[gui-talk] Reading Books in the Electronic Age/Phone Meeting/Philadelphia Computer Users Group for the Blind and Visually Impaired

[David Goldfield]

When I was growing up, visually impaired readers had very few sources 
for obtaining accessible books. For most of us, our primary source was 
likely the National Library Service. Books were sent to us either in 
Braille or in recorded format. The recorded books, known as talking 
books, were played using cassette tapes or phonograph records. Records 
were played on a rather large record player with, at least on the one 
which I had, a detachable speaker. Tapes were played on very rugged but 
still large tape players, equipment which was also issued by NLS, 
meaning that it wasn’t yours to keep. Braille books often consisted of 
several volumes, with the average novel taking up 2 to 3 thick volumes, 
being shipped in large containers. I’m sure many of us have memories of 
having stacks of books, and the containers they shipped with, taking 
over not only our bedroom but perhaps even the entire house, driving our 
other family members a bit bonkers. Magazines, while available through 
NLS, were few in number. There were a few other specialized libraries 
but most of us probably started with and resorted back to NLS for the 
majority of our reading needs, even though the amount of material was a 
drop in the bucket compared to what was available for sighted consumers. 
Also, once a book was published in print we would likely have to wait 
for nearly a year before we could get our hands on that book through 
NLS, assuming that NLS chose to make it accessible in the first place. 
Once we knew that our local NLS affiliate had the book, we would order 
it, usually by calling a librarian over the phone, and we would then 
wait for the book to arrive in the mail, with free matter shipping 
meaning we’d have to wait even longer for the book to arrive.

I’ll bet that most blind readers never even thought to set foot in a 
public library, unless it was a time when they began offering books on 
tape for patrons to borrow. Beyond that, most libraries and bookstores 
were pretty much inaccessible to most of us. When I was a kid, acquiring 
a scanner for converting printed material into an accessible format was 
possible but the technology cost around thirty thousand dollars, putting 
the capability out of reach for most of us, myself included.

Fast forward to 2017. While NLS may still be the go-to source for books 
for many of us, books no longer need to be delivered to our door in big, 
bulky containers. Instead, we have the capability to download a book in 
minutes and play it on a variety of players we can actually own for 
ourselves such as a Booksense, Bookport or Victor Stream. We can even 
download them and read them on our phones, tablets or iPods. For those 
who use electronic Braille, a Braille book can be downloaded in less 
than a minute to be read on a Braille display, without needing to worry 
about flipping over the address card and putting the boxes in the mail. 
Our public libraries offer not only books on CD but downloadable books 
as well, which can be read on our computers, tablets or smartphones. Not 
to mention that many libraries also offer free access to online digital 
content, such as various journals, magazines and encyclopedias.

While brick and mortar bookstores may still be inaccessible to us, we 
are now able to independently browse the virtual bookshelves of online 
stores such as Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Blio, Bookshare and Learning 
Ally, without needing to ask for the assistance of a family member or 
salesperson. Once we find the book that we want, we can download it, 
usually in less than a minute, and instantly have it available to read 
on our device of choice. Many of these online stores can also provide us 
with access to magazines as well as books. Today, if a book is published 
in print, chances are that we can get it in an accessible format the 
same day our sighted counterparts can get it in print, considering that 
more and more sighted readers are reading books on Kindles, Fire Tablets 
and iPads just as we are. Thanks to the built-in accessibility of these 
devices, we can buy a reading device such as a Kindle e-reader or a Fire 
tablet at a very reasonable price, such as the new $49.99 Fire 7 tablet 
from Amazon. If the book or magazine we want isn’t available in an 
accessible format, the prices of scanning options have come down 
significantly since the days of the clunky thirty thousand dollar 
Kurzweil Reading Machine. In addition to software such as OpenBook and 
the Kurzweil 1000, there are options which are even more inexpensive, 
such as the KNFB Reader app, available on iOS, Android and, as of 
recently, Windows 10.

During the next phone meeting of the Philadelphia Computer Users Group 
for the Blind and Visually Impaired I’d like to discuss this topic, in 
depth, with any of you who are interested in discussing it. Questions 
for possible discussion might be:

1.What are your favorite sources for books?

2.Are there sources which you use for books which I have not mentioned 
and which you feel we should know about?

3.How do you prefer reading books? On an iPad? A Victor Stream? An iPhone?

4.Do you have questions about using these or other services?

If you have something to share about this topic, I’d love to hear from 
you. All are welcome to call in and participate or just to listen. Even 
if you’re outside of the Philly area, you’re more than welcome to join us.

When: Friday, May 26

Time: 8:00 PM Eastern time

To join us, the number to call is

(712) 432-3900

When asked to enter an access code, enter

391477

Followed by the pound key.

Looking forward to our next phone meeting.

-- 
David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist Feel free to visit my 
Web site WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info