NFB-Newsline, Free Audio News for the Visually Impaired

Jon Schorsch retired in 2007 as a police sergeant with the Port of Seattle Police Department. He is currently a resident at Bothell, Washington. Since retirement, Jon Schorsch has participated in organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), an organization that advocates and coordinates programs for the visually impaired.

As one of the largest and oldest associations, the NFB offers the visually impaired with free audio news service by NFB-Newline. Qualification to use this service includes blindness, low vision, deaf-blind, and print-disabled disabilities. It also includes impaired ability for reading a printed page that results from vision loss, dyslexia, or a physical disability.

NFB-Newline subscribers have access to 500 publications that offer job listings and weather alerts, along with other relevant news. Examples of their publication offerings include the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, BBC, ESPN online, Consumer Reports, and the Smithsonian.

NFB-Newsline subscription is available by a few methods. You may register by contacting a state’s Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped or by phoning the NFB at (866) 504-7300. Another way is by downloading the mail-in application at the NFB web site or applying through NFB’s online platform.