How to Start a Reading Service for the Blind
If you are planning to start an avant-garde business, we recommend a Reading Service for the Blind, a project with great future prospects due to the human and functional touch of the proposal. We tell you all about it.
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Customers for a Reading Service for the Blind
The customers who will call our Blind Reading Service company to request our service are mainly four:
Blind People: in this case, the blind person communicates directly and requests the service. It is an easy sale, since the caller is already determined to what he or she wants.
Relatives of Blind People: when a relative of the person who needs the service communicates with us, we are dealing with a case in which the person has the support of his family. Here we will most likely have to use sales techniques, as the relative in question will want to know all the details of what we provide and which people will be entering their home.
People with serious vision problems: these are mainly very old people who have gradually lost their sight.
Relatives of people with serious vision problems: very similar to the case of relatives of blind people, on this occasion we must detail the service we are selling and the benefits for the patient.
What is a Reading Service for the Blind
It is important to know exactly what a Reading Service for the Blind is all about. This is a very humane and sensitive service. People who lack one of their five senses have a sensitivity that can play both for and against us. To achieve the former, it is necessary to connect with the person before proceeding to make the service effective. It is important to know about him or her, why he or she is in that situation, who the people around him or her are and, mainly, what kind of stories or readings he or she likes. Based on this, we will have a platform from which to deploy our service, which will have to include the reading service, such as the companionship service.
How to Get Customers for a Reading Service for the Blind
A press launch is a good idea, since, as there is not much competition, it will attract a lot of attention.
Then it is advisable to launch street vendors who offer the service. They can set up a program to visit schools that specialize in blind people and visit homes for the elderly, a place where this service will have a very important reception. This is because, although in these establishments the patients are attended to in all matters relating to their needs, the service that these houses offer does not include the company or the Reading Service for the Blind. Thus, there is a market niche in society that you can start to exploit from this moment on.
Requirements to start Reading Service for the Blind
One of the requirements for providing a reading centre for the blind is that people can operate the computer, writing on the keyboard and using a peripheral that gives the information in Braille in a voice about what is on the screen.
It is imperative to have software that allows people with visual impairments to explore the screen and magnify their handwriting, making it possible to change colours for better contrast.
The programs or screen readers have had to become more complex to enable their use with Windows, although a few years ago the graphic environments seemed totally inaccessible to the blind, nowadays they can be used quite effectively, but they are certainly not without difficulty.
Another requirement to start the business of reading service for the blind, is access to macrocaracters that are large letters that allow a more comfortable reading for people with focus problems. However, this can be a difficulty for people with central vision loss.
Advantages of having a Reading Service for the Blind
This business, besides being profitable, represents an important social contribution, because it offers a service to the blind population, which contributes to give value and inclusion to this group of people.
With the use of new technologies this business has been booming because important techniques can be incorporated that make use of the web, such as audiodescription, which is a system that allows people to receive contextual information in theatre performances and movies.
However, it is advisable to write a script to include the descriptions in moments of silence of the play. This is defined as an important support to know aspects not told in the dialogues or the narration.
as places or actions. In the case of Spain, we have our own AENOR standard.
Tips for starting the Reading Service for the Blind
Employers who are interested in this business should incorporate some aspects that give it relevance and prestige, such as employing people with disabilities including blind people. In this way, it is demonstrated that there is a sensitivity and concern from the company for the problems faced by people with this disability, promoting their integration into the labor market.
Train staff with courses in Braille, sign language, first aid and first aid. Besides having very descriptive programs and tours for blind people, it increases and diversifies the company’s income.
Investing in training, equipment, installation of a local, permits and advertising. In addition to seeking support from state agencies to incorporate inclusion programs. Customize packages and offer low-cost, low-impact options by designing facilities that are accessible to everyone by hiring a specialized architecture company.
Problems that can arise in Reading Services for the Blind
One of the challenges of this business is to consolidate a space that is useful and attractive to blind people. Being a versatile space that offers the user the most important tools and impact for the support of blind people.
One of the challenges to overcome in this space are the texts well contrasted with the background that help many profiles of this group to read. Glosses can be very annoying when compared to matt colours. It is convenient to work on colour contrast when the background is not going to be white, as in the case of posters and signs. Therefore, tools can be used on the Internet to help measure this contrast.
Success stories
One of the success stories in this sector is the tourism business for the blind, supported by the World Tourism Organization, being a product focused so that people who live with different capacities can enjoy ecological experiences being very attractive for its special tourist plans designed so that they experience nature in their own way, providing emotions, challenges and fun in safe environments.