[nabop] Fwd: ViewPlus Makes APS Science Journals Accessible to Blind People

[David Andrews]

>
>  For Immediate Release
>
>ViewPlus Makes APS Science Journals Accessible to Blind People
>
>Corvallis, Oregon USA, Wednesday, January 16, 2008 ­ ViewPlus Technologies
>today announced an experimental project to make American Physical Society
>(APS) journals accessible to the blind. The project is a collaboration
>between APS and ViewPlus, funded by a Small Business Innovation Research
>grant Number R43EY018799 from the National Eye Institute, National
>Institutes of Health. The experimental project will develop streamlined
>procedures that are cost effective and timely, for converting current APS
>XML documents to the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information SYstem) form.
>
>DAISY is an international organization of nonprofit organizations dedicated
>to serving needs of people who are blind or have other severe print
>disabilities. Files in DAISY XML format can be read in speech or with
>on-line refreshable Braille displays using any of several DAISY Reader
>computer applications.  "I am excited that the American Physical Society may
>be able to offer its journals in DAISY format" says Dr. George Kerscher,
>Secretary General of the DAISY Consortium. "This new project is a tribute to
>the APS advanced XML publishing methods and to DAISY's development of
>standards that include accessibility to math and figures.  by offering
>material in the DAISY format, the APS is opening its ranks to a whole new
>group of scientists with print disabilities including blindness, low vision,
>dyslexia or other disabilities."
>
>DAISY's new SVG plug-in expands DAISY's capabilities, allowing ViewPlus'
>SVG-based IVEO system to make DAISY figures accessible by
>"audio/touch". Methods exist today that permit blind people to read the text
>portions of the APS journals. Under this grant, ViewPlus will utilize and
>expand their IVEO Hands-on Learning System technology to make the entire
>journal accessible ­ text as well as previously inaccessible diagrams and
>math. A tactile copy of the visual image will be made by printing the figure
>on a ViewPlus embosser or using "swell" paper. Once the tactile copy is
>placed on a touch-sensitive pad, a blind person may touch the tactile figure
>and hear text labels spoken. Titles and descriptions of graphical objects
>are also spoken when touched.”This project has been my dream for two
>decades" says Prof. John Gardner, ViewPlus Founder and President. "The
>technology developed through this grant will eliminate a giant hurdle for
>blind people who are pursuing careers in math and science."
>
>"Currently most uses for XML MathML are to feed a composition process that
>result in a display of the material. Our goal is to be able to re-purpose
>our XML and MathML for different reading experiences. Making content
>available to reading by listening is potentially only one of the
>deliverables" says Robert Kelly, APS Director of Journal Information
>Systems.
>
>Professor John Gardner is founder and president of ViewPlus and Professor
>Emeritus of Physics at Oregon State University.  Gardner lost his sight in
>mid-career and quickly became widely recognized for his innovative
>developments for people with print disabilities as head of the Science
>Access Project at Oregon State University and later at ViewPlus.
>ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. is a private firm that develops and manufactures
>hardware and software for people with sensory disabilities, including people
>who are blind, low-vision and learning disabled. For more information about
>ViewPlus and the IVEO Hands-on Learning System please visit the ViewPlus
>website, www.viewplus.com, email, info at viewplus.com, or call 541.754.4002.
>Press contacts:
>Abigail Jablonski
>Marketing Coordinator, ViewPlus
>Phone: (541) 754 4002 x 222
>abi.jablonski at viewplus.com