[bksvol-discuss] Re: Article: XML Levels Educational Playing Field for Blind &Visually Impaired
- From: "Pratik Patel" <pratikp1@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 14:21:09 -0500
"Like Eli Whitney's invention of interchangeable parts leading
to the industrial revolution, an accepted standard will revolutionize
document preparation for the blind and visually impaired."
Wow, somebody knows how to exaggerate. He expects his company to be taken
seriously? And, I'm sorry, just because blind people have screen readers
and braille displays, that doesn't mean the electronic text is inherently
accessible.
Pratik
Pratik Patel
Interim Director
Office of Special Services
Queens College
Director
CUNY Assistive Technology Services
The City University of New York
ppatel@xxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Shelley L. Rhodes
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 1:49 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Article: XML Levels Educational Playing Field for
Blind &Visually Impaired
This may be a tool we can use to persuade publishers with.
Business Wire
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
XML Levels Educational Playing Field for Blind & Visually Impaired
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8, 2005-- Visually Impaired Students No
Longer Have to Wait Six Months or Longer for Accessible Textbooks, Thanks to
XML and Data Conversion Laboratory
For the blind and visually impaired new technology has opened doors to
education. They can listen to a textbook on a computer or read using
refreshable braille. Yet students with print disabilities needed to wait six
months or longer for an accessible textbook to be made available.
This will change with the reauthorization of the Individuals with
Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA). The act, signed December 3 by President
Bush, gives students with print disabilities equal access to educational
materials as their sighted peers.
Key to the act is requiring a standard file format for each textbook. This
makes conversion into accessible formats such as braille, large print or
digital text much faster.
"An historic milestone," says Mark Gross, president of Data Conversion
Laboratory (DCL), a New York-based technology firm and a supporter of the
new standard. "Like Eli Whitney's invention of interchangeable parts leading
to the industrial revolution, an accepted standard will revolutionize
document preparation for the blind and visually impaired."
Digital Talking Book
Based on an ANSI NISO standard, the text portions are called Digital Talking
Book (DTBook), an XML standard coordinated by the DAISY Consortium and the
Library of Congress.
"Publishers can help libraries serving persons with disabilities by
providing XML files in DTBook or other XML vocabularies that can be
transformed to this standard," says George Kerscher, secretary general for
the DAISY Consortium.
Data Conversion Laboratory now provides conversion to DTBook, as part of its
"Books2Bytes" service (www.books2bytes.com).
"The new service allows authorized organizations to easily produce materials
without capital investment and without long term commitments" says Gross.
FURTHER INFORMATION
DATA CONVERSION LABORATORY, INC. (http://www.dclab.com)
DCL has over 20 years experience in document conversion, wrote the data
conversion chapter in the "Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing", and has
clients in the publishing, library, aerospace, pharmaceutical, defense, and
software industries.
BOOKS2BYTES SERVICE
http://www.books2bytes.com
DAISY CONSORTIUM (http://www.daisy.org/)
The DAISY Consortium was formed in May, 1996 by talking book libraries to
lead the worldwide transition to Digital Talking Books. DAISY denotes the
Digital Accessible Information System.
Contacts
Data Conversion Laboratory, Inc.
Shavy Schwimmer, 718-307-5767
sschwimmer@xxxxxxxxx
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_vie
w&newsId=20050208005505&newsLang=en
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