Press Releases
Classical 89.5 Launches Accessible Website and Online Streaming
AUSTIN, Texas - www.kmfa.org has a new look - AND sound! On December 6th, 2005 at approximately 12:30 pm, KMFA 89.5 launched it's newly designed, disability accessible website - AND it's programming could be accessed as an online audio stream for the first time!
Due to popular demand from listeners who had moved from the area and listeners whom had difficulty tuning in at their local places of work, KMFA made it a priority to secure the necessary funding for streaming this year. Additionally, help from Go9 Media and the Vox Group allowed KMFA to launch streaming in the context of a newly designed and easier to navigate website.
Development & Marketing Director, Joan Kobayashi, states: "Our audience - and potential audience - want to listen when they want, where they want and with the device they want. That device now includes their personal and work computers. We're thrilled to be streaming and so pleased that our website is now easier for people with disabilities to use. With our mission being to make classical music accessible to everyone, streaming and this new website design match that perfectly! "
KMFA enthusiasts - wherever they may be or go - can now enjoy the third annual Festival of Carols December 22nd - 25th, four days of continuous carols and holiday themed music - sponsored, in part, by Austin Asset Management Company - including the KMFA premier of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols broadcast LIVE from Cambridge, England on Christmas Eve morning at 9am.
KMFA's website is now specially encoded to enable access for people with disabilities. Listeners with little to no vision may now "read" site content using special screen readers and navigate with ease. Go9 Media and Vox Group - KMFA's new site designers - won third place in Knowbility's 2005 Accessibility Internet rally with the KMFA test site. According to a recent survey, one in five Americans will suffer from a disability sometime in their life and that number is growing everyday. KMFA is proud to recognize that fact and incorporate assistive technology in its new site.
Jack Allen, KMFA's General Manager comments: "This is only the beginning for kmfa.org. We plan to add many more interactive features for our listeners as well as archived content in the upcoming months. We're very proud to announce these first improvements in service to our listeners and community."
Classical 89.5 KMFA is a listener supported, community radio station - incorporated in 1967 - relying on 85% of its funding from direct listener contributions. A noncommercial, classical format station - KMFA features both local programming and nationally distributed programming from Public Radio International and Minnesota Public Radio.
