[Missouri-l] Fw: [acb-l] FW: [vipnews] Individuals with Print Disabilities Gain New Opportunities to Read Bookshare Digital Books Using Mobile Speak Phone Technologies

[Jeanne Fike]

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From: "Jess" <jessica.trask.reagan at gmail.com>
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Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 8:04 PM
Subject: [acb-l] FW: [vipnews] Individuals with Print Disabilities Gain New 
Opportunities to Read Bookshare Digital Books Using Mobile Speak Phone 
Technologies


>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vipnews at googlegroups.com [mailto:vipnews at googlegroups.com] On Behalf
> Of editor at vipnews.org.uk
> Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 8:30 PM
> To: vipnews at googlegroups.com
> Subject: [vipnews] Individuals with Print Disabilities Gain New
> Opportunities to Read Bookshare Digital Books Using Mobile Speak Phone
> Technologies
>
>
> PRESS RELEASE
> via PRweb.com
>
> Individuals with Print Disabilities Gain New Opportunities to Read 
> Bookshare
> Digital Books Using
> Mobile Speak Phone Technologies
>
> Individuals with print disabilities can now choose new, low-cost mobile
> technologies to read more
> than 50,000 digital books and periodicals thanks to a partnership between
> Bookshare, the world's
> largest online library of accessible books for individuals with print
> disabilities and Code Factory,
> (Barcelona Spain); a leading global provider of screen readers, screen
> magnifiers, and Braille
> interfaces for a wide range of mainstream mobile devices.
> Palo Alto, CA (PRWEB) July 6, 2009 -- Individuals with print disabilities
> can now choose new,
> low-cost mobile technologies to read more than 50,000 digital books and
> periodicals thanks to a
> partnership between Bookshare, the world's largest online library of
> accessible books for people
> with print disabilities, and Code Factory, Barcelona Spain; a leading 
> global
> provider of screen
> readers, screen magnifiers, and Braille interfaces for a wide range of
> mainstream mobile devices.
>
> The Mobile Speak screen readers for mobile phones developed by Code 
> Factory
> use synthesized speech
> to read aloud information displayed on the mobile phone screens including
> ebooks stored on their
> phones. Using this technology, Bookshare members who are blind or have
> visual impairments will have
> new alternatives and features like navigation, bookmarking and text 
> search,
> to access digital books
> for work, study or reading pleasure.
>
> "For years, individuals with print disabilities have needed the ability to
> read books on a
> readily-available, low-cost, portable device such as the mobile phone," 
> said
> Jim Fruchterman, CEO of
> Benetech, the nonprofit organization which operates Bookshare. "We 
> envision
> students with visual
> impairments or learning disabilities on the bus reading textbooks and 
> other
> assignments with their
> phones; in rural areas or homes without computers, individuals can 
> download
> digital books at school
> or a community center with computer access and read the content anywhere
> using their mobile phone.
> Mobile phone technologies will bring Bookshare books to people and 
> students
> who previously lacked a
> portable technology solution to read digital books, magazines and 
> newspapers
> on the go."
>
> To read Bookshare books, users of Mobile Speak can download books and
> periodicals from the Bookshare
> website to their PC and transfer them to their mobile phones or PDAs. Code
> Factory provides
> accessible solutions for Symbian phones as well as Windows Mobile
> Smartphones and Pocket PCs.
>
> LINK:
> http://www.bookshare.org
>
> If users have a Symbian phone (e.g. Nokia phone) they can install the 
> Mobile
> DAISY Player
> application in addition to the Mobile Speak screen reader application.
> Mobile DAISY Player is a book
> reader which will allow users with sight and visual impairments to read
> Bookshare files in DAISY
> (Digital Accessible Information System) format. Mobile DAISY Player is the
> first and only mobile
> phone DAISY application to support both DAISY 2.02 and DAISY 3.0 (NISO) 
> book
> formats. Users can
> adjust the speed of reading without changing the pitch, set bookmarks to
> favorite places in the
> contents screen, navigate by character, word, sentence or paragraph, and
> configure font sizes and
> screen colors.
>
> Individuals with a Windows Mobile device can also read Bookshare books in
> BRF (Braille Ready Format)
> through the built-in Braille reader implemented in Mobile Speak Smartphone
> and Mobile Speak Pocket.
> The Braille reader application will read Bookshare BRF files in English
> through users' active speech
> synthesizer whether or not a Braille display is connected. Users having a
> refreshable Braille
> display can read Bookshare books in Braille which is particularly useful 
> for
> deaf-blind users.
>
> Bookshare member Larry L. Lewis, Jr., President and Founder of Flying 
> Blind,
> LLC, uses the Mobile
> Speak application to read Bookshare books on the go. "My Mobile
> Speak-equipped Smartphone is
> convenient and allows me to accomplish more tasks while carrying fewer
> devices," said Lewis. "Code
> Factory's BRF reader allows me the flexibility to read Bookshare books 
> with
> a wireless Braille
> display or to simply listen to the text while it is read by Mobile Speak."
>
> "Bookshare and Code Factory share a vision to provide individuals with
> disabilities around the globe
> with greater access to a vast collection of digital books and 
> information,"
> said Eduard Sanchez, CEO
> of Code Factory. "We value this introduction from Bookshare, a social
> enterprise, to identify the
> latest mobile technologies as a solution that will raise the level of 
> access
> for these individuals."
>
> Product Information Links:
> Bookshare Membership - Code Factory Promotion Code
> Bookshare offers memberships to individuals in the U.S. and around the 
> world
> for a nominal fee. The
> library has tens of thousands of books including fiction, non-fiction,
> textbooks, educational
> reading, newspapers and magazines, plus two free software applications 
> that
> read digital content. To
> learn more visit http://www.bookshare.org/signUpType
> .
> Applicants, other than U.S. students who qualify for free memberships, 
> will
> receive a $25 waiver on
> a set up fee. To receive this waiver, you must: 1) enter promo code:
> Codefactory in your
> registration form and 2) send an email to membership at bookshare.org  to
> request the waiver.
>
> LINK:
> http://www.bookshare.org/signUpType?promoCode=Codefactory
>
> Mobile Speak Pricing and Distribution Information
>
> Code Factory's accessible solutions are available in the U.S. through
> several distributors,
> including AT&T. The price for Mobile Speak starts at $89 for AT&T 
> customers.
> For more information
> about the AT&T and Code Factory partnership visit
> http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/disability-resources/mo
> bile-speak-magnifier.jsp
> .
>
> To find the closest distributor visit
> http://codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=54
> To download Mobile Speak screen readers, visit
> http://www.codefactory.es/en/downloads.asp?id=44 .
> To learn how to get a trial, visit
> http://www.codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=285 .
> Mobile DAISY Player Information
> To download Mobile DAISY Player for a free trial for 30 days, visit
> http://codefactory.es/en/downloads.asp?id=43#version_2_57
> To buy Mobile DAISY Player, contact the following distributors or look for
> other Code Factory
> distributors at http://codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=54 :
>
> Adaptive Technology Resources at http://www.adaptivetr.com
> or call 262.375.2020
> Handy Tech North America at http://www.handytech.us
> or call 651.636.5184
> Vision Cue at http://visioncue.com/contact.php
> or call 888.318.2582
>
> About Bookshare
> Bookshare, www.bookshare.org , is the world's largest accessible online
> library for people with
> print disabilities. Through its technology initiatives and partnerships,
> Bookshare seeks to raise
> the floor on accessibility issues so that individuals with print
> disabilities have the same ease of
> access to print materials as people without disabilities. In 2007, 
> Bookshare
> received a $32 million
> five-year award from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special
> Education Programs (OSEP),
> to provide free access for all U.S. students with a qualified print
> disability. The Bookshare
> library now has more than 56,000 members. Bookshare is an initiative of
> Benetech, www.benetech.org ,
> a Palo Alto, CA-based nonprofit that creates sustainable technology to 
> solve
> pressing social needs.
>
> About Code Factory
> Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Terrassa/Barcelona, Spain, Code 
> Factory
> is the global leader
> committed to the development of products designed to eliminate barriers to
> the accessibility of
> mobile technology for the blind and visually impaired. Today, Code Factory
> is the leading provider
> of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and Braille interfaces for the 
> widest
> range of mainstream
> mobile devices including Symbian-based and Windows Mobile-powered
> Smartphones, as well as Pocket PC
> phones and PDAs. Among Code Factory's customers are well known 
> organizations
> for the blind such as
> ONCE, and carriers such as AT&T, Bouygues Telecom, SFR, TIM and Vodafone.
> Code Factory has also
> built strong partnerships with mainstream companies like Nokia, Microsoft,
> and HP as well as leading
> AT companies like Baum, HumanWare, Optelec and Sendero.
>
> http://codefactory.es
>
> The content of this Press Release was developed under a grant from the 
> U.S.
> Department of Education.
> However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the 
> U.S.
> Department of Education,
> and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
>
> SOURCE
>
> http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2606164.htm
>
>
>
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