[Dtb-talk] RFB&D AND HUMANWARE

[David Andrews]

>
>RECORDING FOR THE BLIND & DYSLEXIC (RFB&D) AND HUMANWARE WORK
>TOGETHER TO SERVE AMERICANS WHO ARE BLIND, LOW VISION OR HAVE
>LEARNING DISABILITIES.
>
>Version française :
>http://www.humanware.ca/web/fr/NewsGetFile.asp?file=20061122.html
>
>A web version is available at:
>http://www.humanware.ca/web/en/NewsGetFile.asp?file=20061122.html
>
>Princeton, New Jersey, and Longueuil, Canada, November 22, 2006
>
>RFB&D, America's educational library of recorded textbooks for
>people unable to read print due to a visual or perceptual disability,
>has strengthened its partnership with HumanWare. The acclaimed Victor
>Reader player will now be co-branded with the RFB&D logo and clearly
>labelled for RFB&D members to play books from RFB&D's AudioPlus®
>digital book collection.
>
>RFB&D's AudioPlus books produced by RFB&D offer members an enhanced
>talking book that not only offers the clear fidelity of CD digital
>audio, but, when played on the HumanWare Victor Reader DAISY CD
>players, also offers the reader the ability to navigate audio much
>like a printed book. At the press of a button, the Victor Reader
>can move through the audiobook chapter by chapter, section by
>section, go directly to a page from the table of contents, and even
>enter electronic bookmarks.
>
>"I can actually comprehend what I've read when I listen to RFB&D's
>recorded textbooks," says Ashley Jo Strac, an RFB&D member who was
>diagnosed with dyslexia when she was nine years old. "It is the
>closest thing to reading a book like a sighted person," says Aerial
>Gilbert, who is visually impaired and also an RFB&D member.
>
>The players selected by RFB&D include the Victor Reader ClassicX +,
>a portable sturdy player for heavy use, and the Victor Reader Wave,
>a compact player with LCD screen. Both players have new face plates,
>which were specially designed by HumanWare for people with learning
>disabilities. From now on, descriptive labels will be printed
>beneath each key to make use easier for this specific clientele.
>
>HumanWare, the leading innovator of DAISY-compatible CD digital
>talking book players, has been producing its Victor Reader series
>of players worldwide since 1999.
>
>"We work very hard to produce RFB&D's AudioPlus digitally recorded
>books on CD, and our partnership with HumanWare ensures that we
>deliver the books to our members on the Victor Reader, the best
>possible digital audiobook player," says Stephanie Turner, RFB&D
>Manager of Market & Product Initiatives. "It's a partnership where
>everybody wins, the book producer, player manufacturer, but, most
>of all, our members who depend on audiobooks for their education and
>life-long learning."
>
>"HumanWare is in the business of providing solutions, not just
>products, and providing complete solutions require strong partners,"
>says Gerry Chevalier, Victor Reader Product Manager. "RFB&D members
>need a complete audiobook solution that can only be provided because
>of the winning partnership of the Victor Reader combined with RFB&D's
>AudioPlus books and the amazing customer support provided by RFB&D."
>
>To demonstrate their strong partnership and its confidence in Victor
>Reader products, RFB&D has allowed its logo to be featured on all
>Victor Reader ClassicX + and Wave models used by its members. This
>partnership is a commitment by both companies that they will continue
>to work together to provide the best audiobook reading experience to
>RFB&D members for many years to come.
>
>About RFB&D
>
>RFB&D (
>www.rfbd.org)
>serves more than 141,000 students from
>kindergarten through graduate school and beyond with its
>one-of-a-kind collection of more than 109,000 educational titles.
>RFB&D's AudioPlus digitally recorded textbooks on CD provide
>unprecedented navigation, ease of use and proven effectiveness as
>learning tools for students with print disabilities. Students rely
>on RFB&D's unique accommodation to access the printed page and to
>achieve educational success. All of RFB&D's accessible titles are
>recorded by volunteers working in 29 RFB&D recording studios
>nationwide.
>
>About HumanWare
>
>HumanWare (
>www.humanware.com)
>is the global leader in assistive
>technologies for vision. HumanWare provides products to blind and
>low vision people and students with learning disabilities.
>HumanWare's many innovative products include BrailleNote, the leading
>productivity device for blind people in education, in business and in
>their personal lives; the Victor Reader product line, the world's
>leading digital audiobook players, and SmartView Xtend, the first
>fully modular and upgradeable CCTV-based video magnifier.
>
>For more information:
>
>RFB&D
>Mark Zustovich
>tel.: (609) 520-7993
>email:
>mzustovich at rfbd.org
>
>HumanWare Canada
>Nicolas Lagace
>tel.: (450) 463-1717
>email:
>nicolas.lagace at humanware.com