I just got this off of a blind friend's website. Press Release - More than doubling the number of books available to print disabled people of all ages, today the Internet Archive launched a new service that brings free access to more than 1 million books — from classic 19th century fiction and current novels to technical guides and research materials — now available in the specially designed format to support those who are blind, dyslexic or are otherwise visually impaired.
http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=305502 Not clear to me how completely open this is. I see references to qualified people needing a key. :( On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 5:59 PM, Caroline Meeks <[email protected]>wrote: > > > On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 10:46 AM, James Simmons <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Caroline, >> >> Thanks for your feedback. >> >> Only one Activity supports Text To Speech at the moment: my own Read >> Etexts. You need a Plain Text file to use that, and I will have a >> chapter on creating those. In fact, I will have chapters on creating >> books in every format we support, plus I will have a detailed chapter >> on how to scan books and how to make your own home book scanner from >> common household items. I don't have any text in the scanning chapter >> yet but I do have a couple of illustrations (with many more to come): >> >> http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/ReadingandSugar/ScanningBookPages >> >> I agree with everything you've said, mostly. As far as the >> presentation of contents goes, I'd like to get all the content I have >> to present in the book in a sequence that seems logical to me, then >> get feedback on the ordering of topics. It may be that I move the >> chapter on book formats after the one on e-book Activities. It may >> also be that I remove references to Sugar from many chapters so those >> chapters can be shared with another book just about e-books (proposed >> title "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About E-Books But Were >> Afraid To Ask"). >> >> Audiobooks *might* be in scope. Project Gutenberg has them, but most >> are just read by a text to speech program, so the student would be >> better off downloading the e-text and using Read Etexts to get speech >> and highlighting. I think they have some read by humans too, but >> there's no way short of downloading them and listening to know which >> ones they are. >> >> I worked on scanning a whole book this weekend, plus I wrote most of a >> chapter on how you can easily make PDF's: >> >> http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/ReadingandSugar/MakingPDFs >> >> In the end, I think everything you want will be in the book, plus some >> stuff on copyrights and Creative Commons licensing, plus some other >> stuff I haven't thought of yet. >> >> Thanks again, >> > > Thank you for this important work! > >> >> James Simmons >> >> >> On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 9:12 AM, Caroline Meeks <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > Hi James, >> > I have just skimmed so far. Looks great! >> > One of the issues schools have is students who can not read text well, >> > either from a vision problem or a reading problem. A great deal of what >> is >> > taught is taught through text, especially science and social studies. >> It is >> > important that children who cannot understand the text can still learn >> the >> > content. In addition, reading books for pleasure is a vital way for >> children >> > to learn about the world and expand their horizons and thinking. One of >> the >> > wonderful things about technology is that students who can't read text >> can >> > still listen to text and learn. Sugar is for all children, and not all >> > children can see or decode text, so listening to text should have equal >> > standing as a way to read. >> > I think it would be useful in the section that goes over the different >> > formats and programs to explicitly say which can support text to speech >> and >> > which can't. >> > It would also be great if you could write a section on how teachers can >> > create documents that can be read to the students. I'm almost certain >> that >> > for a teacher to retype or scan in a text book and then let a student >> > read/listen to it, is fair use. Certainly that is something that the >> > special ed teacher at the GPA was interested in doing. I'm sure other >> > teachers with students who can't read text at grade level will also be >> > interested in doing that. >> > Consider adding sections about where to get free audiobooks to your >> > wonderful coverage of where to get free books. >> > On a separate note, would it work to put the section on book formats >> towards >> > the end of the chapter. I think the sections on how you read the books >> on >> > Sugar to be more interesting. I'm worried that people won't make it >> through >> > the drier, more confusing, reference materials on book >> formats, until they >> > are motivated and excited by seeing all the things they can do with the >> > books. >> > Thanks! >> > Caroline >> > >> > On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 3:53 PM, James Simmons <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> I've started work on another FLOSS Manual, this one about how to get >> >> the most out of Sugar as an e-book platform. It will cover what >> >> Activities are used for e-books, where to get books, pros and cons of >> >> the various e-book formats, and will conclude with instructions on >> >> creating your own e-books in the supported formats and options for >> >> getting the books distributed. The last part has not been written >> >> yet, but I've got some people interested in helping me put it >> >> together. I plan to scan in some old books from my own collection and >> >> get them in shape to donate to the Internet Archive and Project >> >> Gutenberg. The book will document the whole process. >> >> >> >> In the meantime the Sugar-y chapters are pretty much complete and >> >> could use a review. Any suggestions or feedback would be welcome. >> >> The book is at: >> >> >> >> http://en.flossmanuals.net/ReadingandSugar/Introduction >> >> >> >> Thanks, >> >> >> >> James Simmons >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Caroline Meeks >> > Solution Grove >> > [email protected] >> > >> > 617-500-3488 - Office >> > 505-213-3268 - Fax >> > >> > > > > -- > Caroline Meeks > Solution Grove > [email protected] > > 617-500-3488 - Office > 505-213-3268 - Fax > -- Caroline Meeks Solution Grove [email protected] 617-500-3488 - Office 505-213-3268 - Fax
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