social good for society Archives - Page 7 of 7

Published November 25, 2013

November – A Time to Give Thanks!

Any day is a good day to honor people, and November is the time to celebrate families, sacrifices made and the human spirit. So today, we give thanks for you! Our members, volunteers, teachers, sponsors, parents, disability advocates, Veterans, and everyone who works to make the world a better place. There are many ways we can express gratitude, such as painting a picture of loved ones, praising your child for reading a book, honoring a Veteran, sharing a life experience, hugging a pet, or enjoying a movie that is closed-captioned and accessible. Whatever holiday or tradition you celebrate this week,…

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Published November 4, 2013

FREE Trial Membership to Online Library Opens Lifeline to Reading for Disabled Veterans

Today, November 4, 2013, Benetech and Bookshare released this press announcement. Disabled Veterans Who Qualify Can Download 20 FREE eBooks with 30-Day Trial Membership! The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates that 13 percent of all U.S. Veterans, over 2.8 million individuals, now live with blindness, physical disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries. These print disabilities make it difficult, if nearly impossible, to read a newspaper, study a textbook or enjoy a bestseller. With the evolution of digital accessible books, disabled Veterans may have a new lifeline to reading through Bookshare, the world’s largest online library of…

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Published October 28, 2013

White Cane Awareness Walk 2013: National Disability Employment Awareness Month

The Bookshare staff would like to share highlights from the Palo Alto White Cane Awareness Walk, in which we participated on Wednesday, October 16th in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This blog was originally published on the Benetech website. This annual event is held each October on or in proximity to White Cane Safety Day, a national observance celebrating the ability of people with impaired vision to lead independent lives. With the white cane as a symbol of their independence, the Awareness Walk is open to all: white cane users, support cane users, human guides, walker users, power mobility users,…

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Published October 1, 2013

Get Students a Bookshare Individual Membership at Home!

Throughout October, parents and educators often meet to discuss how students are progressing through the school year. Parent-teacher conferences, IEP meetings, and other face-to-face opportunities are the perfect time to discuss how students can take reading and studying to the next level with Bookshare. How? Get qualified students access to Bookshare at home. Most of our student members access Bookshare through their school account. This means that educators find and download books for students. A fast growing number of students are also getting individual memberships. This allows them to discover books on their own, download independently, and develop a personal…

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Published September 23, 2013

Objecting to Accessibility Weaseling

Post by Benetech CEO, Jim Fruchterman In early September, the National Federation of the Blind and 22 organizations serving people with disabilities filed detailed objections to a petition from a group of makers of e-reader devices led by Amazon to be exempted from accessibility requirements under the relatively new Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Benetech was a proud endorser of these objections (under our legal organizational name of Beneficent Technology, Inc.). You might ask: why would an organization that in many ways provides a competitive alternative to e-readers object to e-readers being exempted from accessibility requirements? Wouldn’t that…

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Published September 5, 2013

Please Vote for Our SXSWedu 2014 Panel Today!

Benetech’s Global Literacy Program is asking for your support! A message from Betsy Beaumon, our Vice President and General Manager of the Benetech Global Literacy Program. Please help us put accessible materials on the map at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference. For those of you who may not have heard of it, SXSW is a hugely popular set of music, film, and interactive festivals (and conferences) that take place every spring in Austin, Texas. One of the conferences being held in March 2014, SXSWedu, is focused on innovation in education—a natural fit for the work of the team that…

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Published August 14, 2013

Get Ready for Back-to-School with Bookshare!

Back to School is a time for teachers, parents, and students of all ages to brush off the summer dust and get ready for a brand new school year. How can you be sure that you are ready to make this year a success on day one? By making sure you are prepared with the books, tools, and information that you or your students need before class begins. That way, you can spend more time focusing on teaching and learning and less time getting ready. Bookshare can help! Throughout the fall, we’ll provide you with step-by-step information to set up…

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Published August 4, 2013

Shhh…Don’t Wake the Royal Baby! Titles for Royal Fans.

A Royal Bibliography On July 22, our world was abuzz for the arrival of Prince George, the first son of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Our team at the Bookshare headquarters was no exception. The excitement over the little prince’s arrival was clear in the chatter between cubicles and online volunteer discussions of our entire Booksharian Anglophile community. One volunteer exclaimed, “Finally, my weeks and days and hours of being on the Royal Baby watch is over! It’s a boy!” This kicked off our Royal Baby thread chat line, and it wasn’t long before the…

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