accessible ebooks Archives - Page 4 of 5

Published February 16, 2017

Bookshare Welcomes Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention Series to Collection

Donation by Carol Lake provides 110 engaging leveled books in accessible format to help young readers The Bookshare team receives several hundred requests each month from students and educators looking for specific books. If we can’t get a book directly from one of the 820 publishers we have agreements with, we buy the book, chop it up, and scan it. But what happens when the request is for a series consisting of 110 books? According to Robin Reddell, a member of Bookshare’s Collection Development team, “Many teachers have requested the Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) Green System for…

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Published January 16, 2017

Learn How to Read Easier with Bookshare at the 2017 ATIA Conference

Are you going to the 2017 ATIA Conference in Orlando (January 18-21)? The 2017 ATIA Conference is where the assistive technology community meets to network, learn and share, and Benetech is excited to be in on the action. We invite you to visit us in the Benetech/Bookshare booth (#419) and attend our presentations. Come see how to get easy access to over 500,000 ebooks in alternative formats for students who cannot read or process printed text. Here’s a preview of what you will learn: New Bookshare Features We’ve made Bookshare faster and easier with new features like Assign & Read,…

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Published January 12, 2017

Bookshare Members Now Have Access to Over 500,000 Ebooks

Benetech accelerates toward a future in which all digital content is Born Accessible By Brad Turner, VP Global Literacy, Benetech On November 29, 2016, Bookshare hit a momentous milestone when it passed the mark of 500,000 titles in its collection. That means that people unable to read standard print now have access to 500,000 ebooks in various formats to suit their individual needs. It wasn’t that long ago that the blind community had to rely on braille, a limited number of human-narrated books, or having someone read to them if they wanted to enjoy a book. Even just 15 years…

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Published December 19, 2016

Bookshare Touches Lives All Year Long

The goal of Benetech’s Bookshare initiative is to make reading accessible to everyone. Bookshare is the world’s largest accessible online library that serves over 400,000 members with print disabilities. In September, Bookshare reached a significant milestone when it delivered the ten millionth book downloaded. That’s an awful lot of accessible ebooks making reading possible for individuals with blindness, low vision, a physical disability, or a learning disability like dyslexia. Another way we are bringing the benefits of Bookshare to a wider audience is through partnerships with public libraries. Libraries in New York, Georgia, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia now offer free Bookshare…

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Published October 25, 2016

Omree Sabo, High School Student with Dyslexia, Advocates for Ebooks

Bookshare member dives into the deep end of reading with accessible ebooks! Omree Sabo, a sophomore at Redwood High School in Marin County, California, is an avid user of Bookshare; so much so that he decided to help other students and teachers at his school and in his county learn about the free, online library of accessible ebooks for U.S. students who cannot read standard print. “Bookshare gets a big thumbs up from me,” says Omree. “I don’t know where my grades would be if my parents had not found Bookshare and signed me up for an Individual Membership.” In…

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Published September 14, 2016

Parent Partners with School Administrators to Advocate for Accessible Ebooks and Dispel Myths

Deborah Campbell with Denver Academy’s Director of Education, Philippe Ernewein, and Director of IT, Anthony Slaughter When Deborah Campbell volunteered at Denver Academy, she had one mission: to educate teachers and families of children with reading disabilities about the benefits of accessible ebooks and assistive technologies for learning. Mrs. Campbell holds a master of arts degree in curriculum and instruction and has a deep understanding of the education process. Alyssa, her eldest daughter, attends Denver Academy and was diagnosed with a learning disability in second grade. At that time she read at a noticeably slower pace than her peers, and it was difficult…

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Published August 10, 2016

Benetech Summer Interns Dive Deep into Bookshare

By guest author Mercedes Mack, Bookshare Operations Associate Benetech’s Summer Internship Program is now in its fourth year, and with maturity comes evolution. This year we had a mix of high school and college students who worked on Bookshare-related projects with specific focus in two areas: data analysis and member experience. Our interns – Justin Yu, Cathy Vu, Josephine Kong, Abhinav Arya, and Reece Jones – did amazing work for our Bookshare team and were such a delight to work with this summer. Intern Projects Justin Yu, an incoming freshman to Santa Clara University, conducted data analysis of our books…

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Published June 28, 2016

Benetech Partners with Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services to Bring Bookshare to Patrons with Print Disabilities

GLASS offers over 425,000 accessible ebooks in its pursuit of total accessibility Benetech, provider of Bookshare, is proud to announce a new partnership with Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS), making over 425,000 accessible ebooks available for free to patrons who cannot read printed books due to blindness, low vision, dyslexia, and other print disabilities. GLASS is the statewide network of talking book centers that provides library services for the blind and others whose physical abilities require the use of books and magazines in digital audio formats or in braille. Beginning July 1, every Georgian with an eligible print…

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Published June 7, 2016

Start a Summer Reading Bonanza with Bookshare Bingo

Summer and a good book go together like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Frog and Toad, Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, Winnie the Pooh and, well, you get the idea. And in case you are wondering what to read this summer, we have one hundred and fifty-five suggestions of juicy books into which you can sink your teeth. Whether you are lounging at home, reclining in a hammock, cooling off at the pool, catching some rays at the beach, going on a road trip, flying in a plane, or visiting grandma, you can take your favorite Bookshare books with you.…

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Published May 27, 2016

Bingo! Students Who Read Beat Summer Slide

Set students up for summer reading success with books from Bookshare. The dreaded summer slide. Research suggests that a summer break can cause an average student to lose up to one month of instruction, with disadvantaged students disproportionately affected (Cooper, 1996). Fortunately, access to books during summer helps students beat the summer slide, and Bookshare’s accessible online library is the perfect resource for kids who cannot read traditional print books due to disabilities like blindness, low vision, physical disabilities, and learning disabilities like dyslexia. Checklist for Teachers How can you make sure your students are set up with accessible ebooks…

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