LITCHARTS aren’t just the newest series of literature guides on the web. They’re also the fastest, smartest, and free-est series of literature guides on the web.

I checked the online and PDF versions and Kurzweil 3000 was able to read the text. It is such a change to find something useful and free to be accessible.  Kudos to LITCHARTS

From Google:

Google Lime Scholarship for Students with Disabilities

Access to knowledge is our thing. When it comes to higher education for promising scholars, we don’t want anything to stand in the way. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Lime. Google is committed to helping the innovators of the future make the most of their talents by providing scholarships and networking retreats for computer science students with disabilities.

Recipients of the Google Lime Scholarship will receive a scholarship for the 2010–2011 academic year. Selected students will also be invited to attend the all-expenses-paid retreat at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA, in 2011. Scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background, leadership and passion for computer science – $10,000 USD for those studying in the US and $5,000 CAD for those studying in Canada (based on average tuition costs).

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates must be:

*    A current junior or senior year of undergraduate study or enrolled in a graduate program at a university
in the United States or Canada (in addition to US and Canada citizens, international students with
disabilities studying at universities in the US or Canada are also encouraged to apply)
*    Enrolled in a Computer Science or Computer Engineering program, or a closely related technical
field, as a full-time student for the 2010–2011 academic year
*    A person with a disability (defi­ned as someone who has, or considers themselves to have , a long-term, or recurring, issue that impacts one or more activities that others may consider a daily function); this defi­nition also includes the perception among others that a disability exists.

For more information, please go to:

http://www.limeconnect.com/google.html

Online application:
http://google.eresources.com/applications/login.asp

If you are lucky enough to own a Pulse Smartpen

Pulse Smartpen

and would like to save some money, you can now print out your own Dot Paper using the Livescribe Desktop (free) software.  This is only available for PC’s, but they are working on a Mac version.

To print your own notepads in Windows Livescribe Desktop version 1.4 or later you will need a Color LaserJet Printer that is Adobe PostScript compatible and can print at 600dpi or higher.

Last fall I posted a list of companies or organizations that offered high speed scanning services for people who wanted their books in a Kurzweil format (.kesi files) and could not get them any other way.  Tech-Solutions Scanning needs to be added to the list on that post but I wanted to have a separate post for it as a reminder of having books scanned as an option.

Their membership tab gives a 404 error so I can’t tell how much a membership costs or how that relates to the cost of getting a book scanned and converted into .kesi files.  You can get more information at:

rbradley@rjtechsolutions.com
1-866-538-9984
FAX – 1-406-538-8174

Our books are ready to use by your STUDENTS.

Why are Tech-Solutions books so popular?

*Zone Edited
*OCR Corrected
*Spell Checked
*Page Numbering matches the numbering of the book
*Chapter Dividing
*Books are rebound in spiral format

RFB&D logo

If you already are a member of Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic, you probably are aware of their additional new service: AudioAccess, allowing members to download books via the Internet to a PC computer.

Once downloaded they can be synced with a compatible portable media player for take-anywhere convenience.

For US citizens with documented print disabilities, Recording for the Blind and Dylexic (RFB&D) is an organization you might want to look at seriously.  Even though it is freely available to all people of all ages, I am constantly encountering students entering Landmark College having graduated from high school with an IEP requiring alternative text as an accommodation and have never heard of this incredible resource.  There are a few students who have been members since grade school and are dependent upon RFB&D for digital access to textbooks (the books were on Daisy formated CD’s and mailed back and forth).  Obviously, we need to get the word out in as many formats and places as possible, especially since  membership free until January of 2010.  (There is an annual membership renewal fee of $35,  which will begin a year after becoming a member.)

The AudioPlus service is also available (downloadable Daisy formatted books).

Apply online

]]> http://digitaltext.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/rfbd-free-audio-access-membership-until-january-20-2010/feed/ 0 digitaltext Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic Logo http://digitaltext.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/citizendium-a-peer-reviewed-wikopedia/ http://digitaltext.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/citizendium-a-peer-reviewed-wikopedia/#comments Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:12:14 +0000 digitaltext http://digitaltext.wordpress.com/?p=222 ]]>

What is Citizendium?

It is a “citizens’ compendium of everything,” is an open wiki project aimed at creating an enormous, free, and reliable encyclopedia.

The major difference between Wikipedia and Citizendium is one of responsibility of authorship.  “Anonymous” can write anything it wants to and upload it to Wikipedia; who knows who “anonymous” is or of its credentials?

The world needs a trustworthy free encyclopedia. We aim to create that by providing a responsibly governed global community where real-named contributors work under expert guidance and all are accountable.

“What is the point of the Citizendium,“ you might ask, “when Wikipedia is so huge and of reasonably good quality? Is there really a need for it?”

There is a better way for humanity to come together to make an encyclopedia.

To put it forcefully: there is a better way for humanity to come together to make an encyclopedia. So we make this appeal to you. If we can do better than Wikipedia—or more positively, if we can pioneer a truly effective way to gather knowledge—then shouldn’t we?

We can do better

We do not think that Wikipedia is  “good   enough.”  We think humanity can do better: Wikipedia is full of serious problems. Many of the articles are written amateurishly. Too often they are mere disconnected grab-bags of factoids, not made coherent by any sort of narrative. In some fields and some topics, there are groups who “squat” on articles and insist on making them reflect their own specific biases. There is no credible mechanism to approve versions of articles. Vandalism, once a minor annoyance, has become a major headache—made possible because the community allows anonymous contribution.

U.S. Colleges and

Universities

Partner with Bookshare

New Program Expands Collection of Accessible Textbooks for Post-Secondary Students with Print Disabilities

The Bookshare University Partnership will foster the growth of accessible materials for all U.S. students with qualified print disabilities through contributions of books scanned on college and university campuses legally under a copyright exemption in U.S. Copyright Law (17 U.S.C. § 121, often referred to as the Chafee Amendment). Under the Chafee Amendment, Bookshare membership is available to people who provide proof of a print disability, such as blindness or low vision, a reading disability or a physical disability that makes it difficult or impossible to read standard print.

Application for individual membership to Bookshare.org

Qualifications for Bookshare.org membership

To celebrate RFB&D’s 60th anniversary, they are awarding a free individual Audio Access membership to students with a certified print disability.  This offer ends January 25, 2010.  (Every year after there is renewal fee of $25.00.)

To print out an application
You will need to mail in the signed form and the print disability
documentation signed by a certified professional

For more information about AudioAccess

From the Library of  Library of Congress Blog

“Light and liberty go together.” * 1 Item * Updated: Sun, Apr 26 2009 3:50 PM

YouTube, and Now We Do Too By Matt Raymond on youtube Well, this is a day that has been a long time in coming. The Library of Congress has been working for several months now so that we could “do YouTube right.” When you’re the stewards of the world’s largest collection of audiovisual materials (some 6 million films, broadcasts and sound recordings), nothing less would be expected of you, and our own YouTube channel has now gone public. We are starting with more than 70 videos, arranged in the following playlists: 2008 National Book Festival author presentations, the Books and Beyond author series, Journeys and Crossings (a series of curator discussions), “Westinghouse” industrial films from 1904 (I defy you to watch some of them without thinking of the Carl Stalling song “Powerhouse”), scholar discussions from the John W. Kluge Center, and the earliest movies made by Thomas Edison, including the first moving image ever made (curiously enough, a sneeze by a man named Fred Ott). But this is just the beginning. We have made a conscious decision that we’re not just going to upload a bunch of videos and then walk away. As with our popular Flickr pilot project, we intend to keep uploading additional content. We’re modifying some of our work-flows in modest ways to make our content more useful and delivered across platforms with built-in audiences of millions. Not so incidentally, all of the videos we post on YouTube will also be available at LOC.gov (and many, many more, of course) on American Memory, many of which are newly digitized in much higher resolution by the fine Motion Picture, Broadcast and Recorded Sound conservators in Culpeper, Va.

Microsoft Office Word 2007 “DAISY Translator” Add-in Updated: Save as MP3

Microsoft & the DAISY Consortium have released their second version of the DAISY Translator for Microsoft Office Word supporting users with disabilities.

QUOTE – Michael Hingson, the President of The Hingson Group: “The DAISY navigation system is one of the most significant developments to be made available since the development of Braille. DAISY allows people who are blind to move around recorded and electronic documents easily and seamlessly in a way so far only available to sighted readers.”

Download the Add-in