Charity partnership unlocks 70,000+ radio stations for people with sight loss
Sight loss charity British Wireless for the Blind Fund (BWBF) has teamed up with audio content aggregator airable to make more than 70,000 radio stations easily accessible for people living with sight loss, through the charity’s Speech Radio app.
The new collaboration represents a sevenfold increase in the number of radio stations available on the app, unlocking a rich and diverse listening experience for its blind and partially sighted users. By making audio accessible, BWBF aims to alleviate the isolation that can come with sight loss and keep people connected with the world around them.
Speech Radio gives users access to radio stations from across the world via a free, user-friendly platform. Designed for people living with sight loss, the app allows users to request stations by voice or navigate using intuitive gesture controls. By consolidating access to multiple radio stations in one place, the app eliminates the frustrations and barriers people living with sight loss can face when navigating multiple, often inaccessible, platforms.
The app is one of the most recent developments in BWBF’s 95-year history of making audio accessible.
Sophie Jones, CEO at British Wireless for the Blind Fund, said: “Audio entertainment can be truly transformative – it can break through isolation and keep people with sight loss connected. Thanks to our partnership with airable, we can now offer even more content through our app, in a way that is completely sight-loss friendly. We are truly grateful to airable for providing this content free. We know this partnership will be life-changing for so many.”
David Litt, VP Product Management at airable, said: “We’re thrilled to support BWBF in giving people with sight loss easy access to a world of radio. Our passion for audio aligns perfectly with BWBF’s determination to ensure everyone can enjoy the joy and connection that radio brings. It was an easy decision to collaborate, and we’re excited to play a part in making audio content more inclusive.”
airable is a worldwide radio content aggregator that supplies countless clients globally. The new partnership will see airable supply its content to BWBF on a pro bono basis.
With the Speech Radio app, people living with sight loss can now enjoy a broad selection of commercial, international, and BBC radio stations. To download the app, search ‘Speech Radio’ in your app store.
For more information about BWBF’s Speech Radio app, visit https://blind.org.uk/apps-skills/speech-radio-app/.
About British Wireless for the Blind Fund
At British Wireless for the Blind Fund, we believe access to audio can be life changing for someone living with sight loss. We give radios, smart speakers and other audio devices for free and for life to people living with sight loss in the greatest financial need. And our easy-to-use apps and skill unlock a world of audio content on the internet for people who might otherwise struggle to access it.
About airable
airable is an EU based company with an international team of media and IT specialists in Germany, US and Asia. The company started in 2010 and quickly became a reliable B2B service provider for major brands in consumer electronics, hi-fi, telecom and smart home markets.
The airable internet radio catalogue contains more than 70,000 radio stations worldwide and 100,000 podcasts. The airable API enables access to the market leading music services. More than 10million devices rely on the airable catalogues and API.