Have you been forced to give up reading the newspaper due to blindness or a visual impairment?
Would you like a newspaper with your morning cup of coffee?
Do you want access to the same information about news and current events at the same time as your friends, family and co-workers?
Are you a sports fan or arts enthusiast who needs television listings and detailed newspaper coverage?
Are you a blind parent looking for quality television programming for your young children?

It is our pleasure to tell you that, thanks to technology developed by the National Federation of the Blind and funding from the Board of Education & Services for the Blind, the John A. Coccomo, Sr, Foundation, and the Eugene & Margaret Blackford Memorial Fund, NFB-Newsline® is now available anywhere in the state with a toll-free number. CRIS Radio's involvement, the addition of some CRIS Radio content, establishes a new and exciting precedent.

What Is NFB-Newsline®?

Newsline is an on-demand newspaper service which allows blind or print disabled people to hear the text of newspaper articles, magazines and television listings over the telephone. You do not have to be blind to use this service; it is designed for anyone who cannot read convention newsprint because of a disability. It is a nationwide service and uses telephone lines and digitized voice synthesizer systems to provide blind and print disabled people daily access to a variety of newspapers, magazines and television listings. With the toll-free number, users can access any participating newspaper or magazine in the country. Large national papers such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today are available as well as local papers such as The Hartford Courant and The New London Day. The service is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We are now able to choose articles for ourselves based on our own particular interests and needsat the time of day that's convenient for us, the same way that any person with sight uses a printed newspaper. Such timely access to the daily newspaper has never before been available to the blind.

Newsline enables eligible individuals throughout the state to gain access to information in newspapers in the same time frame as their fully sighted colleagues, friends and family members - everything from stock quotes, business trends and syndicated columns to human interest stories, sports information and much more.

Because the speech is generated from the electronic files used to publish the newspapers, the service can be made available as early as 6:30 each morning.

How You Can Get Signed Up For NFB-Newsline®

Click on "Newsline Application" to print your copy of our application form. After you complete the form and return it to our office, you will be assigned an identification number and a security code. Then pick up the phone and follow the easy prompts to listen to any part of the newspaper of your choice. It's so flexible and easy. You'll be able to go to any section of the paper, change the speech, speed it up or slow it down, reread an article - all through the use of the keys on your touch-tone phone.

NFB-Newsline® Application

For more information about NFB-Newsline®, including a list of participating newspapers, click here.

For more information, E-mail us at: info@nfbct.org