PBS Fort Wayne and Allen County Public Library Expand Access to Audio Reading Service on New Channel
(FORT WAYNE, IN) – In a continued commitment to serve the community, PBS Fort Wayne and the Allen County Public Library are proud to announce simplified access to the Audio Reading Service (ARS), a free library service from the Allen County Public Library providing broadcast and digital access to audio readings of local news, magazines, and other programming for individuals who have visual, physical, learning or language challenges to reading normal printed materials.
The service is now broadcast on its own dedicated television channel, PBS Fort Wayne 39.6 on Monday, May 19. This advancement marks a major step forward in accessibility for individuals who have difficulty reading traditional printed materials due to a disability or other condition.
For more than a decade, the ARShas been delivered through a secondary audio channel on PBS Fort Wayne Explore Channel, 39.4, requiring complex tuning and limited accessibility. With this upgrade, users throughout northeast Indiana can now access the ARS quickly and easily using just their TV remote, making the service more convenient and inclusive than ever before. The legacy PBS Fort Wayne 39.4 service will continue as well for the foreseeable future.(To see which cable/satellite/pay tv services offer channel 39.4, click here to visit our "How To Find Our Channels Where You Live" web page.)
“This new channel ensures that anyone with an antenna-connected television can receive the ARS in their home,” said Bruce Haines, General Manager at PBS Fort Wayne. “It’s a meaningful improvement for those who rely on audio services to stay informed and connected. This is another way PBS Fort Wayne honors its calling as a valued organization by giving back to our community.”
This move coincides with PBS Fort Wayne’s 50th anniversary, symbolizing the station’s enduring mission to inform, educate, and inspire.
“This collaboration makes finding and using the ARS far more convenient and increases the reach of this vital service,” said ARS Manager Monica Hadsall. “Our listeners and their care partners tell us that our volunteers' voices are a comfort and companion to keep them connected to local news, events, and more. We are so grateful to PBS Fort Wayne for its continuing support of our listeners.”
The ARS and PBS Fort Wayne are grateful to the AWS Foundation for its financial support to acquire the final equipment required to create this new broadcast service on 39.6.
Here's How to See/Hear the Audio Reading Service Channel/39.6.
The best way to take advantage of our dedicated Audio Reading Service Channel is to select "Antenna" as the input on your TV set. As yet, we have not been notified if and when area cable/satellite/pay TV services have, or intend to add channel 39.6 to their lineup of channels from PBS Fort Wayne.
If you cannot see/hear channel 39.6, or see it clearly, using your TV's remote, you'll want to re-scan the channels your TV currently receives over-the-air on your set. Once the re-scan is finished, look for channel 39.6 and you should be able to experience the Audio Reading Service Channel.
If you do not watch TV using an antenna but use a pay TV service, such as Comcast Xfinity, Frontier, or another pay TV service you can still access this on services that carry our Explore Channel, 39.4. Select the channel they have assigned channel 39.4 to and using the cable/satellite remote, change the audio language option to "French" instead of "English."
