A MAJOR project to develop information systems for the blind is to be launched in a Teesside town on Monday.

The new scheme, which is being run in partnership between Stockton Borough Council, the RNIB and Vodafone, will equip blind residents in Stockton with the latest technology to enable them to access information on public transport information.

They will be provided with mobile speakerphones, which convert text to speech.

They will also be given portable readers, which uses the latest DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) technology to enable blind people to use fully searchable CDs.

The RNIB will be providing assistance and training, and users will be regularly consulted throughout the scheme.

Using the experience of local people, the council's goal is to equip the blind user with information that allows them to travel by public transport with confidence.

The project has won funding of £153,000 from the Department of Transport.

John Kavanagh, senior transport planning engineer at the council, said: "It's long been our ambition to provide timetables for blind travellers. Braille is too impractical and not everyone uses it. Tapes simply cannot be searched and updated easily.

"Using DAISY we hope to be able to provide fully searchable and up to date timetables on CD that can be produced at low cost and are easy to use."

Stockton has, along with other Tees Valley authorities, also won funding to provide a Real Time Bus Passenger Information System, which will provide blind travellers with live information on when buses are due through their mobile phones.

This system will also be of use to all other mobile phone users so travellers will be able to find out exactly when their bus is due.