Braille and Transcription Services
There is a huge number of businesses that require Braille transcription services from government organisations to any business associated with serving blind or partially sighted people.
Who requires Braille, large print or audio transcription?
Blind or visually impaired people
Employers of blind or visually impaired people
Businesses providing services to blind or visually impaired people
Friends and family of blind or visually impaired people
Companies and public sector organisations should be able to comply with the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) so that no one can be disadvantaged through a lack of information. Transcription services providers ensure this is done. Everyday items such as wage slips, utility bills and bank statements are essentially required to be transcribed into Braille or other transcription formats.
Braille is the most associated media when discussing transcription. Braille printing was invented by Louis Braille in 1821. Over 180 years later, this method is still effective. Transcriptions come in other formats though, for example large print and audio transcription. Large print is simple process but can greatly benefit a visually impaired person.
Transcribing documents into more user friendly formats is another job of a transcription service. Graphs, tables and charts can be hard to read for a partially sighted person or for someone with learning difficulties. A transcription services provider can convert the graph etc into an easier to understand format.
What makes transcription so easy and accessible now is technology. Files can be sent to a transcription services provider by email or on a CD and in the instant of audio transcription, the audio file can be saved as an MP3, onto CD or tape.
It is not just within business that document transcription has progressed. The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 which came into force in October 2003, has made it far easier to have a previously copyrighted document to be transcribed. It has removed the copyright laws that haltered transcription and now a visually impaired person can make an accessible copy of any “Any literary, dramatic, artistic or musical work”.