Publishers Archives - Page 3 of 5

Published July 2, 2013

On the Future of Braille: Thoughts by Radical Braille Advocates… by Betsy Beaumon

On the Future of Braille: Thoughts by Radical Braille Advocates by Betsy Beaumon, VP and General Manager, Benetech’s Global Literacy Program I recently had the honor to speak at the first-ever Braille Summit, hosted on June 19-21, 2013 by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and Perkins School for the Blind. With the goal of promoting braille literacy, this landmark meeting brought together braille experts from around the world to Perkins’ campus in Watertown, Massachusetts. My biggest takeaway from the summit: the time could not be more urgent, and more hopeful, for the future…

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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 26, 2013

Plan Your CSUN Schedule

Are you going to CSUN? Look for our booth, #712, in the conventional hall and stop by for a demo and training on the new tools, Bookshare Web Reader and Bookshelf. Here’s quick look at all the Bookshare presentations, trainings, and events. Mark your calendars with items of interest. Event Day Time Location Presenter Latest Developments in Math Accessibility Fri 8:00 am Ford C, 3rd floor Anh Bui Born Accessible: Inclusive Publishing Thur 1:50 pm Ford C, 3rd floor Betsy Beaumon Reading Technology: What Works? Thur 9:20 am Ford C, 3rd floor Kristina Cohen and guest teacher from SDUSD Making…

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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 August 14, 2012

Are You Using Open Educational Resources (OER)?

Open Educational Resources (OER) are digital teaching materials that can be used freely by anyone. They are published under creative commons licenses which allow uses of materials that would not be permitted with materials published under traditional copyrights. As free digital teaching resources, many schools, districts, community colleges, universities, and some states are beginning to use and adopt them instead of textbooks. However, just because OER are digital, they are not necessarily accessible. Several OER publishers including CK-12, Flat World Knowledge, Connexions and Curriki, recognize that their formats are not accessible to all students and contribute files to Bookshare for…

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Published August 7, 2012

Books to Help You Prepare for Those Big Tests!

Good preparation can make that important day when you take the big test so much less stressful. Bookshare has a variety of resources that will help you get ready. You’ll find books from all the popular test preparation publishers, including Peterson’s, Barron’s, and Kaplan. If you don’t find the book you want, search by the name of the standard test in our collection, and you’ll find lots of choices. These books give you lots of opportunities to take practice tests and look more closely at subjects that you want to review more intensively. Here are some general titles to get you…

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Published June 20, 2012

Publishers, Industry Moguls, and Disability Advocates Gather to Discuss Access

Saturday, June 9, 2012 wrapped up the first Inclusive Publishing conference hosted by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) at Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, MD, and the DAISY Consortium. NFB and DAISY teamed up with representatives from 20 countries, including Benetech/Bookshare, U.S. K–12 and higher education publishers (Pearson, Cengage, and SAS), and industry moguls (Apple, Google, and Adobe) to collaborate on issues of access affecting millions who cannot read print. Participants met to: Discuss current levels of accessibility in global and U.S. markets Share the landscape of today’s eBook evolution in publishing and education Collaborate and exchange ideas on…

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Published May 31, 2012

26 University Presses Now Partner with Bookshare

A lot has happened over the year with university press partnerships. With three new partnerships in the last few weeks, I realized it was time to post an update. These three new university presses signing agreements to contribute digital files with world rights to Bookshare bring the total number of university press partners to twenty-six. The new partners are: Edinburgh University Press. As the imprimatur of one of Britain’s oldest and most distinguished centers of learning, they publish books of the highest academic standards. Their main subject areas are American Studies, Classics & Ancient History, Film & Media Studies, History,…

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Published June 16, 2011

Bookshare Member Sends Thanks in Haiku

Hot Fall Sun hangs low Cooling breeze ruffles oak tree Beneath, small boy reads. And now, as an old man, that boy is still reading. Thanks! –Don Meyer, Bookshare user. We get a lot of emails from happy users, but never before have we received gratitude in Haiku-form! When we asked Don for permission to post his haiku, he said, “It was very gratifying to find that you, and your team, enjoyed the haiku. As I said to you before, that boy was me. Even now I can still see the sunlight filtering through the oak trees, the shadows,…

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Published May 5, 2011

New Hachette Distribution Clients Collaborate with Bookshare

I have been working closely with Hachette to bring their four distribution clients on board with Bookshare. In addition to Peterson’s Publishing and Hachette Filipacchi, who have signed agreements with us, the remaining two clients have now signed our agreement and are contributing content with world rights to Bookshare in EPUB. Gildan Media Corporation Gildan specializes in personal development, business, and language learning. They have a small list of six titles this year. They have a small list of six titles this year. Gildan titles already in the collection include: The 5 Keys to High Performance: Juggle Your Way to…

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Category: Publishers