[nabs-l] Kindle Books

[Mason, Amy]

Remember, anything that you are doing with textbooks has to be usable enough for you to get the information you need. Many documents aren't "technically accessible, but with some perseverance, you can make them work for you. PDF can be accessible if it is properly tagged, but very few are. That said, many untagged PDF's if they contain the actual text of the book, and are not dealing with complex graphics, tables, maps, charts and the like, or equations, are fairly readable, if somewhat bulky to deal with and navigate through. 

If you choose to try the Kindle option, I would recommend downloading a sample of the book and making sure it reads the way you need it to. If it's mostly plain text, Kindle might be all right. If the Kindle book says that it is a print replica, it will not work on iOS, and last I looked at the Kindle for PC app, it was not possible to read by anything smaller than a sentence or use Braille. 

You may also want to try Vital Source. They have accessible readers for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and web. If a book is not accessible enough to use they will work to make it that way for you.  www.vitalsource.com

Good luck with the school year. 

Amy Mason
Access Technology Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, MD 21230
410-659-9314 ext. 2424
amason at nfb.org

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

Make a gift to the National Federation of the Blind and help ensure all blind Americans live the lives they want.

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jason Polansky via NABS-L
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 2:32 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jason Polansky <jpolansky.nfb at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Kindle Books

Hi Aimee. I have read Kindle books on my IPhone with a braille
display, and it works well. Pdf's can be accessible if you ocr them
with a program like Kurzweil, OpenBook, or DocuScan Plus. If you don't
have any of these programs, you can use robobraille.org and get the
file converted for free. As far as books are concerned, I like
Bookshare and IBooks better, but Kindle will certainly do the job.

On 8/17/16, Emma Mitchell via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I know kindle app that is VoiceOver accessible. I've had trouble getting
> them to read on my Mac.
>
> Emma
> Member of national association of blind students Maryland and Pennsylvania a
> division of the national federation of the blind
> Member of communications committee and legislative committees of NABS
>
>> On Aug 17, 2016, at 1:02 PM, Aimee Harwood via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hello group. I hope you guys are enjoying the last little bit of break
>> before you dive into the fall semester.
>>
>> I'm having difficulty in getting accessible versions of books. PDF
>> apparently isn't what the NFB considers accessible. Daisy and EPUB three
>> are the formats  they consider to be accessible.
>>
>> I ran across a book on kindle that I think could work.  Has anyone had
>> success with the kindle PC software?
>>
>> Aimee
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> _______________________________________________
>> NABS-L mailing list
>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> NABS-L:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/emitchell927%40gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> NABS-L mailing list
> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> NABS-L:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jpolansky.nfb%40gmail.com
>

_______________________________________________
NABS-L mailing list
NABS-L at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/amason%40nfb.org

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.

This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for your human generated data. Specializing in; Security, archiving and compliance. To find out more visit the Mimecast website.