Audio Information Network of Colorado (AINC) is a volunteer-based, nonprofit audio information service for children, adults, and seniors who are blind, losing vision, or are print disabled for any other reason (cannot read text due to a physical, neurological, or other disability). Our team of volunteers reads and records news and information content for live broadcasts and for a growing number of podcasts available on-demand. Broadcast content is also captured and uploaded, and it is available alongside our podcasts.
AINC was founded in 1990 by David Dawson, who is blind. His lived experience demonstrated the need for a service that connects blind, low vision, or print disabled individuals with audio editions of local print – from newspapers and grocery ads to transit information. Through the generosity of KRMA Channel 6 (now Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Service-RMPBS), AINC began broadcasting in 1991. In 2009 AINC began broadcasting over RMPBS’s donated digital associated audio channels, and as technology has progressed we have continued to expand our programming access – we now offer smart speakers free of charge to our listeners, and we work to connect our listeners to discounted, high-speed internet. Our content has also grown with our organization. We offer three regional broadcasts as well as a Spanish-only broadcast – and – we produce and distribute podcasts that focus on topics of interest and/or showcase interesting personalities from the community. These podcasts, and all of the content we offer, are available through our website, on smart speakers, on smartphone, or by way of a toll-free, call-in system. In order to provide around 140 hours of unique content every week, our organization leverages an average of 150 dedicated volunteers who read and record local news and information in audio format.
AINC provides a host audio of programming for individuals who are blind, low vision, or otherwise print disabled in order to help offer our listeners opportunities for connectivity, agency, and self sufficiency. Here, most local news, civic engagement, consumer information, and health and wellness offerings are
AINC is the only service in Colorado providing audio access to local newspapers, grocery ads, transit information, and other extremely local print content. AINC’s audio-format local news which includes local papers that range from the Denver Post to the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Grand Junction Sentinel. We also connect listeners with interviews with interesting people in the blind and visually impaired community, and engage listeners in Spanish and English.
