#bookshare Archives - Page 2 of 4

Back to School with Bookshare: Tips from the Teaching Trenches (Part 2)

Back to school written on a notebook surrounded by pencils, ruler, scissors

Published August 30, 2017

Back to School with Bookshare: Tips from the Teaching Trenches (Part 2)

Equal access means equal opportunity for students with disabilities Welcome to the second blog in our Back to School with Bookshare series. These blogs help teachers get a strong start to the school year so they can help their students be successful. The first blog featured Special Education Resource Teacher Diane Lurye and the ways she uses Bookshare to encourage reading independence. “Technology is the equalizer for students with disabilities,” says Deirdre Watkins, an Itinerant Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments in the Dekalb County School District in Georgia. She serves sixteen students in pre-K through 12th grade across six…

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Veronica Lewis is a Champion of Self-Advocacy

Veronica Lewis is holding her white cane

Published May 18, 2017

Veronica Lewis is a Champion of Self-Advocacy

Bookshare member successfully navigates college life and offers valuable advice for students with disabilities “A disability is something you have, not who you are.” As graduation nears for many high school students, thoughts turn to college and the importance of survival skills. Topping the list is the ability to advocate for yourself because the days of spoon-feeding and hand-holding are over. This advice is especially important for students with disabilities, and a student who embodies this sentiment completely is Veronica Lewis. “Self-advocacy is learning how to speak up for yourself, as well as learning, building a support network, problem solving,…

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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 August 16, 2016

Creating Equal District and Schoolwide Learning Opportunities for Students with Disabilities

Raising academic performance to meet the mandates of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a critical mission for school leaders, yet finding solutions to accommodate diverse student populations across districts and schools can be overwhelming and costly. Students with learning disabilities or visual impairments, for example, have difficulty reading print books. Often, they need accommodations like audio, large print, or braille to make classroom and homework materials accessible. The effort and resources required to produce accessible educational materials (AEM) is significant. Teachers and librarians struggle to find textbooks and Common Core materials in accessible formats. Parents stress about support…

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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 April 27, 2016

#SVGives: 10 for 10 Brings Bookshare to More Readers

UPDATE: Thank you to the generous donors who helped us reach our goal of $10K to bring Bookshare to more readers! Small gifts, big impact. Last year, in just one day, over $8 million dollars was raised for Bay Area nonprofits through Silicon Valley Gives, a community-wide day of giving hosted by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Benetech is one of hundreds of nonprofits in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Benito, and San Francisco counties who are joining together to lift up and empower communities in need. Every contribution has an impact. No gift is too small. That’s why…

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Published March 17, 2016

Benetech Showcases Leading Edge Literacy Initiatives at 31st Annual CSUN Conference

Assistive technology — whether it’s a mobile app or a modified wheelchair — can transform the lives of people with disabilities. The latest in the field of assistive technology will be the focus of the world’s largest gathering of people who develop or use assistive technology, taking place at the 31st Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference from March 21-26 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The “CSUN Conference,” as it is known in the industry, is organized by California State University, Northridge’s Center on Disabilities. It provides a unique opportunity for people with disabilities to have…

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Published December 1, 2015

Why We Are #Thankful

The Bookshare community is amazing. It’s over 370,000 people strong with an even larger cast of parents, teachers, and supporters. They live in over seventy countries and read more than a million and a half books every year. They dream big, accomplish great things, and live life to its fullest. The holiday season is a time for thanks, and we at Bookshare are thankful for this community. Let’s meet some of them. Lily loves to read, especially books about horses. She didn’t always like reading though. In fact, Lily disliked it because of her dyslexia. That changed when she started using Bookshare, and…

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