Bookshare Offers Free Membership to Disabled Veterans Attending School

Bookshare recently announced that they will be providing free membership for disabled veterans who are currently attending a United States college or university. Bookshare also serves disabled civilian students and others with print disabilities by providing free downloadable accessible books. Veterans who qualify, but are not enrolled in school will have access to a 30 day free trial. After the trial veterans continue using Bookshare for a $50 yearly membership fee. Especially on Veterans Day it is great that veterans who are disabled will be able to access over 215,000 accessible books from the Bookshare library. Bookshare's press release says,

"Accessible books can break down reading barriers and open a new lifeline to reading to go back to school, learn a new vocation or read for pleasure."

A membership provides an individual with electronic books that can be read with text-to-speech or used with a braille device. This makes reading possible for people who are blind, low vision, physically disabled, or dyslexic. Interested veterans can find more information by visiting Bookshare's veterans site. People interested in Bookshare who are not veterans can visit Bookshare.org.

Bookshare Reaches 200,000 Accessible Downloadable Titles

Recently Bookshare's downloadable library of accessible ebooks reached 200,000 titles. The 200,000 mark comes just months after the 11th anniversary of the service. Bookshare books contain digital text and can be read with text-to-speech and synchronized highlighting. Text-to-speech paired with synchronized highlighting can help dyslexics with comprehension. Members can also read books on a refreshable braille display. As a result of funding from the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Bookshare is able to provide its services free to qualified U.S. students. For information on membership click here. Members are provided with software to read Bookshare books on their Mac or PC but  Bookshare books can also be read on many other devices including iOS devices using the  Read2Go or Voice Dream Reader app. An Android app called Go Read is also available.

Bookshare Releases Web Reader

Bookshare's new web reader allows members to read through a browser and eliminates the need to download books. The web reader also allows members to read any of Bookshare's 177,000 books on a library or school computer without having special software installed.

Bookshare is a free accessible ebook library for people with print disabilities. To learn if you qualify and how to join click here. Once you're signed in with your Bookshare account you can access the web reader via your bookshelf or the search page. When you search for a book you can click on the "read now" link to open the book in the web reader or you can add it to your bookshelf. From the bookshelf you can click the "read now" link as well. The web reader offers features such as text-to-speech with highlighting, nighttime reading mode, adjustable text-to-speech speed, table of contents, and go-to-page options. Bookshare recommends sighted members use the Google Chrome browser for improved text-to-speech and visually impaired members use Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox for improved screen reader usability.

Click read more below to view screenshots of the web reader in action.

Favorite Assistive Technology Apps & Products of 2012

As 2012 comes to a close I decided to make a run down of my favorite assistive technology apps and products that I have been using this year. This list is in no particular order.

Click read more view the list.

Kurzweil 3000 Online Tips

The above video is a short example of how to use online downloading in Kurzweil 3000 version 12. Online downloading allows users to download content from many sources directly into Kurzweil. Kurzweil allows users to download books Project Gutenberg, Bookshare and many more. To use online book downloading go to the online menu and then select search for books. Once you search for and download the book go to file and then open to start reading the book. This method of downloading books directly into Kurzweil allows you to quickly access books from many sources. To watch this video with YourTube click here. To learn more about YourTube click here.

CK-12 Provides Free Electronic Textbooks

CK-12 is a way to access text books in an accessible format. CK-12 are available to download in ePub, PDF and Kindle optimized format. CK-12 has a library of 88 downloadable textbooks. With ck-12 you can also make a Flexbook. A Flexbook is parts of many different books put together into one new book. To access CK-12 you must be a member but membership is free. CK-12 also allows you to embed Youtube videos and other multimedia content to enhance your Flexbook. CK-12 currently has a limited selection of textsbook and only has textbooks about science, technology, engineering and mathematics. To see a video and pictures of CK-12 textbooks click read more below.

AccessText Helps Students Get Accessible Textbooks

AccessText is a way that higher education students with print disabilities can get accessible books. AccessText provides textbooks to higher education students free of charge to the student. But the institution must pay $500 membership fee. AccessText is similar to Bookshare but Bookshare also has novels and periodicals. Also Bookshare has a free text-to-speech software but with AccessText you must use your own text-to-speech software. Eight major publishers have teamed up to provide books through AccessText. AccessText is another great tool for getting accessible material for higher education students with a print disability. 

How To Get News Easily If You Have Trouble Reading

Getting the news can be a challenge if you have a print disability. But luckily there are many was to get accessible news if you know where to look. In the video above I detail many ways to access the news. One way to access the newspaper is to download a spoken summary of the paper such as the New York Times' Front Page Podcast. Another way to access the news is with Bookshare. Bookshare offers many newspapers and periodicals for free for members. If you are unfamiliar with Bookshare or the Read2Go app click on their respective links. Another way to access the news is with text-to-speech. Text-to-speech software can read the news to you if you have a print disability. Watch the video to learn more about accessing the news if you have a print disability.

Read2Go App Now Available!

After months of waiting, Bookshare's Read2Go app is available on the iTunes app store. For people who are unfamiliar with Bookshare click here. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and costs $19.99. With the app you can download Bookshare books directly onto your iOS device and have the book read aloud. Read2Go includes a built in text-to-speech software with multiple voices. Read2Go is also compatible with non-Bookshare Daisy books. The app also highlights the word that are being read aloud to help you follow along. Read2Go includes many other features such as bookmarking, navigation menus, font size can be increased to 70pt and much more. Read2Go is one of the most full featured Daisy reader for iOS devices. If your a Bookshare member and use an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch Read2Go is perfect for taking you are books with you on the go. For screen shots click here and for more information click read more.

How to Use Caliber to Convert Bookshare Books Into ePub

Caliber is a free eBook conversion software that can convert Bookshare books into ePub format. ePub is the format used by most eReader. There are other methods of converting Bookshare books such as Don Johnston's Daisy to ePub software. (Click Here for article about Daisy to ePub)  Caliber is a free program for Mac and PC. Caliber can input and output many different book formats which makes it more versatile than Daisy to ePub. Converting a book using Daisy to ePub is easier then using Caliber.  The benefit of Caliber is that it is free and Daisy to ePub costs $99. When using Caliber you must first convert your Bookshare book into a PDF by copying the text and images of the book into word document and saving the document as a PDF. This step is necessary because PDF is one of the supported Caliber formats. The next step is to add the PDF into your Caliber library and convert it to ePub format. Once the book is in ePub you can put it on your iPad or other eReader. If you put your book onto the iPad you can use VoiceOver to listen to the book. Caliber is not perfect, sometimes the spacing and original formatting is not left intact. Even with its flaws Caliber is still a great tool for converting Bookshare books into ePubs. Watch the video above for step by step instructions.

Daisy to ePub

Don Johnston, maker of Read:OutLoud and other software, has made Daisy to ePub converter software. The Daisy to ePub software works with Macs and PCs. The software converts accessible books such as NIMAS, DASIY and Bookshare to ePub format which can be read on popular eReaders. The software is very simple and converts books at the touch of a button. The Kindle is not compatible with ePub created with Daisy to ePub. It even coverts images within accessible books to ePub images. Daisy to ePub  works with iOS devices, Nooks and Sony Reader. If you are interested in reading your Daisy, NIMAS or Bookshare books with your eReader; Daisy to ePub is a great tool. Once you have your book on your eReader you can use its built in accessibility features to read the book aloud. (Such as VoiceOver on iOS devices) Daisy to ePub costs $99 for use on one computer.

Bookshare Summer Reading Program

Bookshare.org is holding a summer reading program. To enter the program click here. The program is open to all Bookshare members and runs through August 19th. Everyone that is participating in the program is entered into a contest to win an iPad 2. There will be other prizes such as a Victor Reader Stream, MP3 player and Read2Go iOS app. If you're not already a member go to Bookshare.org to see if you qualify. Have fun reading!

Bookshare Reaches 100,000 Downloadable Titles

The accessible book download site Bookshare reached 100,000 downloadable books last week. In a blog post on Bookshare.org the organization announced reaching the 100,000 book milestone. If you are unfamiliar with Bookshare check out my blog post to learn about what Bookshare is an how to join. New books are being add all the time and that number is sure to rise.

Bookshare.org a great resource for accessible books

Bookshare.org is a site that provides free books to people with bona fide reading disabilities. Bookshare has thousands of books and more being added all the time. The Chafee amendment give Bookshare the right to distribute books to people with print disabilities. There is a wide variety of books, text books, magazines and newspapers to choose from. Bookshare also includes free text-to-speech software that is made for reading only Bookshare books. The software is both Mac and PC. If Bookshare does not have a book that you are looking for you can request it and they will add it to their library.

The text books that are available on Bookshare are a great resource students. Many of the text books are being updated with images for sighted members. Most books take only seconds to download when downloaded over a good Wi-Fi network.

The best part about Bookshare is the cost. They provide accessible books for free, the text-to-speech software is also included. They are able to provide this service because of a grant from the US Department of Education. In order to become a member you must have written proof of disability and be a US resident.

There will be many more tips, reviews and videos about this great service soon.