A statement on the future of our apps and skill

Our statement below outlines changes we will be making to our digital services over the coming months.

If you use our apps or Skill and would like to talk more about how these changes will affect you, or get support with this transition, please email dave@blind.org.uk.

Sophie Jones, CEO of British Wireless for the Blind Fund, said:

“Following a thorough review or our digital services, we have made the decision decommission our Speech Radio and Speech Talking Newspaper mobile apps and Alexa Skill. While the Speech Talking Radio app will stop being available when these changes come into effect, we are talking to other organisations who may adopt the Speech Talking Newspaper service in the future.

“This wasn’t an easy decision, and we know that there is a small but loyal base of people who have found real joy, comfort and connection from these services. We appreciate the support and engagement of our users over the years. However, sadly the uptake has been very low, significantly below what was anticipated.

“As a charity, we have a responsibility to use our resources to make the maximum impact on people’s lives. By reinvesting the resources that were going into maintaining our apps and skill into more direct support services for people living with sight loss, we believe we can do more to unlock a world of audio for the community we exist to serve.

“For now, our Speech Radio and Speech Talking Newspaper services are still available and there will be a transition period as these changes take effect later in the summer. During this time, we will be offering one-to-one support to all our users to help them find alternative solutions and support them to fulfil their audio needs. We will also use this time to keep our users updated if another organisation chooses to adopt the Speech Talking Newspaper service."

"We would like to thank all our app and Skill users, and the partners who have been part of delivering these services. Your feedback and loyalty mean a great deal to us, and we look forward to continuing to engage with you as we develop new services to unlock a world of audio for people living with sight loss in the months and years ahead."