Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Bookshare.org for the visually impaired
Bookshare.org fills a need for the visually impared. I didn't know about this service when I was taking care of my visually impaired father, but it probably is a service that he would have used. I did have "Reading Radio" for him, which is a special radio broadcast (using a special radio) that originates at our local PBS station. He got broascasts of people reading such material as the local newspaper, magazine articles, and the New York Times. Some time slots were assigned a certain topic, which came from a number of different resources. They had a schedule that he could refer to, so that he would know when to tune in. They didn't offer the reading of books, however, and I think Bookshare.org would be a great companion to Reading Radio. Having access to full books, and on your own time, is great.
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2 comments:
I checked it out and think it's a great tool. I also checked out the cost of membership and it seemed reasonable for an individual subscription. Glad to know this program exists, and I would surely want to subscribe if I were running a school media center. I'm also curious if my county library offers a similar service.
I think that Bookshare would be a great tool as well particularly if you live in an area that is not served by a Reachout Radio service. I used to select children's titles to be read on the program. It was always a challenge to find picturebooks that could be read over the radio and not just rely on the pictures to tell the story.
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