RLSB - Dorton Radio

Dorton Radio

Dorton College student broadcasting on Dorton Radio

Listen to Dorton Radio - Live!

Dorton Radio is the Royal London Society for the Blind's (RLSB) on-site radio station, broadcasting to the local community on frequency 1350AM.

Sponsored by the Primary Club, Dorton Radio was founded and has been On-Air since December 1999. In the Summer of 2007 there was an extensive upgrade of equipment making Dorton Radio on par with mainstream local radio stations. Although the software and equipment was designed for the sighted world, Dorton Radio has adaptive technology to assist users with its operation. CCTV monitors, brailled keyboards and screen readers are key tools for our students to have full access to all areas of radio management and production.

Dorton College student Alex explains "There is no disadvantage in being visually impaired when you listen to the radio. We use especially adapted computer software (JAWS) to help us select music and jingles from our archives when we are broadcasting. This makes it easy because 'JAWS' uses a sound card and a speech synthesizer, so information on the screen is read aloud".

Another student, Faisal, said "I used to use 'Zoom Text' on the computer, which makes the text really big, but my eye sight has got worse and worse and so I now use 'JAWS' to select music".

Students attending Dorton College, take classes in the radio station, which focus on literacy; communication skills; creative writing; radio management and of course developing DJ-ing skills.

Dorton Radio plays a key role in drawing the Dorton Campus Community together as all Dorton House School and Dorton College students have the opportunity to host their own shows outside of their normal lessons. This has become very popular and as a result every musical genre has been selected by the students – from golden oldies, rock and pop, to urban beats and new chart music.

The ethos of Dorton Radio is that it is run by the students … for the students.

One of our students, Terry, says: "I came to the RLSB college because I knew I could learn from Dorton Radio. I would like to work in radio when I leave college and have recently submitted a demo tape to the BBC … I'm keeping my fingers crossed".

Terry has listened to other student's live broadcasts over the last year or so and says " It is brilliant that they all sound so much more confident now".

Many students have gone on to volunteer their skills as DJs for local hospital, store and university radio stations in the community, providing them with excellent opportunities to interact with other radio professionals and develop their skills further.

We are now researching opportunities to link with other schools and colleges as part of The National Schools Radio Network launched in December 2007 with the prospects of entering radio media into the National Sony Music Awards.