1) Bookshare.org is an online library that provides accessible digital text books for people with print disabilities. It has over 35,000 books available that can be accessed through text-to-speech, Braille, or screen reading software. 2) Books are added from publishers, schools, and organizations and cost $50 on average to add. The collection is available for free to schools and students. 3) The document outlines how Bookshare.org works to provide accessible textbooks, their partnerships with publishers and schools, and their goal of supporting educational outcomes for print disabled students.

1. Bookshare.org for Education and the NIMAC Delivering Accessible Textbooks for Every Print Disabled Student in the United States Jim Fruchterman Benetech ATIA Conference, January, 2007 *The Bookshare trademark is under license from its registered owner, Follett Library Resources division of Follett Corporation

2. Bookshare.org Today Reading the Books Bookshare.org Tomorrow Partnerships Product Demonstrations

3. I. Bookshare.org Today

4. The Bookshare.org Solution An online library of accessible digital text Accessible books as digital text over the Internet Not human narrated audio Books similar to a web page or word processing file Users access the books by: Listening to them (voice synthesizer) Viewing them enlarged (on a PC screen or printed out) Seeing and hearing the words at the same time Reading Braille (digital or hardcopy)

5. Bookshare.org Advantages Completely online Much lower costs than traditional approaches $50 each to add most books to our collection Pennies incremental cost for each book downloaded Speed of access New books in under a week into the collection Search the entire collection in seconds Get the book two minutes after you decide you want it Library available 24/7 Flexibility Braille for the Braille reader Large print for the low vision reader Bi-modal reading for the dyslexic reader

6. Types of publications available Trade books Majority of top titles available New York Times Best sellers, series, collections Newbery awards, recommended student reading lists 1,000 Spanish language titles Children’s books New Scholastic partnership (focus on chapter books) Textbooks Growing number available from schools & publishers Just starting with NIMAC-sourced textbooks Periodicals Available through our partnership with NFB Newsline 150 national & regional newspapers and magazines

7. How is sharing copyrighted books legal? Through an exemption in the U.S. copyright law Key requirements of the Chafee Amendment Authorized entity (Government or nonprofit) Copyright notice Specialized formats (Braille, audio or digital text) Proof of print disability U.S. residents only unless permission granted

8. Definition of print disability People who cannot read a print book Visually impaired Blind or legally blind Learning disabled Typically a student with a specific language learning impairment and IEP requiring text accommodation Physically disabled Cannot hold a book and turn pages Need to have a qualified professional sign a Section 121 certification (or an agency staffer certify that such a certification is on file)

9. Who is Benetech? An authorized Chafee entity 18 year old, 501(c)(3) nonprofit U.S. charity status, active globally Silicon Valley’s leading nonprofit tech developer Literacy, human rights, environment Respected leadership MacArthur, Skoll, Schwab Fellowships Two AFB Access Awards Section 508 and 255 federal advisory committees American Library Association Francis Joseph Campbell Award National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard federal committee

10. II. Reading the Books

11. Go to Bookshare.org and Search Like Amazon.com for the print disabled Search for the book needed Download an encrypted copy to a PC Use the preferred assistive technology for the person with a disability Braille Synthetic Speech (text-to-speech, digital text) VCS (Aspire, Natural Reader, ReadPlease, WYNN, Kurzweil, Write:Outloud, SOLO) Enlargement (can make font larger, other visual modifications such as more white space, even in WORD) Combination

12. BRF format Easy-to-use grade 2 digital Braille Download Braille files directly from the site Use notetakers or refreshable Braille displays Typical Braille notetaker has 20 Braille cells with plastic pins that pop up and provide 20 characters at a time Download books to embosser Embossing available through partnership with Braille Institute Creating hardcopy Braille books Digital Braille is the key to the future of Braille An entire library on a flash card

13. DAISY format Digital Accessible Information SYstem Books are read on a computer using synthetic speech and are visually presented NISO/DAISY 3.0 XML specification enables text-based navigation Includes page numbers and paragraphs Think of it as a web page (HTML) plus a couple of extra tags The audio version of the books can be played on an MP3 player (just like listening to music)

14. Bookshare.org Tomorrow Bookshare.org for Education (B4E) And the NIMAC

15. Bookshare.org for Education Every student, 100,000 new books Our goal is to realize the promise of IDEA The books students need, in high quality, at the same time as their peers, for free Freedom to read, freedom to do research in a library Existing Bookshare.org collection free to all schools, all students as of October 1, 2007 We turned this on over a weekend! Only possible because we’re completely digital Greatly expanded textbook work Free assistive technology Goal is to share the access burden better across all SEAs, LEAs, teachers, parents and students

16. Bookshare.org Textbooks in NIMAS High quality, flexible textbooks, fast One week turnaround for NIMAS files in 2008 Directly from the NIMAC or otherwise Student-ready files in 7 days Images added in 2008 Helps low vision and dyslexic students Helpful for blind students when augmenting with readers Text descriptions of images in 2009 Focus on needed textbooks not currently available in the needed formats

17. Bookshare.org Textbooks from NIMAC Ask and ye shall receive At present, Bookshare.org cannot request books from the NIMAC SEAs and LEAs need to designate Bookshare.org to produce accessible media Go to the NIMAC and search http:// www.nimac.us Then, ask one of your state’s Authorized Users to assign the book to Bookshare.org Send us an email letting us know you did so ( [email_address] ) We don’t know who asked for the books when they arrive in our queue We can serve U.S. K-12 schools and students with NIMAC books: we deliver in DAISY and BRF

18. Security for Bookshare.org Seven Point Digital Rights Plan Qualified users Contractual Agreement Copyright notice Encryption Watermark / Fingerprint Security database Security watch program

19. What Volusia Needs to Do One membership for county Currently set up under Shari Hill as primary contact Select school-based contacts (who) Complete form with names of contacts from school On-going training Designate 1 person at each school Responsible for school Complete student forms, student must be eligible, documented on IEP and text accommodations using books on tape, Identify students on form by Alpha ID (?)

20. IV. Partnerships

21. Engagement with Publishers Presented Bookshare.org to the copyright committee of the AAP one year before launch Seven point DRM plan Changes and feedback Regular reviews with AAP general counsel Agreement with author association (SFWA) Author moral rights Agreement to promote access Textbook Access NIMAS/NIMAC work

22. Publisher Partnerships The visionary publishers are already on board Baen Scholastic HarperCollins O’Reilly Recruiting others Help all publishers understand the value of Provide Once, Comply Everywhere (Bookshare.org will supply schools with e-text at no cost to publishers)

23. Permissions Drive Direct access to digital content Better quality Avoids rescanning International access Meet the reading needs of English speaking disabled people Plan to extend to other languages in 2008 Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation support Help publishers meet accessibility obligations

24. School Partnerships Scan once, share many, save time Invest the extra effort into more titles, more proofreading Colleges and SEAs/LEAs contributing high quality scanned books: Michigan State, Montana, Indiana, CUNY and their consortium partners, Hadley School, etc. Documentation and training to improve quality

25. Assistive Technology Partnerships Every vendor who provides text access products has or is working on Bookshare.org support We fill up those products and devices with text with the least effort HumanWare Victor Reader included today Plus, a commitment to frequent improvements Working on additional partnerships for free AT Especially software designed for dyslexic users Longer-term goals The student without a PC can do their reading on a locked-down public access terminal Support the student who has a $20 MP3 player or $50 cell phone

26. V. Demonstration

27. Conclusion 35,000+ books and expanding: critical mass Textbooks growing fast Help us get more NIMAC books! Meets critical social need Print disabled people have access they need Provides a national opportunity for volunteer service Primary objective: support educational outcomes Textbooks Recommended reading Research and reference

28. Find out More Bookshare.org www.bookshare.org Jim Fruchterman Lisa Friendly [email_address] [email_address] 650-644-3406 650-644-3420 A project of Benetech www.benetech.org Silicon Valley’s deliberately nonprofit tech company