[nabs-l] College Course Material: Accessible eTextBooks, Braille, and Tactile Graphics

[Greg Wocher]

Hello Kevin,
I have been looking at course smart for a little bit now.  Do you use their 
online books or do you use their downloadable reader?
Thanks,
Greg W.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin Chao" <kevinchao89 at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 2:36 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] College Course Material: Accessible eTextBooks, 
Braille, and Tactile Graphics


> Yes, I've used CourseSmart and AMAC and find them to be absolutely
> invaluable resources.
>
> The various aspects that I really enjoy about CourseSmart and AMAC
> will be detailed below.
>
> CourseSmart
> * Mainstream access to eTextBooks
> * Affordable, timely, and true access
> * in-book, chapter, or section searches.
> *Very effectively and easily  navigate table of contents (chapters,
> sections, etc)
> * Jump to specific page
> * Highly tagged/marked-up: headings 1-5 for structured navigation,
> alttext for description of graphics, table for formatted
> representation of data, and lists for nicely formatted bullet points.
> * Accessibility at CourseSmart.com is extremely committed, fast, and
> great about resolving  everything.
> * Works with Windows (NVDA and JAWS); Mac OS X and iOS (VoiceOver);
> Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.
>
>
> Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC)
> * DSS, institutions, organizations, and companies have no excuse to
> provide braille, tactile graphics, or other alternative media.
> * Affordable, timely, and extremely high-quality
> * Fantastic and wonderful support
>
>
>
> Kevin
>
> On 4/1/11, Arielle Silverman <nabs.president at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Has anyone used either of these two products discussed below?
>> If so, did you find them accessible and easy to use?
>> Arielle
>>
>> On 4/1/11, Kevin Chao <kevinchao89 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I would like to share two fantastic resources for any college student
>>> or instructor, which I think should be advocated for, encouraged, and
>>> utilized by all.
>>>
>>> Like most, I've used human readers, scanned books, used RFB&D, and
>>> worked with disabled students services to get eTextBooks from
>>> publisher. All these things served their purposes and time, and it's
>>> time to move on.
>>>
>>> In fall of 2010, I broke away from the status quo, which includes: not
>>> using RFB&D, not scanning textbooks,  and not having to be so reliant
>>> on disabled student services. Two companies have made this possible:
>>> CourseSmart and AMAC.  This has allowed equal access, independence,
>>> and a true forward studying experience.  It's never been possible for
>>> us as blind students, instructors, or even providers to use an
>>> innovative eTextBook service.
>>>
>>> * CourseSmart for mainstream, accessible, and highly marked-up 60% off
>>> eTextBooks
>>> * Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) for affordable, high-quality,
>>> and efficient braille and tactile graphics for textbooks, exams,
>>> handouts, assignments, etc
>>>
>>> http://www.CourseSmart.com is a mainstream accessible eTextBook rental
>>> service, which all students can take advantage of. This includes
>>> students with or without print-related disabilities (blind, low
>>> vision, learning disabled).
>>>
>>> http://www.amac.uga.edu Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) will
>>> work with institutions to provide braille, tactile graphics, and
>>> remediated eText. AMAC has very high-quality and standards and will lift
>>> stress off DSS, allowing DSS to focus on providing service, not
>>> content.
>>>
>>> This is the now and future of how students, instructors, and all in
>>> post-secondary education will obtain, work with, and enjoy accessible
>>> course material.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Kevin
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Arielle Silverman
>> President, National Association of Blind Students
>> Phone:  602-502-2255
>> Email:
>> nabs.president at gmail.com
>> Website:
>> www.nabslink.org
>>
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>
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