[bksvol-discuss] Re: New Volunter questions
- From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:46:07 -0500
Hi, Virginia. Welcome to Bookshare and to this list. (smile) I'm glad to
meet you. Since you're mentioning pictures, may I assume that you are one of
our sighted volunteers? I'm asking because the answers to your questions are
different depending on whether you have sight or not. If that sounds like an
odd question, I'm asking because I've found that people really are so
different in what they need from technology and how they like to do things.
I'll take the easy question first. For now, Bookshare files don't include
pictures. You can describe the picture if you like. That is completely
optional. Most of us use speech or Braille to read, and our reading
technology doesn't speak or display pictures. We do have a growing number of
sighted members who have print disabilities not related to blindness, and
they would be able to use pictures. For now, Bookshare's software can't
process pictures though. I think Bookshare wants to change that in the
future.
As for scanning software, I really like the scans from FineReader and from
OmniPage. Both programs scan books well. FineReader is the scanning engine
that most of us use, though we use software designed for blind people or
people with learning disabilities, usually Openbook or Kurzweil. FineReader
has a loyal fan base among our sighted volunteers, and it's what they use in
the Bookshare office. OmniPage isn't used by as many volunteers, and I'm not
sure if that's due to price or their personal experience with it. I do know
we have two ladies who use OmniPage and who submit wonderful scans. I think
the majority of volunteers with reading disabilities use either Kurzweil or
Openbook for scanning since these programs simplify the visual part of
interacting with FineReader.
I hope this post is of some help to you. Scanning software isn't a
one-size-fits-all issue, and we could help you better if we know how you
like to work and whether you need assistive technology or not.
Again, welcome to the list. I'm looking forward to seeing your book in the
collection soon. (smile)
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
Other related posts:
