Contract in Place to Provide Accessible News to Blind and Low-Vision Texans

The 79th Legislature established the Audio Newspaper Assistance Program (ANP) that is funded from the universal service fund and provides free service to legally blind and visually impaired Texans. The core of the service is to provide news to registered users via telephone.

The Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUC) administers the program and has recently executed a four-year contract with the National Federation of the Blind of Texas.

Program components include:

• Access to local, regional and national newspapers.
• Conversion of electronic text to synthetic speech.
• Multiple ways for users to be registered and given individual PINs.
• Twenty-four-hour, seven-days-per-week service.
• Touch tone dialing with local and national toll-free numbers.
• Being operational 99 percent of the time.
• Monthly reporting on operational time and impacts.
• A four-year marketing plan.

Recent reporting shows “5,573 users averaging 67,269 user minutes per month,” according to request for proposals 473-22-00003. There were 16 newspapers, one grocery advertisement, TV listings and two magazines included.