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<p>I don’t think that iBooks comes preinstalled on an iPhone
but if it <br>
doesn’t it can be downloaded for free via the app store.
Here’s the <br>
press release.<br>
New iBooks® Textbook Helps Visually Impaired Visit the Stars
Through <br>
Touch, Sound<br>
SAS, Space Telescope Science Institute Inspire Passion for
Science in <br>
Students<br>
CARY, NC--(Marketwired - September 04, 2014) - A free,
multitouch iBooks <br>
Textbook for iPad® is now available to inspire students of
all abilities <br>
to pursue futures in science. Reach for the Stars: Touch,
Look, Listen, <br>
Learn incorporates new, assistive technologies so children
with visual <br>
disabilities, too, can experience striking deep-space images
like never <br>
before.<br>
Free for download from Apple's iBookstore(SM), Reach for the
Stars was <br>
created for iPad by analytics provider SAS and the Space
Telescope <br>
Science Institute (STScI).<br>
STScI astronomer Elena Sabbi worked with developers to
translate <br>
brilliant imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope into
content any <br>
student, including those with visual disabilities, can learn
from and <br>
enjoy. The development of the iBooks Textbook is funded by a
Hubble <br>
education and public outreach grant.<br>
"This book allows any child to experience the wonders of
space," Sabbi <br>
explained. "We want young students to understand that anyone
can be a <br>
scientist."<br>
Traditionally, the abundance of charts, graphs and data
visualizations <br>
has made it challenging to bring math and science to
visually impaired <br>
students. And their teachers struggle to transition from
printed <br>
textbooks to digital instructional materials. With
accessibility <br>
directly embedded into Reach for the Stars, every student in
the <br>
classroom can use the same book. Educators don't have to
convert the <br>
content to special formats for students with disabilities.<br>
Ed Summers spearheaded the development of the iBooks
Textbook, leading a <br>
team of programmers, graphic artists and accessibility
specialists. The <br>
software engineer and Senior Manager of Accessibility and
Applied <br>
Assistive Technology at SAS, himself blind, emphasizes that
Reach for <br>
the Stars is not solely for blind children.<br>
"This is a mainstream book to benefit every student, rather
than <br>
something limited to a small audience of students with
visual <br>
impairments," said Summers.<br>
The iBooks Textbook consists of seven chapters. Children
with learning <br>
disabilities can touch the audio icon on each screen to hear
the text <br>
read aloud. Students with visual impairments can use the
VoiceOver <br>
screen reader available on iPad.<br>
Images, graphics and animations, some of them interactive,
highlight <br>
every chapter. Prominent star clusters in the Tarantula
Nebula, for <br>
example, are marked by circles. Touch a circle and hear the
name of the <br>
feature as a caption appears on the screen.<br>
The iBooks Textbook takes advantage of accessibility
features built into <br>
iOS including Text to Speech, captioning, a compatibility
option for <br>
hearing aids, compatibility with refreshable Braille
displays, and <br>
high-contrast colors for students with low vision.<br>
Another option, "sonification," uses sound to convey data.
For instance, <br>
in a diagram plotting the brightness of stars against their
surface <br>
temperature, touch-generated pitch variations indicate the
intensity of <br>
a particular star. The brighter the star, the higher the
pitch. The <br>
star's temperature is conveyed through either the left or
right ear. <br>
Hotter stars are on the left of the graph, cooler stars on
the right.<br>
National Braille Press has created tactile overlays for all
of the <br>
interactive images in the book. The tactile overlays contain
raised <br>
lines and textures that are perfectly congruent with each
interactive <br>
image. For example, the tactile overlay for an image of
dozens of <br>
galaxies lets a blind student feel a shape for each galaxy
and <br>
simultaneously hear a sound that represents that galaxy.<br>
The Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind, a
project partner, <br>
will promote the book through its network of teachers and
parents.<br>
Prospective users can download the iBook Textbook from the
iBookstore <br>
and order the tactile overlays from the National Braille
Press website. <br>
A short video and teacher support page will help jumpstart
learning. <br>
Users can even download a 3-D model of the Hubble Space
Telescope and <br>
print it on a 3-D printer..<br>
About SAS<br>
SAS is the leader in business analytics software and
services, and the <br>
largest independent vendor in the business intelligence
market. Through <br>
innovative solutions, SAS helps customers at more than
70,000 sites <br>
improve performance and deliver value by making better
decisions faster. <br>
Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world
THE POWER TO <br>
KNOW®.<br>
SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service
names are <br>
registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in
the USA and <br>
other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand
and product <br>
names are trademarks of their respective companies.
Copyright © 2014 SAS <br>
Institute Inc. All rights reserved.<br>
The following files are available for download:<br>
• Hubble image of the Tarantula Nebula. Interesting features
such as <br>
star clusters, stellar nurseries, etc, are highlighted and
provide <br>
auditory information when touched<br>
CONTACT INFORMATION<br>
Trent Smith<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:trent.smith@sas.com919-531-4726">trent.smith@sas.com919-531-4726</a><br>
<br>
-- <br>
David Goldfield,<br>
<br>
Founder and Peer Coordinator,<br>
Philadelphia Computer Users' Group for the Blind and
Visually Impaired<br>
<br>
Feel free to visit my new Web site<br>
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