1 Reading Choices: So Many Ways to Enjoy Bookshare!

2 Presenters Bookshare is a project of Benetech ( a nonprofit organization whose motto is Technology Serving Humanity. Christine Jones Education Program Manager Bookshare – A Benetech Initiative 2 Kristina Cohen Education Program Manager Bookshare – A Benetech Initiative

Bookshare: Digital and Accessible  Timely access to AIM  Equalize educational opportunities  Help students with print disabilities keep up with classmates  Encourage them to read and study independently I get it! At last! 3

4 What Bookshare Offers  FREE memberships for qualified U.S. students through award from OSEP  +180,000 titles for people with print disabilities  FREE assistive technology software  24/7 access to books

A Rich and Robust Collection  Textbooks  +4,300 NIMAC K-12 textbooks w/images  College/University textbooks  Classroom Reading Books  Special Collections  New York Times Best Sellers  Newbery, Caldecott Winners  +3,000 books in Spanish  More than 170 publisher partnerships  270 nat’l/reg’l newspapers/magazines As of February 2013 Bookshare is committed to high-quality books. Please report any quality issues on the book download page. 5

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 6

What is the DAISY Format?  Digital Accessible Information System  A technical standard for digital audio books, periodicals and computerized text  Allows users to read books on a computer or device using visual presentation and/or synthetic speech (multimodal reading)  Makes files more readable and navigable  Advanced features allow users to:  precisely navigate by line, paragraph, page; search; place bookmarks; regulate speaking speed without distortion. 7

DAISY-Compatible AT Software  HumanWare Victor Reader Soft  Don Johnston READ:OutLoud Windows and Macintosh  Kurzweil 3000, 1000  TextHelp Read & Write Gold  Freedom Scientific WYNN  Freedom Scientific OpenBook  Gh Player  Dolphin EasyReader  DAISY Consortium AMIS  Nextup TextAloud  Innovative Rehabilitation Technology eClipseReader  DAISY software players - Free versions available for download for Members! Free high-quality Acapela voices 8

9 What Is BRF?  Braille Ready Format  For notetakers and refreshable Braille displays  For embossed Braille, some suggest downloading DAISY file, edit as needed 9

AT Hardware for DAISY / BRF  HumanWare Victor Reader Stream/ClassMate Reader  Plextalk Pocket  BookCourier and BookPort  Braille devices: HumanWare BrailleNote, Freedom Scientific PAC Mate, GW Micro Braille Sense  LevelStar ICON  Intel Reader  DAISY player: Symbian and Windows phones 10

11 Why Mobile Reading?  Enables anytime, anywhere learning  Delivers instructional content using platforms students use  Motivates students Mobile devices at school and home?

12 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

Search, Download, and then Read or Save for Later 13

Optimize for Disability Type  Sentence and word- by-word highlighting  Improve outcomes for students with reading disabilities  Settings to optimize for readers with visual impairments  Large type (70 pt)  Audio 14

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

Go Read: Multi-modal Reading  Sentence-by- sentence highlighting  Read with voice navigation and text-to- speech  Improve outcomes for students with Dyslexia and other reading disabilities 16

Go Read: Find Books  Reads books in DAISY and ePub formats  Access and download books directly from Bookshare (must be a Bookshare member to download copyrighted content)  Access and download from other catalogs 17

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 18

MP3 Options  MP3: Use if you already have a media manager, such as iTunes.  Files come in zipped file  MP3 Songbird: Media manager as an alternative to iTunes.  Download Songbird through Bookshare  Files will download through Songbird 19

Audio Options: DAISY Audio  DAISY Audio is universal format standard for audio books with more navigation options than MP3.  DAISY Audio books are highly navigable (by sentence, paragraph, etc.)  Voiced using high quality TTS speech voice.  Benefits :  Easier navigability  Better TTS voice than come native to the device  Disadvantages:  Must have reader that supports DAISY Audio 20

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’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) 21 More info and a tutorial:

22 Need More Help?  Refer to Recorded Webinars and Online Learning Guides at bookshare.org, “Help,” then “Training”  Accessible Textbooks/The NIMAC  Bookshare Best Practices for Educators  Tips for Large District Implementation  What is Bookshare?  Who is Eligible for Bookshare Membership?  How Do I Sign Up My School?  How Do I Get Textbooks?  How Do I Read with Read:OutLoud?  How Do I Read with Victor Reader Soft?  Watch for upcoming live webinars  Submit your questions using “Contact Us” 22