TAFN Welcome Pack 2018 - The Accessible Friends Network

Welcome to The Accessible Friends Network and thank you for your interest in
becoming a new member. We are a growing UK based charity and our main focus
is to provide help, support and leisure activities through the friendship of
our members.

We have put together this welcome pack to give you as much information as we
can about the organization and how you can take part in all the great things
that are going on. We hope that by the time you have read this pack you will
be able to connect to our voice conferencing system and meet all the people
that make TAFN the great place it is, all from the comforts of your own
chair.

You will find information on who to contact if you have further questions or
experience technical issues whilst trying to use any of our services. All
the volunteer members of our technical team are experienced in many areas of
computing and will be only too pleased to try and assist you in solving
these problems. So feel free to contact any of us if there are any points or
problems that you wish to bring to our attention.

Once again thank you for showing an interest in TAFN.

Please note that all services and facilities laid out in this document are
available to guests as well as members other than where specifically
detailed as being for full members only.

This document is broken down into the following sections.

What are the benefits of TAFN?
What goes on at TAFN?
How do I become a full member of TAFN?
Getting Involved.
Need Help?
Useful Contacts.

What are the benefits of TAFN?

Being a part of TAFN entitles you to take advantage of a whole host of great
benefits. These include Europe’s accessible stereo voice conferencing
system where you can chat to likeminded people and take part in fantastic
events, lively e-mail lists, informative and useful website pages and your
own TAFN email address. These benefits are explained below in more detail.

Voice Conferencing.
Once you have signed up and had your acceptance email sent to you, you will be
able to access the voice conferencing system which allows you to talk to
other TAFN members from all over the world. All you need to get started is a
Windows PC with a soundcard, a set of speakers or headphones and a
microphone. or a iPhone, iPad, or Android Phone Or Tablet
the programme does need some minor adjustment in order to work. If you
encounter problems please contact the help desk by sending an
email tohelpdesk@tafn.org.uk please include a contact number or skype name and they will make every effort to try and
assist you in resolving the issue.

Below we have provided a quick start guide to getting on to the voice
conferencing system once you have been acepted.

TAFN e-mail lists.

TAFN offers its members a number of e-mail lists that cover a wide selection
of different topics. The cornerstone of these is the TAFN main list which is an informal forum for
discussion amongst our members on any issues that concern us as blind and
visually impaired people day to day. by default, we put people on this list so that the members can welcome all new guests.

If people then find that there is too much traffic on this list than they can be asked to be put on to our announce only

list.

How do I join one of the e-mail lists?

You can find details of all the lists on offer below. To subscribe or change
your subscription status to any of the lists please

List of our mailing lists.

TAFN main list. This is used for general conversation about any topics that
are relevant to blind and visually impaired people. People can also discuss any other topics they choose to.
TAFN Announce. This list carries all the announcements about events on TAFN
and other important information. As this is the only way people can receive important announcements, it is advised that you

go on to this list. When you first sign up, you will be put on the announce list.
TAFN Alerts. This list has alerts about member’s birthdays and
anniversaries.
TAFN Tec. This list can be used to get answers to tech questions or for
general tech chat.
Quizmaster. Daily puzzles and brain teasers.
TAFN Golf. This list is for anything to do with the Jim Kitchen Golf game
including details of leagues and tournaments run on TAFN.
TAFN Books. Chat and reviews about books and reading.

All write. This list is for all those who enjoy creative writing.

TAFN titbits. This list is jokes and funny stories.
TAFN Sports List. This list is for sport lovers.
Gardening. A list for all those with green fingers.
Room For Your Beliefs. List for those wishing to discuss matters of faith
and spirituality.
The cooking list, a list where all things culinary are discussed
The haven list. For anyone who has personal and psychological difficulties
can receive advice.
The guide dog list where people discuss anything to do with having a guide dog.

The TAFN Public Website.

The TAFN website is a great resource and it has been designed in a way that
makes it very easy for blind and visually impaired people to find their way
around with their screen reading software, but at the same time looking good
for the sighted members. Some of the exciting and useful things on our site
include.

Sue’s kitchen.
Do you enjoy cooking? If so then this is the page for you. Our very own
master chef, Sue, will give you all those little hints and tips that will
make cooking even more of a pleasure.
Elisabeth’s Garden.
Do you enjoy gardening if so then this is the place to be.

Greg’s training.
Why not have a look at what training we have to offer.

These are just a few of the things that are available on our public website,
check out www.tafn.org.uk to access these and many other useful and fun
items.

The TAFN Members area.

The members area is the place to go to find all our documentation, including
our constitution, code of conduct and back copies of the minutes of our
monthly members meeting. You can also find copies of all our annual reports
and links to information on our various committees such as the Mediation,
Arbitration &
Development committee and the executive committee.
There are also pages containing links to content
created by some of our members exclusively for the benefit of TAFN members
including some great audio tutorials.
To gain access to the members area follow steps 1 to 3 in the section above
about voice conferencing to get to the locator frame and then tab through
the links to the one called TAFN Members area website and hit enter to view
the members area contents page. Please note that the members area is only
available to Full members.

TAFN mailbox – what it is and how to get one.

Every full member of TAFN is entitled to have their very own TAFN email
address. This is an e-mail address that will have your choice of name
followed by @tafn.org.uk. These can take the format of a simple forwarding
email address or a fully functional imap mailbox.
This service is provided free of charge whilst you remain a TAFN full
member. For further details and to request a TAFN email address then
contact us using the address mailboxes@tafn.org.uk
Include details of the
address you would like to have and we’ll do the rest. We will also send you
full details of how to setup and use this mailbox.

What goes on AT TAFN?

Online Events.
As well as being a place where you can have a friendly chat with people at
any time of the day or night, our voice conferencing server plays host to
many fantastic and varied online events run by our members which everyone is
invited to take part in.

Examples of some of our events include:

The Friday night quiz
This is a general knowledge quiz hosted by 2 of our members. It lasts for
around 2 hours and takes place at 8.15PM every Friday night.
Archers Event.
Every other Wednesday join this event for relaxed and fun chat about the
goings on in Ambridge.

* Music Events
A lot of our members love music and there are always music events taking
place on the server which all are welcome to join.

* Chain Reaction.
This is a fun team word game in which you have to complete a chain of words.
This event is on every monday at 8pm UK time and every Friday at 10AM UK time.

* Room For your beliefs
This is a monthly faith and spiritual group who meet to discuss issues
surrounding faith religion and spirituality.

* Golf at TAFN.
Many of our members like to play the golf game created by Jim Kitchen and
you will find many social games being played on the communicator. In
addition we also run a league and some tournaments from time to time which
members are welcome to join.

These are just some of the great events taking place regularly on TAFN. You
can find a full up-to-date list at the top of the locator frame by
activating the link called Upcoming events.

Bonus ball, raffles and bingo.

As a member of TAFN you can take part in some events that could win you some
money or prizes whilst at the same time helping to provide much needed funds
for the charity. These include.

Bonus Ball – This game is based on the bonus ball that is drawn out on the
national lotto. You can buy a number for a small monthly payment and if your
number comes up at one of the Lotto draws then you will win. To find out
more info contact us using the email address bonusball@tafn.org.uk.
Bingo – Once a month, on a Saturday evening, why not take part in a game of
bingo hosted by our members. The cost is as little as £3 to £15 For
more details please send an e-mail to bingo@tafn.org.uk and we will be only
too pleased to provide you with all the details.
Raffles – From time to time, we run a raffle to raise money for the
organization. This is run by our members and we have had some great prizes
in the past including a £100 hamper and cash prizes. For more information on
the raffles, please contact: raffle@tafn.org.uk.

Please note that the bonus ball, bingo and raffle are only available to full
members although guests are welcome to sit in and listen on the bingo event.

How do I become a full member of TAFN?

As a guest you are invited to enjoy a taster of most of our services and
benefits for a one month period. At any time during that period you can
become a member by making the required payment of £15 this covers you for 1 year We consider the cost of
membership to be extremely good value for the benefits you receive.
please contact our memberships administrator who will be happy to provide
you with all the details on how much it costs and your payment options. Send
an email to memberships@tafn.org.uk.

Getting involved.

Over time you may wish to get involved in helping out with the running of
things at TAFN. You can do this in a number of ways. Please note that only
full members can get involved in these ways.

Events.
We are always looking for new ideas for events and people to help organise
and run them. If you feel you have a good idea for an event or want to help
run or organise an event then contact our online events organiser using the
email address events@tafn.org.uk.

Attending the members meetings.
On the second Thursday of each month, we hold a monthly meeting to which all
full members are invited to attend. this meeting is your chance to hear
about the work that has been going on in the different committees in the
previous month, how the bank accounts are looking, what changes have been
made to the web site and sometimes you will be asked to vote on issues that
will effect TAFN. This meeting takes place at 8pm UK time in the members
room on the communicator server.

Getting involved in committees.
From time to time we look for new people to join committees, so if you think
you would like to be involved, when a message goes out asking for people to
join a committee, just drop a line to us and let us know you’re interested.
Some committees may require you to have been a full member for a minimum
period of time but you will be advised of any such requirements at the time.

Need help?

We all need help occasionally, and here at TAFN, no matter how big or small
the problem, you can find someone that can help. There are a number of ways
to do this, these include.

Help from other members.
You will find a list of members MSN and Skype addresses on the locator page,
just click on the link on the locator page called MSN/Skype Directory. All
members in this list have consented to their details being available to all
members. You can add your own details to this list too.
E-mail list.
A good source of help for many things is to simply post a message to one of
the TAFN e-mail lists and you will probably have the answer to your
questions quicker than you think.

Moderators and Help desk Team.

We have a dedicated group of members that have volunteered to assist other
members and to make sure that everything is running as it should throughout
all areas of TAFN.

Moderators.

You will see when you go down the list of open rooms that some members have
the label Mod incorporate into their screen name . These people will help
you with general information and will make sure that the code of conduct and
guidelines are adhered to.

We have a dedicated team of people at the help desk who will be able to
help you with any technical problems you may have. If you need to contact
them, please email: helpdesk@tafn.org.uk and they will be happy to help.
Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
out of working hours will be delt with the next working day.

Financial Assistance.

TAFN does have three modest funds which aim to assist members in certain
situations where money is a problem. These are called the tech support fund,
the S.M.A, Fund and the Emergency Lifeline Fund (ELF).

The tech support fund allows you to apply for up to £300 to help you pay for
repairs to your pc. The S.M.A. fund will assist with up to 50% of S.M.A.
upgrades for screen reader and magnification software.

The emergency lifeline fund has been setup to help our members out in difficult times. If
you have had a major problem such as a flood and you need a helping hand to
get yourself back on your feet, you can apply for an emergency grant. For
more details about these funds, please send an e-mail to:
techfund@tafn.org.uk, smafund@tafn.org.uk or elf@tafn.org.uk respectively or
see the relevant sections in the members area. Please note that the tech
fund, S.M.A. fund and the ELF fund are only available to full members.

Useful Contacts.

Here is a list of useful e-mail addresses. Please feel free to contact any
of the following at any time, we’re here to help.

Have a question about becoming a full member?
memberships@tafn.org.uk

Have a question about anything to do with payments?
treasurer@tafn.org.uk

Need tech support?
helpdesk@tafn.org.uk

Want to join or leave one of our mailing lists?
lists@tafn.org.uk

Have a query or complaint about a post on our mailing lists?
listmods@tafn.org.uk

Have a general complaint, or suggestion?
dma@tafn.org.uk

Want to get involved in events?
events@tafn.org.uk

Want to contact the charity’s trustees?
trustees@tafn.org.uk

Have a publicity related question or suggestion?
publicity@tafn.org.uk

Need general help?
info@tafn.org.uk

We also have our local helpline that you can call during UK office
hours.
0203 290 9254.

Thank you for taking the time to read this document and we hope that you
have found it useful. Please send any comments or suggestions for future
versions of this document to info@tafn.org.uk

The Accessible Friends Network.
Shared vision through friendship.

Document version 4.0 Augost 2015.
Copyright The Accessible Friends Network UK Registered Charity No. 1108043

Please note that all services and facilities laid out in this document are available to guests as well as members other than where specifically detailed as being for full members only.