[bksvol-discuss] On line news For People With Disabilities

"Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx> · Fri, 19 Nov 2004 16:40:52 -0500

Online news for people with disabilities. >

Online news for people with disabilities.

Thursday, 18th November, 2004

Bill Gates stresses the value of Digital Technology and making such
information more accessible to people with vision or print disabilities

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 15, 2004 -- Imagine what it would be like if more than
95 percent of all print publications, from textbooks to popular novels to
magazines

and daily newspapers, were simply unavailable to you. For millions of
people worldwide who are blind or have other print disabilities such as
mobility

impairments or learning disabilities that prevent them from using
traditional printed materials, that limitation is a fact of life. It
doesn't have to

be that way.

Last week, the Microsoft Accessible Technology Group (ATG) hosted a
three-day international forum called, "Libraries for the Blind and Print
Disabled: Moving

Toward a Digital Future," which attracted library representatives from
around the world and featured a keynote address by Bill Gates, Microsoft
chairman

and chief software architect.

Gates talked about the advantages of digital technology over traditional
analog formats, such as audio tapes, explaining how digital technology can
lower

the costs of converting and distributing content, enable libraries to share
information more easily, and make more information available to more people.

Gates also pointed out that digital formats often provide a better user
experience for people who are blind or have print disabilities, allowing
many different

people to access the same information online simultaneously and making it
easy for individual users to locate specific information within texts.

New strategies to improve library services

The forum, held November 8-10 on the Microsoft corporate campus in Redmond,
brought together approximately 75 representatives of libraries worldwide 
that

provide services and programs for people with print disabilities. Attendees
enthusiastically shared best practices and discussed new strategies for
improving

their services and programs. The event was cosponsored by the Digital
Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium, formed in 1996 to lead
the worldwide

transition from analog to Digital Talking Books.

According to Madelyn Bryant McIntire, director of the Accessible Technology
Group at Microsoft, the purpose of the forum was to facilitate a focused
discussion

among libraries that serve people who are blind or print disabled, one that
could lead to a unified strategy for transforming library collections from

analog formats into digital information that people could access from their
personal computers and

hand-held

devices, such as Pocket PCs and Smartphones.

"Our goal for the event was to provide a forum where libraries could
develop a common vision of a future where there are no barriers, and start
planning

for a digital technology infrastructure that would allow them to move from
analog to digital formats," she said "An integrated, collaborative, global
approach

would increase exponentially the number of publications that are available
to people with print disabilities and enable them to access information much

faster."

Digital technology opens new opportunities

That's not just a theory. Two years ago, Gates accepted the Louis Braille
Gold Medal from the World Blind Union in recognition of Microsoft's 
historical

commitment to accessibility and its contribution to developing a digital
library system for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
The medal

is awarded to individuals who have made an exemplary commitment to
advancing the rights and freedoms of blind people around the world.

The CNIB Digital Library is one of the world's most advanced libraries of
alternative content formats. When it debuted, more than 105,000 Canadians 
who

are blind or print disabled gained instant access to thousands of books and
magazines, and more than 40 newspapers. The

new technology

transformed the way the CNIB distributes information and resources, and
provides users with more options for accessing content.

"For sighted people, technology makes access to information easier. For
people who are blind, like me, it makes access possible," said Jim Sanders,
president

of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). "Thanks to the
CNIB Digital Library, I can now read a newspaper the same day it hits the
newsstand,

or read a best-selling book online instead of waiting for it to arrive in
the mail."

The CNIB Digital Library combines all of the library's online services,
including the CNIB catalogue and digital repository of books, in one
unified, bilingual,

Internet gateway. The online library also includes the Children's Discovery
Portal, which enables children who are blind or visually impaired to play
online

games, get homework help, sample or read books online, and chat with other
Canadian children who are blind.

Microsoft designed the CNIB Digital Library software to meet the
accessibility needs of people who are blind or visually impaired. It works
with leading

assistive technology products, including screen readers and braille
keyboards. It also works well with any back-end system, which means that
other libraries

could use the same software regardless of their technology infrastructure.

Microsoft plans to make the technical specifications and components of the
CNIB distribution system available, free of charge, to any library for the
blind

and print-disabled that wants to use it. Libraries will need to pay for
implementation and any customization they want to do to the original 
solution,

but the software itself will cost them nothing.

The DAISY standard for talking books and multimedia publications represents
another leading technology in this field that is respected and used by an 
ever

growing number of libraries, including The CNIB in Canada and Recording for
the Blind & Dyslexic in the United States. According to George Kerscher,
Secretary

General of DAISY, the consortium's vision is to make all published
information available to people with print disabilities, at the same time
and at no

greater cost, in an accessible feature-rich format that is also easy to use.

"For a blind person reading a DAISY Talking Book, the functionality is very
similar to a sighted person reading a print volume," Kerscher said. "They 
can

easily get to chapters and sections, browse the text, skip the boring bits,
go back to the interesting items, and essentially do everything you do with

any complex print book."

Connecting special needs and mainstream issues

According to Gates, however, having the right technology is only part of
the solution.

"Microsoft's vision is one of empowerment for everyone," Gates said during
the question-and-answer session following his keynote. "Empowering people 
who

are blind or otherwise visually impaired includes ensuring that our
software incorporates a broad range of accessibility features and works
well with screen

readers and other assistive technology devices. It also means working with
libraries and publishers around the world to eliminate barriers that keep a

lot of printed information beyond the reach of the visually impaired."

Among the barriers standing in the way of a global digital library for
people who are blind or print disabled is the lack of universal standards
for converting,

distributing, and maintaining digital media. Many libraries around the
world are working to convert their collections from analog to digital, but
the lack

of common standards results in a lot of duplication.

Because many libraries are spending their limited resources to accomplish
the same tasks, the amount of digital content they can provide is severely
limited.

In addition, many libraries, along with publishers and other content
providers, are using formats or technologies that are not designed to work
well with

the systems others are using. This makes it impossible for libraries to
share content freely, one of the key benefits of moving to a digital format.

Another missing element is any effective way to coordinate national
copyright laws that protect the intellectual property of authors and
publishers. For

example, United States copyright law allows libraries to reproduce most
printed material for use by people who are blind without paying any 
royalties,

but that applies only inside the U.S. The forum hosted by Microsoft offered
library representatives an opportunity to explore how they might create
agreements

that would enable them to share resources across international borders, and
offer global solutions that respect and accommodate national copyright laws.

Gates advised the library representatives at the forum to look for ways to
keep their ultimate digital solution for people who are blind or print 
disabled

aligned as closely as possible with solutions being developed for
mainstream markets.

"We ought to be able to connect mainstream issues with special needs, to
create a bridge between the two," Gates said. "The advantages of accessing
different

types of digital information on a variety of devices are not limited to the
visually impaired. The pioneering work being done to serve their special 
needs

today could have widespread benefits for every user tomorrow -- and keeping
the two closely connected will help lower costs and speed development."

At the forum, Gates reconfirmed that Microsoft is committed to doing
whatever it can to help libraries leverage new technology to improve their
distribution,

convert their collections from analog to digital formats, and provide
better service and more information to people who are blind or have print
disabilities.

Madelyn Bryant McIntire said the Accessible Technology Group will continue
to lead that effort at Microsoft.

"Libraries are places of refuge," she said. "If we can help libraries solve
the problems we discussed at the forum, we can make digital libraries places

of refuge for people who are blind or have print disabilities. That's a
goal worth working hard to achieve."

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