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

Fri Apr 1 23:51:47 UTC 2011

I use CourseSmart very successfully to read a Java textbook for one of
my computer science courses. The off-line version for the Mac works
very well with VoiceOver under 10.6.7. Infect there was a recent
update for the CourseSmart Mac program that I downloaded yesterday
which has many improvements including seamless Braille and speech
reading support. One can use the table of contents navigation table to
immediately go to any section of the book. One can set book marks.
Even if one quits and forgets to set a bookmark when the program is
opened the cursor is moved to the exact place where the person left
off. THis is a little thing but one of my biggest pet peeves with the
Daisy Readhear program regardless of the platform. I tried CourseSmart
for the IPhone and to date that program does not work well. One can
read the actual text but the table of contents is not navigable.  If
that issue were resolved then the IPhone would work very well. I too
tried the on-line version and although it is usable I found that for
the times that I am not able to get a good internet connection it puts
me at a disadvantage.
I also found with the online version that the ability to finly hone
the use of bookmarks is not viable. The final thing is that Braille is
not nearly as seamless with the online version. -Kevin

On 4/1/11, Kevin Chao <kevinchao89 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Greg and All,
>
> I've been a very excited and happy user of CourseSmart eTextBookssfor
> past 6 months.
>
> We'll work off possible problems you've encountered off-list.
>
> Kevin
>
> On 4/1/11, Greg Wocher <gwblindman1 at gwblindman.org> wrote:
>> 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
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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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-- 
Kevin Fjelsted
B Harris, Inc.
http://www.bharrisinc.com
kevin.fjelsted at bharrisinc.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinfjelsted
Phone:   612.424.7333 EX. 301
Direct:  612.424.7332