFB-NEWSLINE®, blind people are not 
dependent on others to read the news to us; 
instead, we have the same flexibility and 
autonomy that any sighted person would with a 
traditional print newspaper.  Finally, the news 
is not what someone else decides is important; 
rather, NFB-NEWSLINE® subscribers get to make the 
choice of what to read and when to read it.”



James Kirby, commissioner of South Carolina’s 
Commission for the Blind, said: “I am very 
pleased that NFB-NEWSLINE® is available in South 
Carolina, as we firmly believe that access equals 
success for blind individuals.  This media 
mirrors and supports the goals that the 
Commission for the Blind has for the 
print-disabled in that it fosters and facilitates 
independence, choice, and engagement, and assists 
our consumers in achieving success.  The 
availability of job listings is of special 
importance to our agency’s consumers, as it 
offers blind people the ability to independently 
access thousands of job listings from all across 
the state, a most valuable tool in securing gainful employment.”



NFB-NEWSLINE®, a free service, allows those who 
cannot read conventional newsprint due to a 
visual or physical disability to independently 
access a variety of publications as well as 
customizable TV and job listings over the 
telephone, on the Web, or by download to a 
digital talking book player or MP3-playing 
device.  Offering over three hundred 
publications­including state and national 
newspapers and up-to-the-minute wire feeds as 
well as dozens of magazines­NFB-NEWSLINE® enables 
blind and physically impaired individuals to get 
the information they need, when they need it.



To learn more about NFB-NEWSLINE®, please visit 
www.nfbnewsline.org.  Those interested in 
subscribing to the service may fill out the 
online application form, write to 
nfbnewsline at nfb.org, or call (866) 504-7300.



###





About the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina

The National Federation of the Blind of South 
Carolina (NFBSC) is a non-profit, private 
organization of the blind working together to 
improve the quality of life for all blind people 
in South Carolina. In order for its influence to 
be felt on a national level, the NFBSC is 
affiliated with the <http://www.nfb.org/>National 
Federation of the Blind, the nation's oldest and 
largest organization open to all the blind. With 
more than 2,000 members, the NFBSC consists of 60 
affiliated organizations, 57 of which are local 
chapters located throughout the state.