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

Sat Apr 2 01:13:23 UTC 2011

60% off regular print textbooks

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 1, 2011, at 6:57 PM, Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com> wrote:

> How much does Court Smart charge?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jorge
> 
> On Apr 1, 2011, at 7:51 PM, Kevin R. Fjelsted wrote:
> 
>> 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
>>>>>>>>> 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
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
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>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
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>>>>>> 
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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
>> 
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> 
> 
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