1. Getting to Know Bookshare
From Membership to Downloading

2. Operations Administrator, Benetech
Lisa has worked for Bookshare Support since October 2015, learning the ins and outs of both membership and technical support. She’s always looking for new web design projects and opportunities to stream-line Bookshare’s support material.
Outside of work, Lisa enjoys traveling, crosswords, and playing with her Jack Russell terrier.
Lisa Ramie
Operations Administrator, Benetech

3. What is Bookshare?
Accessible library for individuals with print disabilities
Electronic books in the formats your students need
Over 500,000 titles
Books in dozens of languages
Free for U.S. students
First I want to tell you a little bit about what Bookshare is:
Program run by Benetech, non-profit in Palo Alto
~ 15 years
“Accessible library for individuals with print disabilities”
Electronic books
500,000 books, 400,000 members
Books in dozens of languages, members around the world
Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Ed, Office of Special Education Programs, we can offer free Bookshare membership for U.S. students. Non-students pay $50 per year.

4. Accessible library for individuals with print disabilities
What does accessibility mean?
Who can use Bookshare?
Break down what “Accessible library for individuals with print disabilities” means

5. Accessible Books Audiobooks Word-highlighting + audio
Braille (digital or embossed)
Large print
Audio
DAISY
EPUB
BRF
There’s a few different ways that books can be accessible:
Audiobooks
Word-highlighting + audio (great for individuals with learning disabilities)
Braille (digital or embossed)
Large print (low vision members)
Certain formats are designed for different reading styles. Audiobooks are available in audio formats (MP3, DAISY Audio), braille books as BRF (Braille Ready Format)
DAISY is an accessible text format that is built for Text to Speech and easy navigation (headings, table of contents, etc). Depending on what program you’re using you can also use EPUB to access the audio or adjust some visual aspects of the book.
DAISY
EPUB

6. Eligibility Visual impairment Learning disability Physical disability
Blindness or low vision severe enough to prevent the reading of standard print books 
Visual impairment
Learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, severe enough that the individual cannot read traditional print
Learning disability
Physical disabilities that prevent an individual from reading standard print books or turning the pages of a book
Physical disability
Individuals with a qualified print disability, including students and adults, can use Bookshare. There are three main categories of qualified print disabilities:
Visual impairment
Physical disability
Learning disability
In order to distribute copyrighted material, Bookshare must follow all regulations set by U.S. copyright law, specifically the Chafee Amendment. All Bookshare members must have a Chafee-qualifying print disability. Bookshare is regulated by copyright law, not educational law, so students with or without IEP or 504 plans may or may not automatically qualify for membership. 
Qualifying print disabilities as per the Chafee Amendment include:  1. Blindness or low vision severe enough to prevent the reading of standard print books  2. Physical disabilities that prevent an individual from reading standard print books or turning the pages of a book  3. Learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, severe enough that the individual cannot read traditional print 
People with autism, ADHD/ADD, ESL/ELL, emotional or intellectual disabilities, generally do not qualify for Bookshare unless they also have an accompanying qualified print disability. For example, a person who is both deaf and blind, or who has ADHD and significant dyslexia, could qualify. 

7. Account Types Individual Membership Organizational Membership
Student’s personal Bookshare account
Organizational Membership
Student membership through an Organization
Student access account
Linked account
Individual + Organizational Membership
Connected to school
Three main kinds of Bookshare accounts for students:
Individual Membership
Organizational Membership
Linked account
Each account has slightly different access and privacy policies. A good way to think about these accounts is how they relate to you and your school.
An Individual Membership is a student’s personal Bookshare account. It’s not connected to a school account, which means that the parents registered on their own (including submitting Proof of Disability). If you’re listed on a school account, the only Bookshare accounts you’ll see listed on your Member Roster are Organizational and Linked accounts.
An Organizational Membership is a student membership through an Organization. When you first add a student your Bookshare roster, they have an Organizational Membership by default. If you decide to set a username and password for your student, they have what we call a “student access” account that lets them sign in to their own Bookshare account.
A linked account is a combined Individual and Organizational Membership. This means that a student with a linked account, listed as an “Org + Individual” in your roster, is listed on your school’s roster, however their parent has helped them upgrade to an Individual account so they have more independence accessing books.

8. Individual Membership Organizational Membership
Linked Account
Login information private 
Download books not on Reading List
NIMAC access*
Web Reader access
Now to talk more about the difference between these three kinds of accounts.
Login Info:
For student privacy reasons, Bookshare cannot release student login information to school staff when the student has an Individual or Linked account. If the student has an Organizational Membership, Sponsors can easily reset their login information online. With the other two accounts, parents need to reach out to Bookshare directly to reset their child’s login. For this reason, we highly recommend setting younger students up with an Organizational Membership so you have the ability to easily reset their login if they misplace it.
Download books:
- Organizational Members can only download books that have been added to a Reading List or downloaded on their behalf through a Sponsor account. Students with an Individual Membership or Linked Account can download books on their own, even if someone from the school has not shared it with them (except NIMAC books).
NIMAC access:
NIMAC – National Instructional Materials Access Center
The NIMAC, or National Instructional Materials Access Center, is a collection of accessible textbooks. Bookshare adds books from the NIMAC when possible because they’re generally high-quality versions directly from the publisher. The legislation that created the NIMAC restricts their books to U.S. k-12 students with a public-school issued IEP. Due to these restrictions, students must have an Organizational Membership or Linked Account to download these titles.
Web Reader access:
- All three student accounts have access to Web Reader.
* Only available to U.S. K-12 students with a public school-issued IEP.

9. Exploring the Collection
Title, Author, or ISBN Search
Advanced Search
Browse
Special Collections
There’s a few different ways to search for books on Bookshare.
Title, Author, or ISBN search
Advanced Search
Browse
Special Collections

10. Title, Author, or ISBN Search
Great for when you’re looking for a specific title. Search box is on the top of every page.

11. Example of our search results
Example of our search results. Screenshots shows the accessible formats that I mentioned earlier.

12. Advanced Search Search synopsis or full text Images only Language
Filter by grade level
Subject categories
Fiction/non-fiction
Mystery, Sci-Fi
Textbooks
Too many results from a title search
Looking for books with images only
Language books

13. Browse & Special Collections
New books
Most popular titles
Special Collections curated by Bookshare
Top 100 Picture Books
New York Times Bestsellers
Great for student leisure books outside of assigned reading.

14. Reading Lists Share books with students so they can read on their own
Organize books into different collections
By class, subject, grade level
Make sure your students have the books they need for class. Build reading lists for leisure books.

15. View titles/add books Add students Add new books
Screenshot of Reading List page. Two steps to making a Reading List: 1. Add students, then 2. Add books
Add new books

16. Share a Reading List Add students as “Assigned Members”
Reading List appears on their My Reading List page
First, you want to add your students as members of the list. Add multiple students, or share with just one.

17. Add Books to a Reading List
Finally, you add books to your Reading List. Maximum of 250 books per list.

18. Reading Books Choose an account Choose a reading tool
What devices does this student have?
- Depending on your students’ age and independence, you can either download books through your own account or help them access books through their own Bookshare login
Let students download books on their own, or download books through Sponsor account (helpful for younger students)
Once you’ve selected what account you’d like to use, it’s time to choose a reading tool. When picking a reading tool, there’s a few questions to ask yourself:
1. What devices does this student have?
2. What accessibility features do they need?
What accessibility features do they need?

19. Computers & Mobile Devices
Web Reader
Kurzweil
Read&Write
iBooks
Computers
Voice Dream Reader
Capti Narrator
Go Read
Smartphones & Tablets
There’s a number of programs for computers and apps for mobile devices to choose from.
Web Reader, our Ebook reader that is built-in to Bookshare’s website, is one of the easiest ways to read on any kind of computer, including Chromebooks. Bookshare is also compatible with a few other kinds of desktop programs, including Kurzweil, Read&Write, and very recently iBooks.
Depending on what platform you use, you have a few apps to choose from on iOS and Android. For iOS, we highly recommend Voice Dream Reader, an app that you can purchase from the App Store. Capti Narrator is another free app for iOS, and likewise Go Read is available for free on Android.

20. Specialized Assistive Tech
Load books in our accessible formats
Braille Notetakers
BrailleNote
Braille Sense
Daisy Audio Players
Victor Reader Stream
NLS Player
Communication Devices
Tobii Dynavox (T-series and I-series)
Bookshare offers all the accessible formats that you need for specialized Assistive technology as well. Braille Notetakers, like the BrailleNote or Braille Sense, can open our DAISY or BRF books.
DAISY Audio players, hand-held audio devices like the Victor Reader Stream, can play books in our audio format.
Newer communications devices, like the Tobii Dynavox T-series and I-series, can access Web Reader or our Android app, Go Read. Older Dynavox models can still download our books in DAISY.

21. Audio Download audio files Use app/program’s built-in audio MP3
DAISY Audio
Use app/program’s built-in audio
Web Reader
Mobile apps
Other desktop programs
Once you’ve chosen a tool, it’s time to think about what kind of accessibility features your student needs.
If your students needs to listen to their books, you can download a pure audio file, like MP3, or use an app/program’s built-in audio instead. All of Bookshare’s audio is computer generated, or read by a Text to Speech voice.
Web Reader, all of our mobile apps, and many other desktop programs have built in audio features that you can use even if you don’t need access to the text at the same time.

22. Highlighting + Audio Web Reader and computer programs
All Bookshare-integrated mobile apps
Students that have trouble with tracking, such as those with learning disabilities, can read our books with combined highlighting and audio. When you press the play button, the program highlights each word or sentence as it reads. Web Reader, pictured on the left, has built in word-level highlighting. All Bookshare-integrated mobile apps, including Voice Dream Reader pictured on the right, have this feature built-in as well.

23. Braille Braille notetakers Choose BRF settings
Braille grade
UEB or EBAE
Embossable or refreshable display
Braille display with app or program
If your student reads braille, they can read our books on a braille notetaker or using a braille display. You can also emboss our braille books yourself. Depending on how you’re using BRF, you can change your BRF settings online, including:
Braille grade
Braille format (UEB or EBAE)
Formatted for Embossable or refreshable display

24. Large Print Increase font size, change font face, adjust color scheme
Low vision students can also read our books in large print electronically. Not only can you adjust the font size in most of our programs/apps, but you can also change the font face and adjust the color scheme to make the text more readable. Read2Go, pictured below, allows you to customize the appearance of the book like our other mobile apps.

25. Questions? Membership membership@bookshare.org Tech Support
(650)
9 AM to 5 PM (PST)
Mon - Fri

26. Thank you.