Inspire Lifelong Learning Bookshare Basics

Presenter Kristina King Cohen Sr. Education Program Manager Bookshare – A Benetech Initiative | 2

Agenda 1 – Bookshare Basics 2 – Membership Options 3 – Reading Tools 4 – Website Demo 5 – Reading Tools Demo 6 – Q&A/Next Steps 3

Bookshare: Digital and Accessible Timely access to AEM Equalize educational opportunities Help students with print disabilities keep up with classmates Encourage them to read and study independently 4

What Bookshare Offers Digital books for individuals with print disabilities FREE memberships for qualified U.S. students through OSEP award FREE assistive technology software 24/7 access to books 5

Free, Digital, and Accessible Bookshare® is an online library of accessible media for readers with print disabilities. –Over 315,000 Members –Over 10,000 schools and other organizations –Over 315,000 titles –Over a thousand new books added every month 6

The Bookshare Library Textbooks –+4,500 K-12 textbooks w/images –College/University textbooks Classroom Reading Books Special Collections –New York Times Best Sellers –Newbery, Caldecott Winners –1,000 books in Spanish (more coming + TTS) More than 250 publisher partnerships 270 nat’l/reg’l newspapers/magazines 7

8 Eligibility DisabilityQualified/Not Qualified Examples of Competent Authorities Visual Impairment (VI) Blindness / Low vision Qualified, if confirmed by a listed Competent Authority A family doctor or other medical professional, physical therapist, resource specialist, Special Education teacher Physical Disability (PD) Qualified, if confirmed by a listed Competent Authority that the disability significantly affects the use of printed materials Learning Disability (LD) Reading Disability Qualified, if confirmed by a listed Competent Authority, that the disability has a physical basis and significantly affects the use of print Autism Emotional disabilities ADHD Examples listed above ESL and ELL Record of disability kept at school! A family doctor, ophthalmologist, optometrist, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Special Education teacher; Certification from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in the U.S. or similar national body in other countries A neurologist, psychiatrist, learning disability specialist, Special Education teacher, school psychologist, or clinical psychologist with a background in learning disabilities Not qualified under this diagnosis, unless accompanied by a qualifying visual, physical, learning or reading disability as certified by a Competent Authority as above

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

Bookshare Spans a Lifetime Students Transitions Adulthood

Student transitioning to new school or district Put Bookshare in their backpack & keep student status current Make sure new school has student on their Bookshare roster Determine the best tools for your student for smooth transition Inform parents on how to use Bookshare Request books now! 11

College Bound? “If I am continuing on with postsecondary education, how do I maintain my Bookshare membership?” –Use the summer months to prepare for your new school. –You will want to have an Individual Membership: You can sign yourself up (students under 18 need a parent or guardian’s permission) or your school can help you get an Individual membership. Your new college or vocational school might have an organizational membership; you can also be added to that. –Keep student status current with school information 12

Taking a Break? If a student is not continuing on for post-secondary education, they can still maintain Bookshare membership. –Student has 6 weeks to access Bookshare. –Student should notify Bookshare membership Contact us at: (select “Membership and Registration”) $75 Qualified non-Student - first year Breakdown: $25 one time set up fee for qualified non student +$50 yearly membership ( students need not pay the $25 ) Once a student again, membership is FREE! 13

Reading Lists Sponsors and Individual Members: Compile book titles in one location, stay organized! Educators can create reading lists and easily share with students so they can download books on their own – including NIMAC books! o Only students with both Organizational and Individual Memberships can access and download/read from shared Reading Lists o NIMAC textbooks are available to K-12 students who qualify for Bookshare and have IEPs 14

4 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) 15

Bookshare Reading Options Download free software and books to a computer; read Computer Download books (in DAISY Text, DAISY with Images, DAISY Audio, or BRF formats) to computer, transfer to AT devices; or download directly to devices. AT Devices Read2Go: Download, read on iOS devices Go Read: Download, read on Android devices Download MP3 format for MP3 players Mobile Bookshare Web Reader: Read in an Internet browser! Web 16

Bookshare Web Reader Individual Members can read books in an Internet browser! o No downloading necessary o No need to use specialized reading tools Just find a book and select “Read Now” Takes advantage of Google Chrome and Safari accessibility features – text to speech and word highlighting o TTS is in whatever voice is installed on computer o Can also use Internet Explorer and Firefox (need screen reader, no word highlighting) 17

Mobile Reading with Read2Go Accessible eBook reader for iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad Very easy to log in in to Bookshare, search for, download, and read Bookshare books within the app  $19.99 per device  Volume discount available 18

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 19

Audio Options: MP3 MP3 is a digital audio format that can be played by a large number of mainstream audio devices, assistive technology devices, tablets, phones, and computer audio software. –Books are separated into tracks by chapter. –Voiced using high quality TTS speech voice. Benefits: –Many districts/students have more access to MP3 players than other devices. –Students are already familiar with this format. Disadvantages: –Navigation is more difficult –No text is displayed 20

Reading Technology Partners Kurzweil - TextHelp Read&Write Gold - HumanWare – HIMS BookSense - APH Book Port DT - Freedom Scientific - Dolphin – Dynavox - Voice Dream - AccessText Network

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