The BBC tells the tale of Chris Mairs, a blind entrepreneur who has developed an inexpensive gadget called The SpeakOn, a Linux-based, simplified computer that accesses the audio Web.

Funded by Mairs’ technological charity A-Technic, the device has a 12-key type pad allowing blind or partially sighted people to more easily navigate a walled garden of MP3 files, radio stations, podcasts, and periodicals like those provided by the Talking Newspaper Association.

Mairs says the gadget, which will retail for around $565, has a distinct advantage over assistive technologies called screen readers:

Back in the States, US Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are serving as honorary co-chairs for a non-profit organization called One Economy. One-Economy is currently raising funds to launch a project called the Public Internet Channel.

Its goal is to provide low-income Americans free and easy access to vital information on public safety, emergency services, education, health care, and jobs.

“The Public Internet Channel can do for accessing social services what Yahoo! has done for accessing entertainment or what Craigslist has done for accessing local goods for sale,” said Obama.

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