Wales

GAIN launches new website: making information accessible

Summary: Press release about the launch of the new GAIN website.

• Background
• Comment
• Notes to editors
• Further information

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Background

GAIN (Getting Accessible Information Now) for Wales launched its brand new website at the Royal Welsh Show on Tuesday 25 July 2006 with keynote speaker Kirsty Williams AM at the Big Lottery Fund stand (C241).

RNIB Cymru is the lead partner on the project, which received £150,000 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Voluntary and Community Sector programme. The website will provide practical guidance and links for organisations wanting to make their information accessible to people with sight problems. It will support the development of voluntary sector organisations that provide transcription services, through stimulating demand for accessible information. The ultimate aim of the project is to reduce social isolation and increase independence for people with sight problems in Wales.

Comment

Stuart Ball, Accessible Information Forum Co-ordinator, RNIB Cymru commented “We are really grateful to the Big Lottery Fund for funding this vital project. The launch will give people the opportunity to find out about accessible information and help them comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Welsh Language Act 1993.”

Commenting on the positive impact the VCS awards have had on communities throughout Wales, Big Lottery Fund Board Member for Wales, Hugh Vaughan Thomas, said: “It’s great to be able to fund projects that make such a difference to the lives of many people in communities across Wales. Groups such as this one are making huge strides in helping people and I’m delighted that this award will help them continue to do so for years to come.”

Notes to editors

1. The GAIN for Wales project is an innovative three-year project funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The launch of the website is the final strand of the project. The project has already published a directory of transcription providers and held seminars for individuals and organisations about their rights and responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act.

2. The website will be live after the launch and can be found at Gain for Wales (www.gainforwales.com).

3. RNIB Cymru represents the 100,000 people in Wales who cannot read standard newsprint, even with corrective lenses, through campaigning, support and services. Our pioneering work helps anyone with a sight problem – not just with Braille, Talking Books and computer training but with imaginative and practical solutions to everyday challenges. We fight for equal rights for people with sight loss and fund pioneering research into preventing and treating eye disease.

4. The GAIN for Wales project is a consortium project which is supported by the Wales Accessible Information Forum, and has a steering group which includes representation from Cardiff Institute for the Blind, North Wales Society for the Blind and Shaw Trust.

Further information

Please contact Kate Hughes on 029 2044 9577 or email policy@rnib.org.uk for further information.

Content author: policy@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 06/03/2008 15:41