[stylist] Improved Access to Digital Download Books for Blind and Low Vision U.S. Citizens
LoriStay at aol.com
LoriStay at aol.com
Tue May 26 00:35:50 UTC 2009
FYI
In a message dated 5/25/09 4:48:28 PM, nicolas.lagace at humanware.com writes:
> IMPROVED ACCESS TO DIGITAL DOWNLOAD BOOKS FOR BLIND AND LOW VISION U.S.
> CITIZENS
>
> [This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility with
> Braille Notetakers. A web version is available at:
> http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/2009_press_releases/improved_access_to_digital_dow
> nload_books]
>
> Longueuil, May 25, 2009
>
> On April 30, the National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
> (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress in the United States, entered
> the first phase of its transition to a digital playback system, as well as
> releasing an upgraded version of its pilot download website. Beginning
> with the testing of 5,000 digital players by NLS patrons in their homes, NLS
> is preparing to launch full-scale production and distribution of 26,000
> machines per month this year, ensuring continued access to reading materials
> for more than 500,000 registered users.
>
> New to the NLS program is a state of the art online component, called the
> Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site. This new site for blind and
> physically handicapped patrons of NLS now provides better than ever access
> to digital audiobooks and magazines. The BARD digital books and magazines
> are in the ANSI/NISO Z39.86 2002 format, the specification for navigable
> digital talking books. Readers may press buttons on the NLS digital
> talking-book player and compatible players to jump from chapter to chapter, section
> to section or page to page. This ability to quickly navigate the book
> structure, combined with the high-quality human recording, make the new digital
> NLS download books one of the most significant advancements in the
> provision of talking books for blind and low vision people.
>
> "The high quality navigable digital books from the new NLS BARD service
> represent a major advancement in access to books, magazines, and electronic
> braille for Americans who are unable to read print due to blindness, low
> vision, or physical disability", says Gilles Pepin, CEO of HumanWare. "With
> BARD, NLS brings its library into the home of its patrons. Not only do NLS
> patrons now have access to thousands of digital books but they can find their
> book of interest and download it in minutes independently and from the
> comfort of their home computer."
>
> HumanWare manufactures the popular Victor Reader Stream, a DAISY NISO
> compatible digital talking-book player designed in collaboration with the
> National Federation of the Blind (NFB), which several thousand NLS patrons
> already use to play the new digital NISO books. The NLS digital books on the
> BARD site are protected by encryption and compatible digital book players must
> be authorized by NLS for eligible patrons to play the books.
>
> The ability to press buttons on the Victor Reader Stream to easily jump
> between chapters, pages, or magazine articles, like the NLS digital
> talking-book player, provides a rich audiobook reading experience never before
> experienced by audiocassette readers. For reference books such as cookery books
> the user can even enter a page number from the table of contents on the
> Stream telephone-style number pad and the playback will move immediately to
> that page. With the NLS player, Victor Reader Stream, and the NLS BARD books,
> users now have immediate access to thousands of books and can navigate
> them just like they would navigate the equivalent print book's structure.
>
> The new BARD download audiobook and magazine service is available free of
> charge to eligible blind and physically handicapped individuals in the U.S.
> and to citizens living abroad, who have access to a computer and
> high-speed Internet connection, and who have a free NLS digital talking-book player
> or own an authorized compatible digital talking-book player such as
> HumanWare's Victor Reader Stream. To learn more about the new BARD service visit
> https://nlsbard.loc.gov/
>
> About HumanWare
>
> HumanWare is the global leader in assistive technologies for vision,
> including products for the blind and visually impaired. HumanWare's products
> include BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for blind people in
> education, in business and in their personal lives; the Victor Reader product
> line, the world's leading digital talking book players; and myReader2, the
> new version of HumanWare's unique "auto-reader" for people with low vision.
> For more information visit www.humanware.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
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