Bookshare.org Train the Trainers January 19, 2012

Bookshare by the facts An online accessible digital library for print disabled readers. Over 150,000 student members Over 10000schools Over 125,000 titles in the collection 168 book publishers contribute Thousands of new books every month

Bookshare for Education In 2007, Bookshare was awarded $ 35 million from the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to: Provide Bookshare content and services FREE to all U.S. qualified students ( preK-12) with a print disability Expand the Bookshare collection Focus on educational materials requested by teachers Add textbooks from the NIMAC and publishers

What Does Bookshare Offer? Access to digital books for individuals with print disabilities FREE for all qualified students through the award from OSEP (regardless of age) Library is available online 24/7 Flexible membership options FREE assistive technology software downloads that will allow student access to text in bimodal manner: simultaneously “see” the words and “hear” the words spoken at the same time.

Bookshare Spans a Lifetime

Bookshare helps students take AIM

T HE I NDIVIDUALS WITH D ISABILITIES E DUCATION I MPROVEMENT A CT OF 2004 PART B—ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES SEC STATE ELIGIBILITY (23) ACCESS TO INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS (A) IN GENERAL —The State adopts the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard for the purposes of providing instructional materials to blind persons or other persons with print disabilities, in a timely manner after the publication of the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard in the Federal Register. What is AIM?

Printed textbooks and printed core instructional materials Written and published primarily for use in elementary and secondary school instruction Are required by an Local Educational Agency (LEA) for use by students in the classroom Curriculum materials covered by NIMAS include:

Congress also established NIMAC: National Instructional Material Access Center A central electronic file repository for print instructional materials that have been prepared in accordance with NIMAS. Files arrive in “NIMAS” format.

W HAT ’ S THE D IFFERENCE B ETWEEN NIMAS & AIM The major federal special education and general education laws—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (NIMAS) and the No Child Left Behind Act (AIM) call on states to guarantee access to textbook and printed materials. IDEA mandates that the SEA adopts the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)for all CORE instructional. AIM refers to the timely provision of all the materials SWDs need to access, participate, and achieve in the general educational curriculum. It does NOT necessarily refer to textbooks.

What does "NIMAS" format mean? The files are used as the starting point for creating Braille, audio, large print, or digital text formats. In most all cases, some type of conversion is needed to convert NIMAS into a fully accessible version for a print disabled student.

If files don't go directly to students, who does access them? Direct access to the NIMAC is provided to a small number of Authorized Users in each state They are responsible for converting and/or distributing the accessible versions to eligible students. In VT …teachers, parents or students seeking alternative format books and textbooks should go to Bookshare

( National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center)

Qualifying for a Bookshare Membership In order to qualify for Bookshare services, applicants must be able to verify that they have a print disability. For that purpose, Bookshare uses the definition of print disability found in the Chafee Amendment to the copyright law.

Qualifying for Bookshare Print Disabilities: Generally described as a disability that makes it difficult or impossible to access standard text 1. Include blindness or visual impairments, 2. Physical disabilities that make it hard to hold a book, or 3. A learning disability that makes it difficult to process written text.

The nature of the disability may vary; The common thread for any student with a print disability is that he or she cannot access print in the way most students do.

Visually Impaired Physically Impaired Severe Learning Disability – Difficulty Reading Text

Bookshare offers 3 types of books: 1.Public Domain Books: Copyright expired. 2.Books with U.S. Copyrights 3.Educational Textbooks a/k/a NIMAC based books

FREE Reading Software ONLY available to Members and Educators to download.

Best Sellers List

Local and National Newspapers

Teen Bestsellers Summer Reading Lists & Assignments – All Grades

Many Resources for Transition Disabilities and Employment Job Hunting Resume and cover letter writing Interview Skills Choosing a Job Salary Negotiation Career Assessment Executive guidance Career Counseling Starting a business Occupation-specific information

Membership to Bookshare Two types of Membership: Individual Membership Organizational Membership

Organizational Membership & Individual Membership In addition to belonging to Bookshare through an organizational membership, a student may also have an individual membership.

Organizational Membership Any organization serving members or clients with print disabilities can join Bookshare.

Organizational Memberships: The Options are Endless!

Every individual book downloaded: MUST be aligned with a student.

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Organizational Membership Organizations that serve adults or students with print disabilities (e.g., individual schools, school districts, departments within schools) can register with Bookshare. Within each organization, there are three possible roles: Primary Contact Sponsor Member

Individual Membership Parent can enroll their child online at Bookshare website & download application. Children under 18 will need a parent’s permission (signature). No cost if child is a student. Bookshare requires that individual application is signed by an educational or medical professional acknowledging a print disability. Parent can fax/mail back paperwork. Membership access sent via to parent. Nimac Textbooks not available through individual memberships.

Primary Contact Oversees all Bookshare services at that organization, such as Administering the school's account Signing and faxing in the organizational membership agreement Designating other staff as Sponsors Managing the rosters of Members and Sponsors Downloading books for Members. This individual—for example, a coordinator of visual services or a teacher—might work in a single school setting or else might serve a number of schools in a district.

Sponsor Supports the Primary Contact in fulfilling certain Bookshare-related responsibilities, for example: Adding new Members and managing the Members roster Downloading books. Sponsors agree online to the organizational membership terms. A sponsor might be a school employee such as a teacher, librarian, or paraprofessional.

Member A student with a print disability whose organizational role is reading the books and educational materials that the Primary Contact or Sponsor has downloaded from the Bookshare library.

All Primary Contacts and Sponsors should agree and adhere to Bookshare's membership terms, which require that they: 1. Use the services only for a qualifying student, and not for personal use or for non-qualifying students; 2. Inform student Members and new Sponsors that the materials downloaded from Bookshare may not be shared; 3. Maintain the student roster; and 4. Inform Members that they may also have an individual account

Only teachers and staff members of U.S. K-12 education agencies can download these books. (Organizational Membership) To ensure that Bookshare complies with the above limitations, students, parents, transcribers, and non- student Individual Members cannot download these books. Acquiring Academic Textbooks:

In the reauthorization of IDEA 2004, Congress recognized a national need to increase the availability and timely delivery of print instructional materials in accessible formats for blind and other students with print disabilities in elementary and secondary schools.

NIMAC Textbooks are ONLY accessible through an Organizational Membership.

Managing Student Records Bookshare provides an organizational management tool that makes it easy for Primary Contacts or Sponsors to manage student records. The roster for students who qualify can be managed on a single spreadsheet through Bookshare's Web site. This tool allows a Sponsor to keep track of each student's information.

Confidentiality Bookshare recognizes the importance of protecting the confidentiality of students' information and has a strict privacy policy posted on its Web site. Bookshare prefers that organizations enter actual identifying information (e.g., first or last name) when registering Members for consistency in data, such as when a student moves to another school. Because some organizations have a need for greater confidentiality, Bookshare allows them to instead register Members using student numbers or pseudonyms.

Locating Books and Materials

Once a Member has found the desired book, he or she will download it in either the DAISY or BRF format depending on his or her individual needs.

Free Text-Reader Software Programs Bookshare offers its Members two free text-to-speech software programs that allow them to access, navigate, and manipulate DAISY digital files. 1.Read: OutLoud Bookshare Edition

Read:OutLoud: DAISY text reader software program High-quality text-to-speech Study tools (e.g., bookmarks, annotation capability) A customizable display Reading guides Synchronized text highlighting (Bi-Modal Support) Dictionary capability using Google This software gives teachers a management tool that allows them to set the preferences for all of the features listed above. The management tool also allows teachers to create assignment templates (e.g., individualized e-text supports such as pre-selected vocabulary words).

Compatible Assistive Technology Software HumanWare Victor Reader Soft Don Johnston READ:OutLoud Kurzweil 3000, 1000 WYNN OpenBook Window-Eyes JAWS ZoomText TextHelp

How to Download Read:OutLoud for PC’s