Accessible educational materials (AEM) Archives - Page 9 of 10

Published April 18, 2013

High School Students College-Bound Thanks to Assistive Technology Support and Accessible Books!

High school students with print disabilities are now college bound thanks to their educators and the use of accessible books and reading technologies. In this blog, we share the story of Rushelle and Aaron, from the eyes of Victoria (Tori) Foreman, their Assistive Technology Specialist. Ms. Foreman is also a third year Bookshare Mentor Teacher. “Rushelle transferred to our school. She had dyslexia and read below grade level. When I met her, she was ready to bolt from her remedial classes. We signed her up for Bookshare, and I couldn’t believe how quickly her reading skills improved. The first time…

K-12 Assistive Tech Specialist Categorizes eBooks with New Bookshelf

When Donna Schneider, an early technology adopter and AT specialist in Brewster, NY, public schools, was asked to beta test Bookshare’s new Bookshelf feature, she jumped at the opportunity! “I love to try out new resources and technologies,” she said. “I knew that this tool could potentially save me a lot of time and eliminate redundant searches. Bookshelf makes it easy to organize and categorize books by students, grade, subject, textbook, summer literature, and even student-preferred formats.” Donna is a three-year Bookshare Mentor Teacher and was just elected to the 2013 Bookshare Advisory Board. She works with children in grades…

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Published March 11, 2013

BYU Peery Entrepreneurship Program and Bookshare Partnership

Bookshare has developed innovative technology to make textbooks more accessible to blind and visually impaired students. Before now, blind and visually impaired students missed out on thousands of images in their textbooks. Imagine studying science without being able to see the charts, graphs or diagrams in your textbook! Using a simple on-line tool we call Poet, our volunteers write vital descriptions for textbook images. On March 4, Brigham Young University students sponsored a competition among campus-based church groups to write image descriptions in textbooks for Bookshare members. Dozens of students participated in the two-hour challenge, writing over 600 descriptions…

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Published March 6, 2013

10 Tips for Creating Accessible EPUB 3 Files

The goal of the DIAGRAM Center at Benetech is to impact how image and graphic content for accessible instructional materials (AIM) is produced and accessed throughout the country. The DIAGRAM Center, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM), and the U.S. Fund for DAISY are collaborating to identify challenges within the technologies, standards and production practices used to produce and display accessible images and graphic content within AIM, and develop technologies, tools, recommended practices and training materials that address them. In support of this goal, the DIAGRAM Center has produced this document with 10 tips for creating accessible EPUB 3…

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Published February 4, 2013

First Reactions: Educators and Members Talk about the Bookshelf and Web Reader

You probably saw that Bookshare just released two new pieces of functionality, the Bookshelf and Web Reader. If you haven’t heard the news, our website has lots of information, including links to training, videos, and webinars. You can also read the announcement. Both tools are going to make it quicker and easier to get books to Bookshare students, saving time and effort. The Bookshelf will help individual members organize their books. Several educators and members have already tested and used the tools and have agreed to share their feedback. We encourage you to try the tools too! Here’s what they…

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Published January 31, 2013

The Year That Was and the New Year Ahead

2012 was a year of titanic shifts in the fields of consumer technology, education, and publishing, along with the requisite challenges brought about by such rapid change. At Benetech, where innovation is the engine behind our mission, we did our best to make the most of it and help lead the charge into the future. Bookshare and our other Access to Literacy initiatives, including the DIAGRAM Center and Route 66 Literacy, all made big strides this year through the significant dedication of the community that makes it all happen. We celebrated the tenth anniversary of Bookshare—both online and with in…

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Published January 16, 2013

Do You Know These Read2Go Answers? #2

Do you know how to get a book with images onto Read2Go on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch? Educators, do you know the two ways to get NIMAC* books for a qualified student onto a device? Do you know the proper way to download books and provide them to your students so they can begin reading? See if you know these answers: Sponsors: Log in to Read2Go and download the book on behalf of the student following the steps in this solution (it’s like downloading any other book). But, please note that once the book is downloaded, you should…

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Published January 11, 2013

Books about Bullying for All Grade Levels

Bullying can take many forms and harms everyone involved–victims, perpetrators and bystanders. Here are some books that tell stories about how kids have responded to bullying, and that share ideas of how you can help stop it, wherever and whoever you are. Big Bullies (grades K-2) Animal friends find ways to help each other stand up to a bully. The Meanest Thing to Say (grades 1-3) A new boy in second grade tries to get the other students to play a game that involves saying the meanest things possible to one another. Pinky and Rex and the Bully (grades 2-4)…

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Published December 12, 2012

Bookshare Supports Computer Science Education

This week is Computer Science in Education Week. Congress set the week aside in the fall of 2009 “to recognize the transformative role of computing and the need to bolster computer science at all educational levels.” You can read more about the week and gather educator resources at the CSedweek website; the Computer Science Teachers Association website also has resources. Students with print disabilities can be computer scientists! Two Bookshare members with computer science degrees have shared their inspiring stories: A Computer Science Degree to a Job with Bookshare Bookshare Member Develops Amazing Flight Simulator Game for Blind People For members who…

Meet An Image Description Volunteer

Bookshare volunteer, Steven Obenour, lives in Jacksonville, FL. He currently supports the Poet image description project with a special focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) texts. Steven has worked more than 32 years in various technical occupations including manufacturing and process engineering, software development, and the robotics industry. Technical writing is always a big part of his work responsibilities. Steven continues to work in temporary and contract employment positions. He says the volunteer opportunities with Bookshare improve his creativity and writing skills. He enjoys setting daily goals and targets for completion of image descriptions and finds that even…

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Category: Accessible educational materials (AEM)