[Missouri-l] Fw: [leadership] FW: NACS Scan-Flat World and Bookshare ToDeliverAccessible Open Content Texts to College Students

[Chip Hailey]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ardis Bazyn" <abazyn at bazyncommunications.com>
To: "BSC" <bsc at ccbnet.org>; "CCB-l" <CCB-L at ccbnet.org>
Cc: "ACB Leadership List" <Leadership at acb.org>
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 2:07 PM
Subject: [leadership] FW: NACS Scan-Flat World and Bookshare
ToDeliverAccessible Open Content Texts to College Students


> Hello All,
>
> I thought the following would be of interest to many....
>
> NACS Scan-Flat World and Bookshare To Deliver Accessible Open
> Content Texts to College Students
>
> FROM: Campus Technology
>
> Flat World and Bookshare To Deliver Accessible Open Content Texts to
> College
>
> Students
>
> 12/14/09
>
> Open-content publisher Flat World Knowledge has announced it will supply
> college textbooks to Bookshare, the free online library for people with
> print disabilities. Flat World will be the first publisher of
> post-secondary
>
> texts to contribute material to the organization.
>
> Although many colleges and universities make special accommodations for
> students with print disabilities, including the blind and visually
> impaired
> and those with dyslexia, financially challenged institutions are
> struggling
> in the current economy to provide all the necessary materials in formats
> that accommodate such students. Flat World and Bookshare said they expect
> the new agreement will begin to relieve some of that burden. Schools will
> no
>
> longer each have to do their own conversions of commonly used texts,
> saving
> time and money, and students requiring materials in special formats will
> have a one-stop, online destination to meet their needs.
>
> "If all publishers supplied their books directly to Bookshare, it would
> save
>
> colleges and universities millions of dollars each year and immediately
> equalize educational opportunities," said Jim Fruchterman, CEO of
> Benetech,
> the nonprofit that operates Bookshare. "Without the cooperation of a
> publisher such as Flat World, students often wait for weeks to get
> textbooks
>
> in accessible formats and, in some cases, are forced to drop courses due
> to
> lack of accessible books. Flat World is the first post-secondary textbook
> publisher to recognize and alleviate this problem."
>
> The initial agreement will provide for the immediate conversion of 11
> open-content titles, primarily in business and economics, and the
> development of 50 more titles covering several other disciplines in the
> natural and social sciences.
>
> "Our college campus uses Flat World Knowledge in its Accounting 120 and
> 121
> courses," said Erika Higginbotham, adaptive computer technology specialist
> at San Diego Mesa College. "This partnership with Bookshare means that
> students in those courses with [print] disabilities will have their
> textbooks when the semester begins."
>
> Deborah Armstrong, an alternate media specialist at DeAnza Community
> College
>
> in Cupertino, CA, also noted that textbooks present an ever increasing
> cost
> to all students. The new partnership, she said, "is a giant step forward
> to
> offer high-quality, peer-reviewed, open source digital textbooks to
> minimize
>
> costs and parents' angst for how to pay for core textbooks necessary to
> support their [children's] college education."
>
> One innovation in the process that this agreement introduces is up-front,
> pre-publication delivery of content. Flat World will supply the books
> directly to Bookshare in XML format, eliminating the time-consuming
> process
> of scanning and converting paper copies. Bookshare can then, using its own
> technology infrastructure, rapidly convert the books to special formats
> for
> the print disabled, most notably DAISY, which offers access to those with
> print disabilities via both multi-modal reading, combining highlighted
> on-screen text with high-quality computer-generated voice, and Braille
> Ready
>
> Format (BRF), a digital Braille format for use with Braille displays or
> embossed Braille.
>
> Bookshare's ongoing efforts are funded in part through a 2007 grant from
> the
>
> United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs
> (OSEP). The five-year, $32 million grant allows the organization, through
> technology initiatives and targeted agreements, to provide those with
> qualified print disabilities equal access to printed materials using
> formats
>
> such as DAISY and BRF.
>
> Ardis Bazyn
> For inspirational speaking, business coaching, or writing:
> www.bazyncommunications.com
> newsletter: http://www.bazyncommunications.com/newsletter.php
> Blog: abazyn.blogspot.com
> Ask about Yoga cd package especially for blind and visually impaired
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