Blind Woman Writes Book Using Dolphin Software; Raises Money for Guide Dogs UK

Worcester, United Kingdom, February 25, 2016 --(PR.com)-- A UK-based technology company is celebrating the release of an audiobook to raise money for Guide Dogs for the Blind, written by a user of their software.

Confessions of a Guide Dog is the story of Uska, written by his owner Joanne Roberts. Joanne lost most of her sight 14 years ago as a result of diabetes and was registered blind. Uska has been her guiding companion for the past 8 years, and during their time together they’ve had lots of adventures, which Joanne decided to write about from Uska’s point of view.

Losing her sight meant that Joanne was unable to use a computer in the same way she had previously. She discovered Dolphin Computer Access, a Worcester-based company which develops software to enable blind and visually impaired computer users to access technology in the same way as fully sighted users.

Joanne credits Dolphin with her rehabilitation after her sight loss. “The way I turned my life around was learning about SuperNova software,” says Joanne. It’s a misconception that people who are blind have no sight at all. In Joanne’s case she has limited vision in one eye, which she still uses as much as possible. Using Dolphin’s SuperNova software Joanne was able to develop her computer skills; making use of the built in magnification with her remaining sight and the addition of speech to read screen content aloud, enabling her to navigate websites, emails and Microsoft Word. “I would recommend SuperNova to anybody who is in fear of losing their sight or has actually lost their sight,” says Joanne.

Confessions of a Guide Dog was first released as an ebook available on Kindle, but Joanne wanted to make her work fully accessible to all audiences, and began working on an audio version. Audible.com, part of Amazon, commissioned the work, and matched mischievous Uska with the voice of well known radio and TV broadcaster, Nicholas Parsons.

A guide dog will cost £50,000 during their lifetime, and Joanne was keen to raise money for the charity to thank them for the difference Uska has made to her life. Uska is nearing retirement age and Joanne is now on a waiting list to be matched with a new guide dog, although Uska will remain with her as a faithful family pet.
Confessions of a Guide Dog is available to download as an audiobook now, and 10% of the purchase price will be donated to the UK charity.