blind Archives - Page 8 of 9

Published June 23, 2013

Just in time for summer reading…Book recommendations for all ages!

Just in time for the Bookshare summer reading contest, check out our 2013 Summer Reading List! These include fun, fascinating, suspenseful, and inspiring stories recommended by The American Library Association . And, if you are not yet participating in the Bookshare “Catch Up on Summer Reading” contest for individual student members, start today and enter for a chance to win cool prizes like a tablet, gift cards, or Read2Go apps from Bookshare! Many thanks to the Bookshare collection staff for pulling these book recommendations together. Titles for Younger Readers Extra Yarn. By Mac Barnett . Illus. by Jon Klassen.…

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Published May 30, 2013

2013 Summer Reading Contest. Start Now!

Calling all Bookshare U.S. Student Members with Individual Memberships! Are you looking for a fun and rewarding summer reading activity? It’s time for our fifth annual summer reading event…the Catch Up on Summer Reading Contest! It’s hard to read all the books you want during the school year. That’s why we came up with this great summer contest to help you catch up on all your fun reading and you can start now. How does it work? Create a list of all the books you want to read. Read as many books as you can between now and July…

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Published May 16, 2013

Moms Say, “Bookshare Unlocks Reading Potential for Early Learners”

There’s no better resource than a mom to share quality educational tools, and these two moms are no exception. They are avid fans of Bookshare, an online library of digital accessible books and reading technologies free for U.S. students and children who qualify with print disabilities. A print disability is categorized as blind, low vision, a physical disability, or a severe reading disability, such as dyslexia. Thousands of educators and families across America now use the library routinely to provide K–12 and postsecondary classroom reading assignments, including textbooks, English literature, teacher recommended reading, periodicals, and pleasure reading, such as bestsellers…

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Published May 6, 2013

Daisy Audio and MP3 Offer More Choices to Read on the Go!

Recently, an educator stopped by our conference booth with questions about our book formats and how to read books on the go. The educator wasn’t familiar with our newer formats, Daisy Audio and MP3, so we thought this would be a great time to remind our members. Qualified Members can now choose from Daisy Text, Daisy Audio, Braille, or MP3 to read thousands of eBooks (185,000 and counting.) Just select a preference that’s right for you and you’re off reading Bookshare books at school, a library, a park, on the bus…you name the place and you can read there! Daisy…

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Published April 25, 2013

College Students Share Thoughts and Feelings about Bookshare

There’s no better evidence of success than when you hear a Bookshare member sharing their achievements and innermost thoughts. Recently, we talked with three students now in post-secondary schools whose lives were changed by Bookshare. Ta’ Lisa Hutton began, “What if others think I’m abnormal?” This was the main question that ran through her mind when she was first offered a Bookshare membership at eight years old. “At that age, other people’s perceptions of me were more important than tools that could have changed my future,” she said. “So I struggled with reading and comprehension and feelings that amount to…

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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…

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Published April 2, 2013

New Bookshelf Tool Keeps Member’s Favorite Books ‘Top of Mind’

Avid reader Annette Moore, a relatively new Bookshare adult member, says Bookshelf helps her organize and track her favorite genres and keep them at the “top of her mind.” Annette has lots of diverse reading interests! “In addition to Christian fiction and romance, I like historical journals, books written in letter format, biographies, and I am a huge weather buff,” she said. “Bookshelf helps me categorize the books I want to read fast!” One of the books on Annette’s Bookshelf is called Letters Home to Sarah, a compilation of letters from a gentleman in the Civil War written to his…

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Published March 27, 2013

New Partnership with Lions Club International

With great pleasure, we welcome our newest partner, Lions Club International. For almost 100 years, Lions Clubs International has sponsored programs to help people with vision loss, including restoring eyesight, better eye care, braille literacy, and access to assistive technology. Through their Reading Action Program, Lions encourages programs that support the advancement of literacy around the world. They believe literacy is tremendously important because “it forms the basis for individual academic, occupational, and social success, and can also empower communities to fight poverty, reduce child mortality, achieve gender equality, and ensure peace and democracy.”1 The Reading Action Program “is a…

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Published March 12, 2013

Web Reader Screen Shortcuts and Educator Tips

The Bookshare Web Reader makes it easy to preview or read Bookshare books because you don’t need to download and unzip them. It’s a quick way to preview a book or read it in its entirety. Below are some shortcuts. Do you use a screen reader? You can use your screen reader with Internet Explorer 9, Safari, or a recent version of Firefox to read with Bookshare Web Reader. To start, find a book, then select the “Read Now” link. Expect to hear an announcement saying that your book is being packaged. Once complete, Bookshare Web Reader will open, and the…

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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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Category: blind