News Archive

The World Blind Union members meet every 4 years and hold a General Assembly in order to review the work and accomplishments of the past 4 years and to set the new plans and directions for the next four years. This year the general assembly is taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, hosted by the Thailand Association of the Blind. The General Assembly is streamed on the internet thanks to the American Council of the Blind. The link to listen to the proceedings is: http://acbradio.org/world. This broadcast is running live ICT (Indo China time) which is GMT +7 hours. Replays of the proceedings will also be available.

This year the Accessing Higher Ground Accessible Media, Web and Technology Conference (AHG) will stream sessions from all 5 days of the conference, one track during the pre-conference and two tracks during the main conference. Register by November 7th on the AHG website to receive a discount.

The IDPF announced that Benetech, the DAISY Consortium member based in Palo Alto, California, has become a Readium contributor and is adopting Readium technology for its Bookshare service. The Readium project, sponsored by the IDPF, is developing an open source EPUB 3 reading system. Benetech's Bookshare service will be utilizing Readium components in a new web reader that will work in conjunction with a cloud-based bookshelf, allowing qualified users with print disabilities to access their books and read online, directly in a browser, from school, home, and mobile devices. Benetech is also contributing accessibility features including screen reader integration back to the project.

The Bookshare web-based reader based on Readium is expected to be released in Q1 2013 and is currently in limited beta. Accessibility capabilities include support for text to speech, variable font and colors, as well as synchronized word-by-word highlighting (initially only supported in Chrome).

Benetech's new reader is designed to present fully accessible EPUB 3 materials, which are those that follow the guidelines outlined in the IDPF and DAISY supported O'Reilly book Accessible EPUB 3, by Matt Garrish, and will support accessible images that follow the Content Model specified by the DIAGRAM Center.

"Benetech is delighted to be working together with the IDPF, the DAISY Consortium and other Readium supporters to advance content accessibility said Betsy Beaumon, Vice President and General Manager, Benetech Literacy Program. "Fostering and utilizing a comprehensive consistent open source implementation of EPUB 3 via the Readium project is completely consistent with Benetech's belief that individuals with print disabilities should have the same ease of access to books and other publications as people without disabilities". More information is provided in the IDPF press release.

Kolibre, a Finnish non-profit association founded in the spring of 2012, has published the first components for a system that makes it possible to produce, distribute and consume digital publications using the Internet in an effective manner. More software will be published in the future and the open model makes it possible to use the software components for any purpose, also internationally.

Previous software versions have been developed under the auspices of the Pratsam project since 2003, primarily through the financial support of Finland’s Slot Machine Association (RAY). Thanks to the Pratsam system, over 2000 Finns with print disabilities can easily access talking publications, also with an easy-to-use mobile player. The project has developed support for speech synthesis, which enables cost-effective production of greater numbers of talking publications with natural and human speech. The software being published supports DAISY, the international standard for talking publications and DAISY Online, the international standard for the transmission of talking publications using the Internet.

Kolibre was established by the Pratsam project partners – Norra Österbottens svenska synskadade rf (NÖSS), the Federation of Swedish Speaking Visually Impaired in Finland (FSVIF) and Pratsam Ab – with the purpose to publish the results of the project openly to all and to coordinate future cooperation. The vision for the Kolibre ecosystem is that all individuals should have access to talking publications with a natural voice, regardless of their location, through a customized receiver: whether a smartphone, computer, e-reader or customized player for the visually impaired.

The Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired (FFVI), the Finnish state-owned special library Celia and the Finnish Centre for Open Systems and Solutions – COSS are part of Kolibre’s cooperative network. The software is published under an open source license and allows all interested parties to use and develop the system for their own needs. Publication occurs in accordance with best practices within open source code publication.

Kolibre on the web: kolibre.org Distribution: github.com/kolibre. For more information please contact: Martin von Willebrand, Kolibre Chairman, tel. +358 40 770 1818 or Daniel Ainasoja, Acting Director, tel. +358 50 527 4174

In the digital publishing industry, the notion of preflight testing has become a common practice. EPUB-check is the open source utility that kicks off publishers' preflight testing. However, EPUB-check needs improvements. Accessibility testing for persons who are blind or disabled is not included in EPUB-check. There are many tests that can be performed automatically, but many other aspects of a digital publication require human intelligence to evaluate. The DAISY Consortium along with our membership worldwide has endorsed the EPUB 3 Standard for digital publishing. We sponsored the development of the freely available O’Reilly publication Accessible EPUB 3 and we have started developing checklists to assist content creators.

Now we are looking to expand EPUB-check to include accessibility and we need your help. More information on how you can help is provided on the Request for Funding page.

Microsoft strives to enable people with disabilities to use computers to work, live and play. They are interested in getting feedback from their customers about how they can improve in this regard. We encourage you to provide your accessibility suggestions and feedback.

This survey does not request or collect any personal information from respondents. Your responses to this survey will not be linked to the contact information previously collected by Microsoft. Your answers will be reported in aggregate with those of other respondents. Please fill out the online feedback form.

Baltimore, Maryland (October 11, 2012): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) today applauded a decision issued on October 10, 2012, by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which permits the distribution of millions of books to blind and print-disabled people. The ruling in Authors Guild, Inc., et al., v. HathiTrust, et al. (Case number: No. 11-cv-6351-HB) held that providing access for students with print disabilities constitutes a “transformative use” under the fair use provision of the Copyright Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act and that Section 121 of the Copyright Act (the “Chafee Amendment”) permits university libraries to digitize their collections for distribution and use by the blind. As a result, the University of Michigan will now be permitted to make its entire 10 million volume digital collection available to all blind Americans, revolutionizing access to digital books by the blind and print disabled.

The ruling is part of the court’s decision to grant the NFB’s and HathiTrust’s motions for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by the Authors Guild against the HathiTrust, a repository of several university library collections scanned by Google, and participating universities. The Authors Guild alleged the HathiTrust and universities violated the Copyright Act by engaging in mass digitization of their collections. Because these works represent the largest collection of works accessible to the blind and print disabled, the NFB intervened in the lawsuit.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Access to the printed word has historically been one of the greatest challenges faced by the blind. The landmark decision by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York will revolutionize access to books for the blind. For the first time ever, blind students and scholars will have the opportunity to participate equally in library research. The blind, just like the sighted, will have a world of education and information at their fingertips. The National Federation of the Blind commends the court’s decision, which constitutes a significant step toward full and equal access to information by the blind.” Full press release is available on the NFB website.

Dyslexia Action and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) have completed work on a new online resource Load2Learn which promises to improve the school experience for learners who can't read standard print. Load2Learn is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) to help schools better support learners with dyslexia, who are blind or partially sighted, or who have a disability.

Inclusive Technologies for Reading is a 22-week online course for teachers, parents, special needs support staff and anyone supporting students who have difficulties accessing text due to a print impairment (this includes blindness, partial sight, dyslexia and related difficulties as well as a range of physical disabilities). It is also suitable for ICT professionals who have not had specific training in inclusive technologies.

The course will give participants a chance to explore in detail a range of free and inexpensive technologies they can use to improve the reading experience of the students they support. These include accessible document formats, text to speech, DAISY, speech recognition, productivity, and hardware e-readers. The course will also cover the basic difficulties faced by people with print disabilities trying to access reading materials. Participants should expect to spend 5-7 hours a week working on the course.

The course does not require any special technical skills other than the ability to browse the internet. All participants can expect to increase their general computer skills as well as their ability to acquire additional ICT knowledge.

More information is available on the Load2Learn website Course Page.

An outreach program is currently under way in 22 Southwest Georgia counties in the United States, to bring talking books to more and more people. In addition to free books for individual readers, free books and players, called “deposit collections,” are available for hospitals, nursing and alternative care homes, senior centers, schools, all public and university libraries.

All 20,000 digital books in the "deposit collection" are free in addition to the digital player that is free. Funding for the talking books program comes from the Library of Congress and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. In the 22 counties of Southwest Georgia, this program is administered by the Southwest Georgia Library for Accessible Services in Bainbridge. There are eight other regional libraries in Georgia which administer the program in their designated counties.

Eligible readers throughout the United States may also download digital talking books and magazines through the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) service by logging on to nlsbard.loc.gov.

The Center on Disabilities at California State University, Northridge has announced that the Call for Papers for the 28th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference will close Friday, October 12, 2012.

Visit http://www.csunconference.org for more information about the Call for Papers and the 2013 CSUN Conference. Organizers strongly encourage you to review the information carefully as several updates to the submission procedures have been enacted.

The organisation behind the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) has announced that RoboBraille (a conversion service which can convert digital text documents into either Braille, DAISY or audio files) has been selected to receive the prestigious WISE 2012 Award. RoboBraille was selected from 400 international projects. WISE is an initiative of the Qatar Foundation, and as a result of the award, The foundation will also produce a documentary on the service.

RoboBraille has been selected as their service has helped transform education for the visually impaired and those with reading difficulties by: 

• making students and teachers self-sufficient
• providing a service that is available 24/7
• protecting the privacy of its users as the service is fully automated
• offering an accessible service that does not require special computer skills.

Above all, it is free of charge for non-commercial individual use which is crucial for users in most parts of the world. More information is provided on the RoboBraille website.

DAISY Consortium Friend Dolphin Computer Access has announced the release of SuperNova version 13, transforming how people who are blind or partially sighted experience the web. Immediately available in 15 languages, the upgrade is a major step forward and represents the culmination of more than a year's work designing, developing and testing.

"People who are blind need to search, shop and social network online as much as anyone else." explains Dave Williams, SuperNova Product Manager and one of half a dozen people who are blind working for the privately owned company.

"Accessing the same web sites as everyone else is increasingly necessary to maximise education and employment prospects. SuperNova version 13 efficiently speaks, Braille’s, magnifies and highlights standard web pages, ideal for people whose sight is changing, or organisations legally required to accommodate people with a wide range of visual impairments."

The completely re-engineered web support in SuperNova version 13 substantially reduces the time taken for a blind person to browse busy web sites. Additional keystrokes instantly navigate to particular parts of web pages. SuperNova version 13 also implements initial support for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) a set of web authoring techniques being developed by the international Web Accessibility Initiative.

The release also features new meaningful speech announcements in office applications, advising when the cursor is at the start or end of documents, when leaving lists, or which text styles are being applied to email or spreadsheets.

Existing SuperNova customers can upgrade by contacting the local Dolphin office or dealer. Alternatively download a free 30-day trial of SuperNova version 13 from the Dolphin Computer Access website.

The Sloan-C Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) Special Interest Group on Integrating Accessibility in Online Higher Education is soliciting articles on accessibility and increasing engagement, retention, and graduation rates of students with disabilities in online learning for a special issue to be edited by Kristen Betts and Mark Riccobono. Full first drafts of proposed papers should be submitted to JALN on or before December 14, 2012. Final revised copies of papers will be due by February 1, 2013). To submit a paper, please follow the directions.

Conference attendees will be exploring the advances in digital technology and its potential to reach everyone. Stephen King, President of the DAISY Consortium and George Kerscher, Secretary General are among speakers providing international perspective. The conference will:

• highlight strategies and approaches towards social inclusion through digital engagement
• feature cutting edge applications and developments in the fields of telehealthcare and independent living
• feature practical ways in which people with sensory impairments are taking full advantage of recent advances in technology
• include a range of exciting fringe events.

Insight Radio, the radio station of the RNIB, will broadcast live from the event. All presentations will be recorded and made available to download online. More information, including the conference program, can be found on the RNIB website.