[nabs-l] Learning Ally and WMA

[Witucki, Kristen]

Hello, list,

I am one of the Product Support coordinators at Learning Ally.  I'm also congenitally totally blind and use Jaws, a BrailleNote and a Stream for personal use as well as the tools of Learning Ally/RFBD.  Without getting too lengthy, I'll try to generally answer the questions asked here about WMA and playback options going forward.  If you have questions, definitely email me at kwitucki at learningally.org<mailto:kwitucki at learningally.org>, and I'll answer them.

First of all, WMA is a pretty standard format in Windows Media Player, and that format itself is not disappearing.  But Learning Ally used WMA with DRM (digital rights management), which allowed us to keep our agreements with the publishers.  This WMA/DRM format became harder and harder to support for a variety of reasons, ranging from changes in Windows operating systems and Media Player to issues with MP3 players changing, so the format was becoming unwieldy.  So we're discontinuing the format.  At best, though, the format offered very linear navigation of a book.  You couldn't go directly to a page, adjust the speed of the human narration, or insert bookmarks.

People can play their books back through a variety of options.  I'll describe them very briefly.

Apple App: Through the ITunes store, you can get an app called Learning Ally, which allows you to download books right to your IDevice.  Right now, these books are audio only (meaning they are read by humans, and there is no text in them).  However, the app does have the capability to display text so that when we have text, that will be an option.  Note that the app was updated recently, so those of you who remember that you had to connect your device to your computer should know that's no longer the case.  You can now download right from your device.  The app costs $20 and that is a one-time cost which includes any subsequent updates we make to the app.

Daisy Players: These include the CD players as well as the Victor Reader Stream and Plextor Pocket, but they also include devices such as the BrailleNote, Pacmate, BookSense and APH devices.  You can either order books on CD, or you can download them from our site.  If you have questions about these processes, let me know.

ReadHear: This is a Daisy program which is free for the first computer to individual members, and it works on both Windows and Mac platforms.  (Additional computers cost $20 per year).  Basically, this allows members to play Daisy books right on their computers if they don't use a stand-alone Daisy player.

I hope this helps, and again, please let me know on or off list if you have any questions.

Kristen Witucki
Product Support Coordinator, Member Services
Learning Ally, Formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
20 Roszel Rd Princeton, NJ 08540
(800) 221-4792
Fax: (609) 987-8116
kwitucki at learningally.org<mailto:kwitucki at learningally.org>
Please visit our training and support center:
http://www.learningally.org/help