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Accessing Electronic Books: What’s available and How to Download

Accessing Electronic Books: What’s available and How to Download. Amy Salmon , Hadley School for the Blind Korey Singleton, GMU Assistive Technology Initiative AER Virginia Conference March 2 nd -4 th , 2011. Today’s Agenda. Introductions – Amy & Korey Brief overview of eBooks

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Accessing Electronic Books: What’s available and How to Download

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  1. Accessing Electronic Books: What’s available and How to Download Amy Salmon, Hadley School for the Blind Korey Singleton, GMU Assistive Technology Initiative AER Virginia Conference March 2nd-4th, 2011

  2. Today’s Agenda • Introductions – Amy & Korey • Brief overview of eBooks • Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader Accessibility Updates • Blio e-Reader • BookPort Plus • Using the BookPort Plus Transfer software • Accessing books from Bookshare • iPad/iPhone/iPod Accessibility • Downloading a book from audible.com and opening it on the iPhone with Audible app • iBooks on the iPad • Other eBook reading devices • Q&A

  3. Accessibility of popular eReaders • Kindle 3 • Much improved, but still falls short • Cost: Starts at $139.00 • Voice Guide feature provides voicing through menus • One-time activation, that remains on for future use • Enables access to menus and non-book reading functions • Fully accessible using 5-way key located in lower right hand corner • Text-to-Speech feature enables one to read books, magazines, newspapers, or other materials in Kindle Store • Speech access depends on whether or not publisher chooses to make their content accessible to speech. • Not sure of the numbers • Few, in my experience, have limited access. • Low Vision – ability to adjust font sizes and screen contrast (does not offer negative contrast)

  4. Accessibility of popular eReaders cont… • Kindle 3 Issues • TTS must be enabled each time you go to read and eBook • TTS does not allow for finer navigation (i.e., by word, sentence, chapter, etc). Only page-by-page, chapter-by-chapter navigation • Many features are not accessible with speech (i.e., highlighting, bookmarking, dictionary, making notes) • Kindle Store is inaccessible. Must be accessed using computer. (Note: Surprisingly, it is accessible on iPhone/ iPod/IPad)

  5. Accessibility of popular eReaders cont… • Kindle for PC accessibility plug-in (Free) • Text-to-speech reading with adjustable voice settings • Voice-guided menu navigation • Large font sizes • High contrast reading mode • Keyboard navigation • Accessible shortcuts • Note: In order to use text-to-speech, you must have a screen reader installed. Jaws and NVDA have been tested. • More info: Kindle for PC Accessibility Plug-in • Kindle for PC Demo

  6. Accessibility of popular eReaders cont… • Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony eReader • Cost: Start at $149 (Wi-Fi only) • Accessibility: Outside of changing font sizes and adjusting screen brightness, there are absolutely no accessibility features.

  7. Blio eReader • Free from KNFB Reading Technology, Inc. • Download: • Go to http://www.blio.com/downloads • Download the ‘Accessibility Release’ • System Requirements: • Windows XP or later • Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 • Internet connection to search and download books • Still a “work in progress” – optimized for use with Jaws 11 and 12 only • Blio ‘Accessible Release’ Demo

  8. BlioeReader cont…. • How accessible is it? • Text-to-speech access through menus, settings, searching/downloading books • Speech settings – rate of speech, self-paced and continuous, by unit (word, line, sentence, paragraph, page) • Increase/Decrease font sizes • Issues found: • Text navigation not always consistent • No high contrast settings • No ability to use notes or highlighting features for individuals that require speech • Limited keyboard navigation

  9. BookPort Plus • Available from American Printing House for the Blind (APH) • Cost: $329.00 • Read downloaded DTBs from NLS, Bookshare, and RFBD. • Can also read cartridges sent from NLS by mail • Read CDs from RFBD with optional USB-powered CD-Rom • Read audiobooks from Audible.com • Reads brf, Word, html, text, DTBs • Plays mp3, wav, wma, ogg

  10. BookPort Plus cont… • Alsohas recording capabilities • Both auto gain control and manual level setting • Ability to monitor recording • Accessible peak meter guidance • Append to recordings • Edit recordings • Turn a recording into a DTB • More info: APH Products, BookPort Plus User Guide • Demo – Downloading a book from Bookshare.org and transferring it to the BookPort Plus

  11. Accessing eBooks on the iPad • iBooks • Available for free from the Apple iTunes App Store • Books you download can also be accessed using the iPhone or iPod • Supports ePub format, as well as PDFs • Accessibility – Works with VoiceOver, allows adjust of font size on most books

  12. Accessing eBooks on the iPad cont… • iBooks cont… • More info: iBooks app from Apple • Demo – Downloading a book from iBooks and accessing it using VoiceOver on iPad

  13. Accessing eBooks on the iPad cont… • iBooks cont… • Gestures – VoiceOver supports the following gestures in iBooks • Two-finger tap: stop speaking the current item. • Two-finger flick up: read all from the top of the page. • Two-finger flick down: read all from the current position. • Three-finger swipe left: move to the next page. • Three-finger swipe right: move to the previous page. • Double-tap and hold while the Page Chooser is selected, then drag left or right: navigate to any page in your eBook using a slider.

  14. Accessing eBooks on the iPad cont… • Audible app • More info: What is Audible? • Demo – Downloading an audiobook from Audible and accessing it using VoiceOver on the iPhone

  15. Accessing eBooks on the iPad cont… • RFB&D Audio app • More info: RFB&D Audio • Designed for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad • Cost: $19.99

  16. Other Hardware Playback Tools • Portable Notetakers • FS Reader and AudiblePlayer (on PacMate) • Read books from Audible, Bookshare, and RFB&D • BookReader (on BrailleNote and VoiceNote APEX) • Read books from Bookshare, RFB&D, Audible and numerous other sources. Read Braille or text formats in your preferred grade of Braille. • DAISY Player (on BrailleSense and VoiceSense) • CD-playback devices • Victor Reader Classic • Portable Devices • Victor Reader Stream • BookSense • Plextor Pocket • Comparison Chart (Note: This is from GWMicro’s website)

  17. Other Software Playback Tools • Victor Reader Soft v2.6 (Bookshare Edition) • Full-featured, self voicing DAISY reader that only reads Bookshare books. • Note: Future versions of this software are no longer being developed. However, you can still get it and obtain support from Bookshare. • Available for free to members of Bookshare • AMIS Daisy Playback software v3.1 • Download from DAISY Consortium website • Coming Soon: • AnyDaisy • Free browser-based DAISY reader from Bookshare • Read2Go • Full-featured, accessible DAISY reader for iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone. Available sometime in the next couple of months. Will cost $19.99 in the Apple iTunes store.

  18. Questions Questions??

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