How Do You Read That?
Presented by Steve Kelley CVRT, MA RC
NEAER Fall 2012
Newport RI
Email: skelley@theiris.org
Slide 1: How do we read what we read?
1. What were the options 15-20 years ago?
2. What's the goal (example)?
3. How can I read that?
Ask audience what the options were in their experience:
human readers; Kurzweil; NLS cassette; radio reading
service, etc.
Personal example of identifying a book that would play on
what was available for portable listening togeth. The
search started by looking for titles to play on the Kindle and
ended with Mark Twain's Book Joan of Arc as an mp3 file
downloaded and played on the public library Overdrive app
on an iPhone
Slide 2: E-Reading
Electronic Text Trivia
Michael S Hart founded Project Gutenberg in 1971
http://www.gutenberg.org with 40,000 titles
The story of Michael Hart at Grocery Store and
Declaration of independence
Slide 3: What is an E-Reader?
1. What do we mean when we talk about E-Readers?
a. Software or apps that run on hardware
b. Dedicated Hardware
Slide 4: E-Reader Software
Read 2 Go or iBooks for an iPad
Kindle for the PC
Darwin for an Android phone
Google Books
Examples of programs or applications that run on specific
hardware devices
Slide 5: E-Reader Hardware Marketed Mainstream
A Kindle with keyboard
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony E-Reader
Slide 6: E-Reader HardwareMarketed DTB
NLS Talking Book Player
Victor Reader Stream
Milestone
DTB is Daisy Talking Book format. (Digital Accessible
Information SYstem )DTB devices may be great for VI
readers, these devices are not accessible.
Slide 7: E-Reader Accessibility
1. Lawsuit settled by ACB and NFB in 2009 against
Arizona State University for planning to deploy the
Kindle DX as an electronic book reader among
students http://arstechnica.com/tech-
policy/news/2010/01/lawsuit-over-kindlenavigation-by-visually-impaired-settled.ars
Slide 8: E-Reader Accessibility
2. Lawsuit settled by NFB and 4 library patrons
against the Philadelphia Free Library for deploying
Barnes and Noble Nook e-readers without an
accessible alternative.
NFB Press release regarding suit. Note the solution is
to purchase an additional 10 accessible e-readers and
then within 4 years to switch to a universally accessible
e-reader. https://nfb.org/national-federation-blindapplauds-settlement-free-library-philadelphiaa
Slide 9: E-Reader Accessibility
3. Diagram Center Comparison:
 Kindle 3 and Kindle Keyboard Somewhat
accessible
 iPad Yes accessible
 That's it!!
Diagram Center Comparison of e-book hardware. Diagram is
a core program of Banotech. Another program of Banotech is
Bookshare.
Slide 10: Reading Technology Survey
1.
For news and information reading, what
hardware or software reading tools do you use
to access newspapers, magazines or other
publications?
http://diagramcenter.org/development/epubdescrib
edat/49-diagram-reading-technology-survey.html
The Diagram Survey was completed in the Spring
of this year and seems to be flawed in that it was
selecting primarily from computer users who used
Bookshare. Already we know this is a group that
has the skills to be using a computer connected to
the Internet
Diagram Center Reading Technology Survey at
http://diagramcenter.org/development/epubdescrib
edat/49-diagram-reading-technology-survey.html.
Slide 11: Reading Technology Survey
a) Screen reader on a laptop, netbook, desktop computer
or handheld device 152 / 64.4%
b) Library of Congress NLS player
97 / 41.1%
Slide 12: Reading Technology Survey
c) Apple device (iPhone, iPad, etc.)
d) Victor Reader (any model)
96 / 40.7%
92 / 39%
e) Kindle and Nook (any model) below 6.4%
Slide 13: Reading Technology Survey
If e-reader hardware is not always accessible, and most
students/professionals with VI are using DTB and screen
readers, why have this discussion?
Factors such as demographics, learning curve with screen
readers and DTB players such as the VR Stream, consumers
reluctant to switch to audio only devices, popularity of ereaders among mainstream consumers
Slide 14: Supplemental Accessibility Issues
“At present there is no silver bullet e-book reader or
platform for users with disabilities.”
****Supplemental: Accessibility Issues in E-Books and EBook Readers:
http://wac.osu.edu/ebook-access-overview/
Slide 15: Supplemental Accessibility Issues
1. Guidelines covering accessibility
2. Assessment based on functional abilities
Included in this resource are Suggested guidelines based
on consumers functional abilities for professionals
making assessments
Slide 16: Supplemental Accessibility Issues
Adds the category of Web based e-reader:
CourseSmart
Google eBooks (not Google Books)
Kindle Cloud
McGraw-Hill HTML Books
All are accessible via screen reader and CourseSmart is
identified as most functional
Slide 17: Supplemental Accessibility Issues
PC / Mac based software:
Adobe Digital EditionsBlio
gh ReadHear
Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin
ReadHear appears to have the most functional
accessibility features. Kindle Accessibility plug-in
appears to trail Kindle for feature updates, and Nook
Study has built in screen reader requiring that PC screen
reader be turned off.
Slide 18: PC / Mac based software (cont.):
Nook Study
VitalSource Bookshelf
Slide 19: Supplemental Accessibility Issues
Android based software:
Darwin (DAISY)
Go Read (DAISY)
Cool Reader
Ebook Reader
Both Darwin and Go Read interface with Book Share
Ebook Reader has 72 pt font and inverse colors
Android has been mostly inaccessible until the recent version
of Jelly Bean
Slide 20: Supplemental Accessibility Issues
iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad) based accessible software :
iBooks
Blio
Google Books
Inkling
This is software that works with VoiceOver. Other e-reader
software such as Stanza, Kindle, Nook, etc. may offer features
such as larger fonts for users with LV.
Slide 21: Supplemental Accessibility Issues
iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad) based accessible software
(cont.):
Read2Go
Vital Source
Slide 22: E-Book File Formats
1. Growing number of formats
2. Update comparison chart including devices:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats
Part of the overall assessment process, “What do you want to
read?” Consider the example we started with at the beginning.
Slide 23: Digital Rights Management
Note: The Digital Rights Management (DRM) of
some devices may prevent TTS access on certain
devices
Use the example of co-worker on the drive down
expecting tts on a book and finding none.
Slide 24: Software Resources
1.
Resource: Colorado Dept.of Education chart of
software tools for file conversions
http://www.swaaac.com/Files/FormsandDocuments/Scho
olMaterials.pdf
Great resource that Includes the following tool
Slide 25: Software Resources
2. Calibre is for e-book library management
(http://calibre-ebook.com) that will allow
conversion from one format to another and offers a
book viewer.
Hampster is another great free resource that may be
destined for a lawsuit! PDF to Word on the web is a good
tool to get something into an accessible format
Slide 26: Software Resources
3. DAISY Consortium Conversion tools page
http://www.daisy.org/tools/conversion
Slide 27: Software Resources
4. DAISYtoEPUB converts DAISY files like Bookshare to
EPUB file formats that may be used for many e-readers at
http://www.donjohnston.com/products/daisytoepub/index.html
Slide 28: Features Resources
1. Wikipedia Comparison of E-Book Readers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_readers
2. E-book Reader Matrix (very comprehensive
comparison) http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Ebook_Reader_Matrix
The listing in the Diagram Center is really more
manageable for accessibility features. This matrix is
better for assessment features such as weight, screen
size, battery life, etc
Slide 29: For More Information
1. Functional Criteria and E-Book Reader Overview
http://wac.osu.edu/ebook-access-overview/
Slide 30: For More Information
2. Diagram Center Complete Product Matrices
http://diagramcenter.org/research/product-matricescomplete.html includes comparison of software and
devices
Slide 31: For More Information
3. Update to the presentation including audio recording if
available http://www.lowvisiontech.com