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High School Bookshare Member Prepares for Transition to College

Emeline reading on her tablet in a school room.“It is no longer difficult to find accessible books, and I will use Bookshare for a lifetime,” says Emeline Lakrout.

“Just a few years ago, it was difficult to find accessible books,” says Emeline Lakrout, who has degenerative low vision. “I appreciate that my parents sought reading solutions for me starting at a young age. I have always been able to enjoy reading because of their efforts.”

Now, at age seventeen, Emeline takes honors classes at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas. She is an avid reader and technology user. She Book Cover of Command and Control by Eric Schlosser is interested in all kinds of books and genres, from classics like The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, to historic accounts of the Cold War era like Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, by Eric Schlosser.

In high school, Emeline taps into the Bookshare online accessible library for textbooks, novels, academic research, and test preparation manuals for the SAT, PSAT, ACT, and AP exams. Bookshare is free for all U.S. students with a qualifying print disability. She reads quickly and credits many of her teachers for providing required reading assignments at the beginning of each school semester, especially for her English classes. “This advance notice helps me stay on track with my studies and classmates,” she says.

Emeline uses an iPad with Bookshare’s Read2Go app and a Lenovo tablet with Bookshare’s Go Read – a free, open source Android app that was recently updated with improved layout and font size control, better navigation, access to periodicals and books with images, and more. Both of these technologies include accessibility features that enable her to enlarge the font size or follow along as highlighted words are read aloud. She can change the speed of a voice or place a bookmark on the last page she has read. “These features provide extra support for me,” says Emeline. “I get all my accessible books from Bookshare and plan to use it for a lifetime.”

Now preparing college applications, Emeline intends to study social sciences and likes to explore the online library for titles about careers, business, leadership, politics, and pleasure reading. “Bookshare is really convenient. It has a category of popular books and recommended bestsellers. It is fun to scan through these titles and download a few books for safekeeping. I also read periodicals when I can, like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. It’s like having a reading “backpack” on the go! You don’t need another library resource – just an Individual Membership – and you’ll have all the titles you will want to read.”

ABT 925x377Note to Texas educators:

Did you know that you can get free Bookshare training in your school? The Accessible Books for Texas initiative is an on-the-ground and local training program to provide Texas public K-12 educators, parents, and students training, information, and accessible educational resources through Bookshare. This project is funded by the Texas Education Agency.

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