NCBI launches NCBI Live: Ireland’s dedicated online radio station for people who are blind or vision impaired

This promotional image includes an Vision Ireland service user who is holding a smart phone and is listening to audio through a pair of headphones which he is wearing. It includes the text: Vision Ireland Live, Ireland's first radio station for blind and vision impaired listeners.

19th July 2022, NCBI is delighted to launch an online radio station for blind or vision impaired listeners that broadcasts 24 hours a day. The content covers all aspects of living with sight loss from technology available to issues affecting the sight loss community to individual’s sharing their own stories and experiences. It draws on the best of NCBI’s most recent audio content from the NCBI podcast, Talking Technology podcast and Advocacy Talks on a loop as well as information about NCBI’s services and campaigns and how to get in touch. The loop runs for 3 hours in duration before repeating again so the audio stream runs 24/7. The content is updated regularly.

June Tinsley, NCBI Head of Communications and Advocacy said “this is essentially like a dedicated radio station for people who are blind or vision impaired. We know radio is such an important companion to many to offset feelings of loneliness and to know they are not alone in their diagnosis or experiences. Adding NCBI Live to our offering enables us to reach more service users and encourage them to avail of our services countrywide.”

NCBI Live is the brainchild of two service users David Redmond and Patrick Hennessy. Presently, the content is all pre-recorded, but this platform has the potential to grow and expand significantly to include live interviews, playing requests etc.

David Redmond said “I’m really excited to see NCBI Live launch today. So many people have put in work to make this happen, and I’m hopeful that service users will find something they enjoy from the project. We look forward to seeing the response from everyone over the next few weeks and months and we’ll do our best to evolve the service based on their feedback.”

NCBI Live can be accessed directly through the NCBI website’s NCBI Live page or through the NCBI Smart Hub which is activated using a smart speaker such as Alexa or Google.

ENDS