[Nfbf-l] ReadHowYouWant Opens Online Braille and DAISY Bookshop

[Lappland]

Isaiah 42:16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they know not, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.
     
For Immediate Release
Contacts: Bradi Grebien-Samkow: 
bradi at readhowyouwant.com

Maureen Watts: 
mwatts at readhowyouwant.com 
503-922-0778  

New Online Bookshop for Visually Impaired Offers Thousands of Books in Braille and DAISY 
Sydney, Australia, February 3, 2009- In celebration of Louis Braille's 200th birthday, accessible publishing innovator ReadHowYouWant has opened the doors
to its online braille and DAISY bookshop at 
www.readhowyouwant.com/braille. 
ReadHowYouWant, who burst on to the publishing scene only one year ago with its variety of large print book formats ranging from 16 to 24 point fonts, partners
with publishers to make it easy for them to service the visually impaired, and comply with most disabilities requirements world wide. 

Blind readers now have access to thousands of titles in braille, including bestsellers: Praise Song for the Day, the poem created for and read at Barack
Obama's inauguration by poet Elizabeth Alexander (Graywolf Press), The Power of Now and Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library), Being Peace
by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallax Press), and Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage for Dummies by Patricia Barry (Wiley). Children and young adults can find
popular titles including, How to Take the GRRRR Out of Anger by Marjorie Lisovskis and Elizabeth Verdick (Free Spirit Publishing), Scratch Kitten Goes
To Sea by Jessica Green (Little Hare), Extreme Habitats: Desert Survival by Jim Pipe (Weekly Reader), and A Doctor's Busy Day by Nicole Boyd (Rosen Publishing).
A large selection of literary classic titles is also available. 

"We produce braille books that we distribute to a network of libraries around the country, who then send them to over 500,000 end users. But we're limited
on the number of braille books that we can produce. ReadHowYouWant conversion technology (is) produced in accordance with BANA codes, (so) we'll be able
to offer a lot more titles," says Judith Dixon, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

In addition to braille book files, which are priced at $7.99 and $9.99 each, ReadHowYouWant also offers over 2,000 titles from its Classics Library in DAISY
format for $9.99 each. DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) is a new e-book and talking book format that synchronizes an audio rendition with
the written text. DAISY books play on DAISY players, which are either standalone units or computer applications. DAISY is ideal for vision-impaired and
blind readers, dyslexic readers, and for readers who are unable to hold a conventional book or turn pages.

"We've developed an XML software program that can mark up a book in to a number of different accessible formats. This allows us to quickly and efficiently
create braille and DAISY files and literally produce hundreds of books in the time it has taken others to just do a few titles," says Christopher Stephen,
ReadHowYouWant's founder, who, as part of the research and development for ReadHowYouWant's braille conversion technology, taught himself braille, though
he is fully sighted. 

A special, ten-day promotion of free braille book files from ReadHowYouWant will run from February 3-February 13, 2009. During this time, braille users
may download the following bestselling books for personal use, free at www.readhowyouwant.com/braille: Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute;
three titles from Eckhart Tolle: The Power of Now, Practicing the Power of Now, and Stillness Speaks; Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh; How to Take the GRRR
Out of Anger; Creative Visualization; and Forgiveness.  

Readers may also, at any time, download a free, trial version of a DAISY reader as well as free, sample DAISY book files, including Alice in Wonderland,
Gulliver's Travels, and Wind in the Willows. Free braille downloads include Praise Song for the Day, the poem created for and read at Barack Obama's inauguration
by poet Elizabeth Alexander, Oliver Twist, The Beautiful and the Damned, and The Count of Monte Cristo. Both are available at www.readhowyouwant.com/braille.

ReadHowYouWant is adding new titles all the time and encourages readers to check back to the website often. For large print titles, please visit 
www.readhowyouwant.com
 and become a registered reader to receive the company's monthly newsletter about new and upcoming titles available in large print.

Libraries, Educational Institutions, and Resellers 

Contact Peyton Stafford at +1 971.645.4511 or 
pstafford at readhowyouwant.com
 regarding terms. 

About ReadHowYouWant

ReadHowYouWant Pty Ltd and its R&D parent company, Accessible Publishing Systems Pty Ltd are both Sydney, Australia-based privately held companies co-founded
in 2004 by electronic publishing pioneers Christopher Stephen and Greg Duncan. When Chris' sister, who suffers from MS, developed difficulty reading, they
began experimenting to determine whether people with reading difficulties could benefit from changing the text format.

After more than four years of testing, ReadHowYouWant has successfully developed award-winning conversion technology that reformats existing books into
the widest selection of on-demand, alternative format editions on the market today. Each edition has been optimized for maximum readability. The company's
goals are to make reading easier and more enjoyable by delivering formats that suit the reader and to give people with reading difficulties access to books
in the formats of their choice-at an affordable price, and as soon as the book is published. For more information visit www.readhowyouwant.com.  

Please remember to support the Florida Outreach Center for the Blind by donating a dollar or more to help fund our worthy programs. Send your tax deductible
gift to:
Florida Outreach Center for the Blind
1280 N. Congress Ave., Ste-108
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
Or use the Pay Pal link on our web site at:
www.flblindcenter.org
Thank you!