Version One's software helps RNIB overcome document accessibility challenges

The UKs leading sight loss charity, the Royal National Institute of the Blind, has overcome a number of challenges in producing Braille and audio-versions of some of its accounting documents, for use by blind and partially sighted customers and business partners, with specialist enterprise-wide document management software from Version One.

Barry Goold, Corporate IT Manager for the RNIB, explained, Version Ones enterprise-wide laserforms software has the ability to interact with our ERP systems database and dynamically change the appearance and content of our business documents, based on variables, such as, which RNIB division issued the document, the type of customer, and so on. The software also generates file output for us, which is used to produce Braille and audio versions of the printed documents.

In addition, RNIB has implemented Version Ones automatic mail solution, DbMail. The software can automatically attach not only an image of accounting documents to e-mails, but also a version of the same document, formatted to make it more accessible for RNIBs blind and partially sighted customers and business partners, using speech or screen magnification software. RNIB says that this reduces the need for traditional postage and therefore reduces their corporate operating costs.

Barry Goold explained, We can now design more of our business documents to be accessible to recipients who only have partial use of their sight, using clear fonts and larger point sizes than average. Ordinarily, this would involve a number of design challenges, but Version Ones software has easily coped with these.

Ian Vickers, Chief Accountant at the charity, said, RNIB has achieved a number of substantial business benefits from this software, including efficiency and cost savings because of our ability to electronically send documents directly from our ERP system. Version Ones products have enabled the production of more accessible document output for many of our blind and partially sighted recipients - laser quality clear print, Braille, audio, electronic e-mail, alternate accessible versions.

Version Ones software is used extensively throughout RNIB, producing, for example, sales quotations for their Customer Services department, picking lists and despatch notes within Warehousing, sales invoices, credit notes and statements for their Sales Ledger department, remittance advices within the Purchase Ledger department and purchase orders for their Purchasing teams.

Catherine Murphy, Marketing Manager for Version One, added, We are delighted to help RNIB assist both their customers and business partners with these paperless office technologies, which are increasingly being seamlessly integrated into more and more Accounting and ERP systems worldwide.