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

Sat Apr 2 14:32:56 UTC 2011

CourseSmart started work in Spring 2010 to be accessible to all,
including those with print-disabilities.

I'll detail a brief timeline:
* Spring and Summer 2010: lots of work went into making website,
downloadable reader, and web reader accessible.
* Fall 2010: Downloadable reader was made accessible; partnered with
AMAC and AccessTextNetwork to form STudent E-Rental Pilot Project
(STEPP) with a grant from Department of Education (DOE).
* Springg2011: Web reader was made very accessible and includes
remediation/tagging from AMAC.
* Over next 2-years, STEPP with DOE funding will continue to work on
affordable, accessible, innovative, and great eTextBook rental pilot
project.

STEPP has many goals, including making eTextBooks a reality to all,
including print-disabled, ADA and section 504 compliance, and
streamlining process in this space.

CourseSmart has sample and full eTextBooks, which are fully accessible
Due to publishers and DRM, there is one caveat. If using Web reader,
in order  for book text to be accessible, one must email
accessibility at coursesmart.com informing that one is a screen reader
user and screen reader flag must be enabled. If this is not done,
experience will be what sighted have, where book text is a picture of
physical page.
This  limitation does not exist if one is using downloadable reader.

Please for all questions, concerns, and suggestions about CourseSmart
accessibility:
accessibility at coursesmart.com
is an absolutely fantastic contact.

Kevin

On 4/1/11, Valerie Gibson <valandkayla at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've tried using coursesmart and one of their online books about a year ago,
> and it wasn't accessible on mac or windows.
> Valerie Gibson
> Check out my facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/puppyLove3
> or follow me on twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/valerie_gibson
> Skype me at: WolfDragonVal
> I'm also  on windowslive messenger: valandkayla at gmail.com
>
> On Apr 1, 2011, at 9:20 PM, Greg Wocher 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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