[stylist] Improved Access to Digital Download Books for Blind and Low Vision U.S. Citizens

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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