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

Sat Apr 2 02:20:55 UTC 2011

Hello Kevin,
That is strange.  I tried using an online book from there a few months ago 
and I could not get it to work at all.  How did you get it to work?  I could 
not find any of the text for the book I tried.
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 3:00 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] College Course Material: Accessible eTextBooks, 
Braille,and Tactile Graphics


> Online is most accessible and actively developed
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Apr 1, 2011, at 7:55 PM, "Greg Wocher" <gwblindman1 at gwblindman.org> 
> wrote:
>
>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
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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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>>
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