Seeking participants for text readability study
By Alicia Waters | April 13, 2012
Seeking participants for text readability study
Shawn Henry is studying users’ needs for customizing text (for example, increasing font size) for readability. She would like to talk with people who can see and can read, yet have difficulty reading “normal” text and thus need to specify different text characteristics in order to read effectively — including:
people with low vision
people with dyslexia, cognitive impairments, or other conditions that affect reading
people with declining eyesight due to aging
You can contact Shawn Henry by:
e-mail: projects@uiAccess.com
phone: +1-617-395-7664
Read about her
Topics: Accessibility | No Comments »
AFB expands website
By Alicia Waters | April 3, 2012
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), the national nonprofit that expands possibilities for people with vision loss, has launched a redesign of its main website, www.afb.org. The new site offers a more interactive, engaging experience, making it easier for visitors to locate information on the topics that interest them.
Like the former AFB website, the new afb.org is fully accessible to people with vision loss. Visitors can change colors, font, and font size to increase content readability.
On the new site, visitors will find:
A new information architecture that improves navigability via a cleaner design
Slideshows that highlight news, events, and resources on living with vision loss
New and enhanced ways to engage with AFB through public policy campaigns and social networking channels
The ability to easily share content by e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter
In-depth descriptions of more than 1,600 agencies and organizations that offer services to people with vision loss, available for free for the first time through AFB’s Directory of Services online.
Topics: News & Info, Resources | No Comments »
LC Book Catalog Orders
By Alicia Waters | March 1, 2012
The Library of Congress (LC) National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) of which Talking Books Plus (TBP) is affiliated as a network library will be sending TBP members a form to order book catalogs. The Digital Talking Books Plus catalog is a more organized compilation of the titles in the Talking Book Topics catalogs that are received bi-monthly. The Digitial Talking Books Plus 2011 catalog will contain all of the titles in the January through December 2011 issues of the Talking Book Topics catalogs. The Digital Talking Books Plus catalog organizes titles by subject and provides a title index which makes book searching easier. As the January through December 2011 Talking Book Topics catalogs contain the same titles, once the Digital Talking Books Plus 2011 catalog is received, all of the Talking Book Topics 2011 catalogs may be discarded. TBP members are encouraged to review the large print order forms they will receive in the mail. The forms should be returned to the specified address on the postage-paid envelope provided with the form. Need any help understanding the form or catalog choices, call TBP at 574-9310.
Topics: General, News & Info | No Comments »
February 2012 Bestseller List
By Alicia Waters | February 29, 2012
The February 2012 Bestseller List is online.
The bestseller report compiled monthly by National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) combines information taken from the bestseller lists of the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Bestsellers are included in the report when they appear on one of the above bestseller lists for a month or more. Once a title appears in the report with an NLS number, it will not appear on future reports.
The acronyms used for newspapers and book clubs in the NLS bestseller report are:
Code Source
LAT Los Angeles Times
NYT New York Times
WP Washington Post
Topics: Books to Read, General, News & Info | No Comments »
Free app replaces cell phone keyboard
By Alicia Waters | February 23, 2012
Entering text on an accessible phone has become easier. Soon to be released, an app has been developed at Georgia Institute of Technology called Braille Touch. It speaks letters aloud. This touch-screen Braille keyboard allowed a visually impaired person to type at a rate of 32 words per minute. Virtual keyboards and soft keyboards such as Apple’s voice-over keyboard tend to be slow. Hardware to increase speed on these devices can be expensive. On Android phones, the BrailleTouch app can be programmed in as the phone’s standard keyboard. For more details, read the CNN article written by John D. Sutter. When you try the app text about the digital book you downloaded from Talking Books Plus.
Topics: Accessibility, Digital Update, General, News & Info, Resources | No Comments »
Accessible phone to read eBooks
By Alicia Waters | February 23, 2012
A librarian from Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped says “one of the best resources for a new user of the iPhone and VoiceOver is the book written by Anna Dresner and Dean Martineau, called Getting Started with the iPhone. It’s available from National Braille Press in electronic text and Braille.”
Topics: Accessibility, General, News & Info, Resources | No Comments »
Navigating BARD Main Page
By Alicia Waters | February 20, 2012
BARD Support is a listserv for Talking Books Plus members who apply for BARD service. Presently, BARD Support is publishing a series on navigation and making full use of the BARD Main Page. The latest post addresses the different ways to browse BARD for magazines. To read these posts, BARD members who have not already joined BARD Support, can do so by sending an email message to nlsdownload@loc.gov requesting to be added to the list. Include the member’s first name, last name, and the email address where they want to receive messages.
Topics: Digital Update, News & Info | No Comments »
NOBLE Collection
By Alicia Waters | February 16, 2012
The State of North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is making NOBLE, their locally produced collection of digital audio and digital braille materials, available to RI Talking Books Plus members. Registration is not required to use or download these materials. All of the audio titles are listed in Voyager with a link to the North Carolina download site. Clicking on the link to “North Carolina regional download site” will immediately initiate downloading of the title. Two digital Braille titles on NOBLE are also listed in Voyager. Clicking on the download link takes the user to WebBraille which requires a login. Alternatively, users can directly download from NOBLE. Thank you, North Carolina for expanding the number of titles available to our members.
Topics: Books to Read, Digital Update | No Comments »
HTML version of Facebook
By Alicia Waters | February 15, 2012
The following is quoted from a Librarian.
There’s an HTML version of Facebook that’s really easy to use without the pop ups. I’m totally blind and when I first started using facebook I hated it until I found that link. Now I love it.
Topics: Accessibility, News & Info | No Comments »
Audio Magazine List Update
By Alicia Waters | February 13, 2012
An outdated version of the audio magazine list was published in the November–December 2011 and January–February 2012 issues of Talking Book Topics. National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused our readers.
Open the updated magazine list as either a text file or a pdf version.
Topics: News & Info, Resources | No Comments »
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