READING TO THE OTHERS

Disability is not only a congenital or acquired natural constraint, but is primarily a social condition between the individual and the environment, according to the United Nations. In order to be able to invalidate in practice the distinction of disability requires an environment capable of removing any possible obstacles. In this direction, Reading to the Others claims equal access to knowledge and literature for all people, without discrimination, and through recordings hopes to enrich the available audio books in order to make knowledge accessible to all.

The voluntary organization Reading to the Others is mainly addressed to people who are included in the category of Print Disability. As such people are defined as people with reduced or total vision loss, people with disabilities in the upper limbs, illiterates, quadriplegics, people with learning disabilities and according to the World Health Organization it is estimated that 10% of the population of each country is in this category.

From January 2015 to date.

With the slogan "To hear with our eyes and to read with our voice" and to the vision that access to literature must be possible for all, volunteers of Reading to the Others read and record academic writings, fairytales and literature books in order to enrich the Acoustic Library for people with loss of vision.

In order to achieve the best result, volunteers interested in recording audio books participate in a three-stage process.

In the beginning, volunteers take part in a live assessment to judge the suitability of their voice. This evaluation takes place in professional recording studios and participates in it as evaluators of professional actors and visually impaired people.
In the second stage, volunteers who were considered suitable for recording are involved in a 6-hour training by professional actors and sound technicians. Their purpose is to acquire the basic technical knowledge and skills to make the best possible recording.
And in the third and final stage, volunteers, in collaboration with the organizing members of Reading to the Others and professional sound engineers, receive books and start recording in our partner's studio.

AmeLib, Panhellenic Association of the Blind, Ilioupoli Municipal Library, OPI, Panteion University, EKKA.

316 trained members plus 15 evaluators

Athens, Heraklion Crete, Chania, Thessaloniki

Up to now, 93 books have been recorded (mainly literature and academic writings) which after the recording were submitted to the online library AmeLib, an online platform created by the Panteion University. Having access to this library, anyone who is unable to keep a book in their hands can extend their access to literary and academic content.
More specifically, students with the ability to access academic material at both undergraduate and postgraduate level are able to fulfill their university obligations autonomously, allowing them to be able to claim equal positions in the job market and create a sense of completeness and moral satisfaction.
At the same time, their family receives the feeling of hope and safety and that they are able to participate equally at university and can behave with self-sufficiency.

This action began in Athens and had a great impact from the beginning. It gave the opportunity to the newly founded Reading to the Others to become more known, and press to deal with them and to project their work. As a result, even more people wanted to join not only in this action but also in the rest and very soon escaped from the narrow boundaries of Athens. In a short time three other Greek cities (Heraklion, Chania and Thessaloniki) were added as recordings centers so that there is a growing influx of volunteers both in the part of the reader as well as technical support (sound engineer).
Very often volunteers who can not pass the assessment for recordings remain in the Reading to the Others and choose other actions to participate.