Spanish National Organisation of the Blind (ONCE)

Spanish National Organisation of the Blind (ONCE)

Calle Prado, 24-2a plata
Madrid, ES-28014
Spain

Phone: + 34 91 589 4866
Website: http://www.once.es

ONCE (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles) is a not-for-profit organisation established in 1938 right before the end of the Spanish Civil War. This organisation brought together a number of small societies of and for the blind all over Spain becoming the only organisation of blind and visually impaired persons in the whole country. Its aim is to provide to its members with the widest range of services possible, from education to employment, from rehabilitation to reading services.

ONCE is a self-funded organisation, with the selling of tickets for its own lottery as its main means of funding. There are around 63,000 members, 17,000 of them sell these lottery tickets all around the country. Another 6,000 sellers suffer from disabilities other than visual impairment, as a result of ONCE’s concern for other persons with disabilities in Spain. Altogether, ONCE has a working force of around 30,000 people.

The production and library services were established in the 1960s, and as of today, ONCE has two main production centres (in Madrid and Barcelona) and more than 30 smaller production units that produce Braille, audio and tactile materials. All these centres and production units include a library service.

The analogue audio collection comprises nearly 15,000 titles. In 2000, ONCE started the digitisation of its collection and around 5,400 audio books are already in digital format. Some of these titles, together with all new audio production (since September 2001) are also in DAISY format (1,100 titles).

ONCE has been a Full Member of the DAISY Consortium since it was established.