Hello List:
I want to make sure I am understanding this message correctly.
Do I understand that a person cannot use the NLS site unless one
has a computer? In asking that question, I realize books can be
sent, or you can purchase a Victor Stream. I just want to
clarify in my own mind that a computer will be required to access
books.
Have a great day, hope it's been a great long weekend for you.
---- Original Message ------
From: "HumanWare" <[email protected]
Subject: Improved Access to Digital Download Books for Blind and
Low Vision U.S. Citizens
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 2009 06:47:45 +1000
IMPROVED ACCESS TO DIGITAL DOWNLOAD BOOKS FOR BLIND AND LOW
VISION U.S. CITIZENS
[This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility
with Braille Notetakers. A web version is available at:
http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/2009_pres
s_releases/improved_access_to_digital_download_books]
Longueuil, May 25, 2009
On April 30, the National Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress in the
United States, entered the first phase of its transition to a
digital playback system, as well as releasing an upgraded version
of its pilot download website. Beginning with the testing of
5,000 digital players by NLS patrons in their homes, NLS is
preparing to launch full-scale production and distribution of
26,000 machines per month this year, ensuring continued access to
reading materials for more than 500,000 registered users.
New to the NLS program is a state of the art online component,
called the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site. This
new site for blind and physically handicapped patrons of NLS now
provides better than ever access to digital audiobooks and
magazines. The BARD digital books and magazines are in the
ANSI/NISO Z39.86 2002 format, the specification for navigable
digital talking books. Readers may press buttons on the NLS
digital talking-book player and compatible players to jump from
chapter to chapter, section to section or page to page. This
ability to quickly navigate the book structure, combined with the
high-quality human recording, make the new digital NLS download
books one of the most significant advancements in the provision
of talking books for blind and low vision people.
"The high quality navigable digital books from the new NLS BARD
service represent a major advancement in access to books,
magazines, and electronic braille for Americans who are unable to
read print due to blindness, low vision, or physical disability",
says Gilles Pepin, CEO of HumanWare. "With BARD, NLS brings its
library into the home of its patrons. Not only do NLS patrons
now have access to thousands of digital books but they can find
their book of interest and download it in minutes independently
and from the comfort of their home computer."
HumanWare manufactures the popular Victor Reader Stream, a DAISY
NISO compatible digital talking-book player designed in
collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB),
which several thousand NLS patrons already use to play the new
digital NISO books. The NLS digital books on the BARD site are
protected by encryption and compatible digital book players must
be authorized by NLS for eligible patrons to play the books.
The ability to press buttons on the Victor Reader Stream to
easily jump between chapters, pages, or magazine articles, like
the NLS digital talking-book player, provides a rich audiobook
reading experience never before experienced by audiocassette
readers. For reference books such as cookery books the user can
even enter a page number from the table of contents on the Stream
telephone-style number pad and the playback will move immediately
to that page. With the NLS player, Victor Reader Stream, and the
NLS BARD books, users now have immediate access to thousands of
books and can navigate them just like they would navigate the
equivalent print book's structure.
The new BARD download audiobook and magazine service is available
free of charge to eligible blind and physically handicapped
individuals in the U..S. and to citizens living abroad, who have
access to a computer and high-speed Internet connection, and who
have a free NLS digital talking-book player or own an authorized
compatible digital talking-book player such as HumanWare's Victor
Reader Stream. To learn more about the new BARD service visit
https://nlsbard.loc.gov/
About HumanWare
HumanWare is the global leader in assistive technologies for
vision, including products for the blind and visually impaired.
HumanWare's products include BrailleNote, the leading
productivity device for blind people in education, in business
and in their personal lives; the Victor Reader product line, the
world's leading digital talking book players; and myReader2, the
new version of HumanWare's unique "auto-reader" for people with
low vision. For more information visit www.humanware.com
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