If you’re reading the print version of this issue of Leaside Life, it might not occur to you that for reasons such as blindness, low vision, mobility or learning disabilities, others are missing out. But for those in the know, PAL is ready to come to the rescue. In fact, there are already Leasiders who have received Leaside Life in audio format for many years.
PAL is a reading service “serving print challenged people since 1975,” says the website, to provide free, human voice, spoken word information to those who need an audio format. You provide the written material, and they transform it onto a CD or digital download, which is in DAISY format, “a technical standard designed to be a complete audio substitute for print material.”
Board president and volunteer narrator Danielle McLaughlin was the director of education at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. She also provides a “know your rights” segment regularly for AMI (Accessible Media Inc.), an agency she describes as a “community partner of PAL (which) entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through the offering of relevant original content.” Her involvement with PAL started when she was invited as a guest speaker to talk about “Equality for Blind Canadians.” The first book she narrated for PAL was on the life of Elvis Presley.
Both Derek Simunovic and Mark Fielding, coordinator and assistant coordinator at PAL, respectively, both came to the agency as volunteer narrators, and then assumed paid positions when former employees were on maternity leave.
What is so special about PAL is that people who wish to use the service self-identify. And whatever material they want in audio format, it becomes theirs, with no expiry and at no cost to them. Materials recorded include novels or newspaper articles, but also such items as a lease agreement or a manual for a fire alarm. In some cases, a client has a favourite book no longer readable in print that can then be made into a DAISY format audible book. Other clients have old cassettes that need to be updated.
In a year, PAL provides 2,500 hours of material, or about 47,500 pages of material, all with live narrators.
PAL was founded in 1975 with a Federal Local Initiatives Program grant of $18,000 and incorporated as a non-profit in 1976. Its first advisory board in 1977 included Mayor (at the time) David Crombie, Marshall McLuhan and Rabbi Gunther Plaut. The current board of nine members includes five who are blind.
Derek and Mark described PAL as being in a “period of equilibrium,” sort of like a three-legged stool, with a good balance of volunteers, clients and donors. But the stool can always be strengthened with longer legs. More clients and more generous donors are always welcome. There is already a waiting list for volunteer narrators.
Danielle McLaughlin closed her 2023 annual board report with a quote from Lemony Snicket: “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” In whatever format, books are important for everyone.
Learn more: www.palreading.org.
