TNF to adopt Speech Talking Newspaper Skill and upload service
- Written by Jenny Cameron
- Posted: 24 June 2025
British Wireless for the Blind Fund (BWBF) and Talking News Federation (TNF) have reached an agreement to continue the Speech Talking Newspaper Alexa Skill and upload service under TNF's care.
Earlier this month we announced that, after a thorough review of our digital services, we had made the decision decommission our Speech Radio and Speech Talking Newspaper mobile apps and Alexa Skill. At the time we indicated that we were talking to other organisations about whether they would like to adopt our Speech Talking Newspaper service.
After discussions on 20 June, BWBF and TNF reached and signed an agreement to move the Alexa Skill element of the service—and the upload service that allows local talking newspapers to deliver their content through the Skill and online—into TNF's care. The change in ownership of the service will come into effect before the end of September and both organisations will work together to ensure continuity of the service throughout the intervening period.
Plans to decommission the app version of the Speech Talking Newspaper service and our other app, Speech Radio, will continue. These services will be closed no sooner than the end of July and we will continue to update our app users in the lead up to the change. During the coming weeks, we will be offering one-to-one support to everyone who needs it, so that they can find alternative solutions and support them to fulfil their audio needs; or move from the app version of the Speech Talking Newspaper to using the Alexa Skill version of the service, which is continuing under TNF's care.
In addition, anyone using the Speech Talking Newspaper app who wants to move to the Skill, can apply for a free Alexa device from BWBF to support them to do so.
We are thrilled that TNF have decided to continue to deliver the Speech Talking Newspaper upload service and Alexa skill. This feels like a natural step after many years of close partnership, and we know that this will mean a great deal to the loyal users who have found joy and connection through this service over the years.
Sophie Jones, Chief Executive of BWBF
As a charity, we have a responsibility to use our resources to make the maximum impact on people’s lives. By reinvesting our resources 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. These decisions haven't been easy, and we appreciate the support and engagement of our users over the years. We are committed to ensuring that everyone affected by these changes has the personalised support they need during these changes and we look forward to continuing to engage with all our users as we develop new services in the months and years ahead.
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. We will continue to stay in touch with all our users to provide updates, resources and support as these changes take effect.
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