1. The Joy of Reading: Accessible Books from Bookshare

2. Fred Slone Director of Operations, Bookshare freds@benetech.org (650) 644-3420 2 Presenter: Bookshare is a project of Benetech - www.benetech.orgwww.benetech.org Benetech’s nonprofit motto: Technology Serving Humanity

3. Your time is important  What are you hoping to get out of today’s session? 3

4. Main Objective  To leave the session with new knowledge, tools or ideas that will increase accessibility for your students. 4

5. Agenda  Bookshare Basics  Reading Technologies  New Stuff in the Works 5

6. Digital Learners Today 6

7. 7 Free, Digital, and Accessible  Bookshare® is an online library of accessible media for readers with print disabilities.  Over 247,000 Members  Over 10,000 schools and other organizations  Over 180,000 titles  Over a thousand new books added each month Funded by an award from OSEP, the Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education. as of March 2013

8. What Bookshare Offers  Digital books for individuals with print disabilities  FREE memberships for qualified U.S. students 8  FREE assistive technology software

9. The Bookshare Library  Textbooks (11,000+)  Classroom Reading Books  Special Collections  New York Times Best Sellers  Newbery, Caldecott Winners  Thousands of popular fiction and non fiction books As of March 2013 9

10. Two membership options Individual Membership Access Bookshare at Home Student downloads for herself / himself Download books Organizational Membership Access Bookshare at School Teacher downloads on behalf of student Download all books, including textbooks

11. 11 Many Ways to Read  Multi-modal reading: See and hear words simultaneously  View books in large font on a PC screen, or print in large font  Listen to them (many voice options)  Read Braille (digital or hardcopy)

12. Bookshare’s Reading Technologies 12

13. Bookshare Reading Options  Computer – PC or Mac  AT Devices  Mobile – phone, tablets, mp3  iOS (Read2Go)  Android (GoRead)  Web 13

14. Formats  DAISY  BRF  DAISY Audio  MP3 Audio  Web (streaming) 14

15. 15 Mobile Reading with Go Read  FREE accessible eBook reader for Android  Easy to search for, download, and read Bookshare books all within the app  Many features including:  Accessibility options  Zoom, Bookmark, and Search  Night reading mode  Adjust background, highlight colors, and margins  Download from Google Play www.GoRead.org

16. The New Stuff 16

17. Bookshelf  Create reading lists and easily share with students so they can download books on their own  Cloud based - Bookshelf goes where you go  Compile book titles in one location, and stay organized 17

18. Bookshelf Tips  Create Bookshelves by class, subject, student, genre, author, or however you like.  You can store an unlimited number of books on a Bookshelf.  Share your Bookshelf with students with individual memberships, and let them read independently with Bookshare Web Reader!  Put books on a Bookshelf instead of downloading! No more transferring books to flash drives or CDs. 18

19. Bookshare Web Reader  Individual Members can read books in an Internet browser!  Find a book and select “Read Now”  Takes advantage of Google Chrome’s accessibility features – text to speech and word highlighting o TTS is in whatever voice is installed on computer o Can also use Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari (need screen reader, no word highlighting) 19

20. Web Reader Tips  If you are sighted, use Google Chrome because it provides text-to-speech using your computer’s built- in voices and word-level highlighting. Note that when you select “Read Now” for the first time, you will be prompted to do a one-time installation of a Chrome extension.  If you use a screen reader, use Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox. The screen reader will provide text-to-speech so you can listen to books. 20

21. Image Descriptions  POET Image Description Tool  Go to www.diagramcenter.orgwww.diagramcenter.org  Click on the “Development” menu  Contextualize, Navigate, Describe http://www.diagramcenter.org/development/poet.html 21

22. Math  POET – Built in Math Helper  Web Based MathTrax  Descriptions  Tactile files (.svg) 22

23. Student Outcomes Overall starting to see…  Improved grades  More participation in the classroom  More reading enjoyment; excited about the technology  More independence 23

24. Questions? 24 mobile digital interactive Open educational resources AT UDL publishers DAISY accessible creative engaging universal global peer learning