TTC Interview - Bookshare



Mobile Reading Tools and AT Devices Webinar RecordingGINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Afternoon XE "Afternoon" and welcome to the Reading Tools XE "Tools" Partner Program XE "Tools Partner Program" for Bookshare XE "Bookshare" . We're going to be looking at mobile reading tools today and AT devices. We'll have a webinar with about five--four or five different presenters today and, uh, we'd like to ask you to please put your chat, um, any questions you have into chat and we'll be watching for that.All right. So we're going to get started. I'm Ginny XE "Ginny" Grant XE "Ginny Grant" . I'm Senior Product Manager XE "Senior Product Manager" for Bookshare XE "Bookshare" , um, and for several of the reading tools that--that Benetech XE "Benetech" supports but also, uh, responsible for the--the partner program as we've been expanding it out to many more wonderful, um, partners who are giving people the opportunity on the best device for their needs.Um, I'll be joined then by Nick XE "Nick" Bowen XE "Nick Bowen" doing Read2Go, Winston XE "Winston" Chen XE "Winston Chen" on Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" reader, then Nick again on Go Read and then Greg XE "Greg" Stilson XE "Greg Stilson:See Also:Stilson" XE "Greg Stilson" on Victor XE "Victor" Reader Stream XE "Victor Reader Stream" so let's just take it as a, uh, first thing's first, today is actually the birthday of Bookshare XE "Bookshare" 's, uh, new site.One year ago today we--we went live with the new site and we continue to update it every day with, uh, feedback from--from you all, the users and as we keep building out more capabilities. So one thing I would like to really bring to everyone's attention today is a couple of places where we've expanded out the capabilities for you to learn about where you can find reading tools.Um, so we have in the Help Center XE "Help Center" there's a great big blue, uh, box in the lower left-hand area called Using Bookshare XE "Bookshare" and you--under that, you'll find three links, computer reading tools, smartphone and tablet reading tools and member preferred reading tools. Each of those pages go to a summary page that then lists a number of the different, uh, tools on that, uh, on that device or platform.And what I've got on the screen right now is a very small screen shot but just you'll be able to find it in your, um, in the help center because you'll all go to that--that little, uh, area. Um, but what you'll find is on any of those given pages under the different platforms, you'll find what the reading tool is, um, what its price is and, um, which members it's serving as far as the different audiences.Uh, and then finally some of the key features that that product has. You can then drill down into a reading tool product page, which has, again, high level features that Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members appreciate come with the primary benefits on each of the specific audiences, whether it's learning disabled, uh, blind, low vision or physically disabled members.Uh, there will--in many of the pages there'll be a get started video and some of the new features as they come out, also pricing and links to purchase or to learn more about the other products. And finally, buttons to return back to those summary pages so that you can evaluate a different product. I'm going to show you now an example of a screenshot of the Read2Go product, which is going to be our first one up.Um, which you'll see on that--on that page you've got the link back to the--the mobile reading tools page. You also have a link to the get started (word?) and then, uh, a little bit of description about it, how to go buy it and then the different audiences. So, with that, I'm going to hand it over to Nick XE "Nick" Bowen XE "Nick Bowen" .Nick XE "Nick" is our customer service and membership manager and I'll let him, uh, take it away.NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" All right. So good afternoon, everybody. My name is Nicholas Bowen XE "Nicholas Bowen" . I am the customer service manager for Bookshare XE "Bookshare" . So what is Read2Go? Well, Read2Go is Bookshare's inexpensive iOS eBook reader that directly integrates with Bookshare to allow Bookshare members access to all of their favorite books, uh, on the go.It's compatible with all iOS devices running iOS 4.0 or newer and members can purchase Read2Go directly from Apple XE "Apple" 's app store. Those with accessibility in mind, Read2Go is fully compatible with Apple's voiceover, allowing full navigation of the app by visually impaired readers. Since its launch since, uh, July XE "July" of 2011 there have been over 57,000 purchases of Read2Go.Read2Go includes all of the features that Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members look for, including direct integration with Bookshare, allowing members to download content directly through the app itself. It's fully compatible with voiceover including, if the member chooses, they can disable to built-in Read2Go audio and voiceover will be granted full access to the text in the book directly.It does include built-in text-to-speech featuring the Heather XE "Heather" and Ryan XE "Ryan" voices from Acapela XE "Acapela" with word level highlighting. It fully supports images and image descriptions for the Bookshare XE "Bookshare" books that contain these items. It offers full font size, color options, as well as some layout and background color customizations.It does have a built-in dictionary and last but not least, it most certainly automatically saves the last read location, allowing for members to pick up right where they left off. So downloading books into Read2Go is very simple. Members XE "Members" simply select the search Bookshare XE "Bookshare" button from the bottom of the home screen. This is where members can try to search by title, author or ISBN number of the book they're interested in.Or the members can browse by categories or a list of books that are recently added to Bookshare XE "Bookshare" or even our popular downloads. Note that members signing in with Bookshare's new student access accounts will only be, uh, be displayed the search results for the books assigned to them by a teacher.When the desired book is found, members simply select the download button and it's added to Read2Go's my Bookshare XE "Bookshare" list. To open downloaded books, members simply select the My Books button from the bottom of the screen and locate and then select the desired book. Once then it's open, reading can begin.Uh, members can read the content in one of three ways: first by selecting the play button from the bottom of the book. Uh, this begins reading with Read2Go's built-in audio that includes word level highlighting. If the member chooses, they can simply modify the visual settings to match the font style and color needed and simply access the text at their own pace.Or finally, members can disable the built-in Read2Go audio from the audio settings and allow voiceover to access the text directly. Read2Go does offer a wide range of settings to allow Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members to customize their reading experience. All settings are found within the settings button found at the bottom of the main screen or in the gear icon on the top right of the book if a book is open.Read2Go includes several audio settings including modifying the speech rate and selecting between the two built-in voices, Heather XE "Heather" and Ryan XE "Ryan" . Members XE "Members" can also enable background playback for allowing the book to continue reading after the app is closed or the screen is locked or members can simply disable the Read2Go audio, which again allows voiceover full access to the text itself.Within the visual settings, Read2Go also includes options for modifying the font size up to 70 point and includes full color customization, including background, word and sentence highlights, bookmark and text color. So, in conclusion, Read2Go is a great entry level application for Bookshare XE "Bookshare" .It allows Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members to get started accessing the content on their iOS devices and its simple UI allows members to quickly access the content they know and love. I do believe we have a few minutes left so I'm happy to answer really quick any--any questions that might be popping up in chat.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" So far I don't see any questions but we'll let people come through. Are there any questions so far? Otherwise we'll be queuing up Winston XE "Winston" Chen XE "Winston Chen" . Right. Um, then I will pass the--pass the reins over to Winston Chen. Winston, are you of--are you there? Uh, Winston, we're not hearing you. Uh, Winston, are you muted?Uh, Winston XE "Winston" , are we able to hear you?WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Hello?GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Yes, Winston XE "Winston" . Terrific XE "Terrific" .WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Yes. Um...GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Thank you.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" So do you want me to share my screen?GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Yes, let's do that. Um, so while--while Winston XE "Winston" 's doing that, I'm going to just bring up the copy of the, um, Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" reader page that you'll be able to also find in that mobile tools webinar. All right. So thank you, everyone. It's always a, uh, of handing over the reins remotely. Uh, Winston, we can see your arrow. (laugh) It's all I’m seeing wandering across the screen.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Yeah. (laugh)GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" There we go. (laugh)WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Share XE "Share" the desktop, okay. Here we go. All right. Then let's do this.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" All right. Fabulous XE "Fabulous" , thank you very much.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Okay. (laugh) Here we go. All right. Uh, so I--I'm Winston XE "Winston" Chen XE "Winston Chen" . I'm the founder of Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" and I'm also the developer of Voice Dream Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" . Um, I'll tell you a little bit about how I came, uh, to develop Voice Dream Reader. Uh, four years ago I took a year off and went to live on this island here, you see the picture, uh, with my family.And, uh, that was my sabbatical and I was going to do lots of fishing, hiking, uh, there's my daughter there collecting berries, do lots of fish but then, um, um, when it got dark in the wintertime, um, I was a little bored, couldn't do anything outside so I decided to write a small app that'll speak, uh, text out loud.Back then, I had no idea, uh, about assisted technology. I was thinking about this tool would be useful for people who, um, who are busy and always have a lot of stuff to read. Um, so two months later, um, this product came out, version 1.0. Um, very simple product, uh, one voice, um, no text highlighting.In fact, it couldn't even see the text. It just has a big play button. Um, so after that I thought, okay, now I--that was fun, writing a little app, and now I'm going to go back, uh, to the warmth of the outdoors now that spring had--had arrived.Um, then I got an e-mail from, uh, somebody who started using my app and this is a--a student with a reading disability. Uh, he, um, um, instead of taking--of--of having someone else, his teacher, reading his math exam to him in the class, uh, he would load up the math exam in--on his iPad and, uh, and--and now he's self-sufficient.He can rewind, fast forward, listen to the--to the questions and this is such a smart kid that he would--he would always get the questions--get the answers right, um, but he just had trouble reading--reading the questions. But this was a revelation for me, that here's a product that--that can, uh, do this incredible thing for people, um, whose--whose style of reading I had no idea about.I--I had no awareness of it. So since then, it sort of became an obsession, um, and that was three years ago. I started adding more and more features back then and certainly did not support Bookshare XE "Bookshare" , notice here version 2.6, uh, started to--to support Bookshare. It didn't even support voiceover.I added support for voiceover. Um, fast forward, um, lots of lots of new features added over time. So where is this product now today? Well, the product is, uh, in the, uh, app stores permanent feature in the education section. It has 120,000 happy users worldwide and, uh, the last time I checked, um, Bookshare XE "Bookshare" , um, told me that, um, this app is the number two user of the Bookshare API's so in terms of--in terms of downloads.Um, also it's got lots of, um, critical accolades, uh, Jenn Choi XE "Jenn Choi" , uh, education toy writer from Forbes XE "Forbes" says Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" is one of the best education finds of my entire career. Uh, Bill Holton XE "Bill Holton" from American Foundation XE "American Foundation" for the Blind XE "Blind" says Voice Dream Reader is an absolute must-buy for new users of Bookshare XE "Bookshare" .And Ben Foss XE "Ben Foss" , who some of you might know, uh, he's a huge advocate for people with dyslexia says, uh, tweeted that I live and love Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" . It's superb. So, uh, um, thankfully, uh, this product has, uh, has got a--has got a lot of, uh, critical approval.So, um, let me give you a quick demo, um, and this is--this is Bookshare XE "Bookshare" , uh, and--and the demo is, uh, in the simulator, um, on, uh, on my--on my computer, um, so I was just going to show you how, uh, it downloads content. Um, if you can see this, um, to add content hit the plus sign and there are lots of different places where you can get content.And it doesn't just load Bookshare XE "Bookshare" books. It loads PDF files and I'll show you a PDF in a bit, loads ePub books, Word documents, text files, whatever, pretty much anything that's got text in it, um, this app can consume and read. Uh, so let's just click on Bookshare, um, just go to a popular so let's say, um, let's just say Harry Potter XE "Harry Potter" .Um, okay, um, the file is downloaded and let's open it. Um, notice things just pretty much happen instantaneously. Um, let's go to the beginning, uh, The Boy Who Lived and, uh, set a voice. Let's do James XE "James:See Also:Voice James" XE "James" and start puterized VoiceMr. and Mrs. Dursley XE "Dursley" of number four Privet Drive XE "Privet Drive" were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you would expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious because they just didn’t.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Um, one of the things about Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" is the choice reader you have in terms of voices. So, um, if you go over here, add voice, um, there is almost--I--I forget the count, maybe 40 different, uh, voices in English XE "English" , uh, alone that you have available to you and, of course, there is, of course, lots of other languages, too.Uh, one of the--my favorite voice is--this is a brand new voice from Acapela XE "Acapela" is, uh, is Sharon XE "Sharon:See Also:Voice Sharon" XE "Sharon" . Um, it's really extremely lifelike so let's let--let's listen to puterized voice...hold with such nonsense. Mr. Dursley XE "Dursley" was the director of a firm called Grunnings XE "Grunnings" , which made drills. He was a big, beastly man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and gaunt.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" So lots of choices in terms of sound, uh, easy to change, uh, speed. Um, also you can customize pronunciations so let's say if, uh, the--the voice doesn't pronounce a word, let's say Dursley XE "Dursley" , correctly, you can define your own rule, um, to make sure that it get--that it's pronounced correctly.Um, the other aspect of the app is that it gives you lots of lots of controls, um, for visual reading. Um, people have, uh, especially people who have dyslexia are very sensitive to how the text is presented so if you go over here you can, um, you have options to, um, to change font, change size, change spacing. Spacing XE "Spacing" is extremely important for, uh, for readability.Uh, margins, very important, of course, color controls. Um, one of the--one of the neat features in the app is called, uh, Focused XE "Focused" Reading Mode XE "Mode" , um, which is this mode right here. Um, now this mode allows the reader to really focus on the text, um, without any of the distractions. In fact, just a few lines, um, are letting...Computerized voiceat nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden...WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Uh, notice that is--the text scrolls automatically, which is also very important because a lot of people with dyslexia, um, have trouble moving the eyes, uh, from the end of one line to the beginning of the next line. Um, so, uh, it also, um, reads PDF files, um, so here's a PDF, uh, textbook.Um, this is the original layout of the PDF you can read directly here. Uh...Um, you can also change this to the text only layout, um, which will give you, again, more control over the appearance of the text, which is easier to read, um, if you have trouble reading visually. Um, so that's a quick demo. Um, lots and lots of features. Uh, you can highlight, you can annotate, um, you can jump around, uh, you can read in the combination of visual and--and--and--and--and audio.Uh, you can have very large text, um, so if you have low vision you can do that. You can change to a dark, uh, high contrast, uh, color theme, um, so on and so forth. Okay, so let's go back to the, um, to the slides. Um, the products, uh, there's Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" that's available for iOS and the Android XE "Android" version just came out a month ago.Uh, the iOS version is--is 10 dollars, the, uh, Android XE "Android" version is, uh, for now 5 dollars 'cause it's missing a few features, um, before it'll reaches (unintelligible) with iOS. So if you want Android--go--go--get the Android version get it now because eventually it will--it'll, uh, it'll be just as feature rich as the iOS version.Uh, there's another app called Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Writer XE "Voice Dream Writer" . It's for composing, um, uh, because when you write, you often have the same issues proofreading what you have written so text-to-speech, uh, plays--can play an important role there.Um, for schools who are buying Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" , uh, who want to have, uh, some high quality voices, you can buy this extra app called Voice Pack XE "Voice Pack" , which gives you, uh, two--two best voices, (stammers) Sharon XE "Sharon:See Also:Voice Sharon" XE "Sharon" and James XE "James:See Also:Voice James" XE "James" , um, and download them when you install the app and those voices will be available in both, uh, Voice Dream Reader and Voice Dream Writer XE "Voice Dream Writer" .And finally there's an option of Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Suite XE "Voice Dream Suite" which you get all three of the, uh, all three apps above, uh, for 20 dollars and, um, reading, writing and great voices. Um, why Voice Dream? Uh, feature rich, of course. I showed you could, uh, a slice of, um, of what it does. Um, the app is updated very frequently.In fact, um, the reason that you haven't seen an update, uh, for a while is because I've been working on a huge update, um, where almost every aspect of the app will be improved, uh, and also will have some of the features that a lot of people have asked for for a--for a long time, like (stammers) synchronization of content and bookmarks across multiple devices in support for images, um, in Bookshare XE "Bookshare" books.Uh, and these features will be rolled out, uh, probably for the end of the year, around the end of the year, and they will be free and they will be free to, uh, all, uh, all customers, (stammers) everybody who has bought it. Um, I love this product. I write it myself. Um, I care about it. It's my life. It's my love, um, and, uh, I--I try to--to make it the very best app that I can possibly make.Finally, um, this is a sustainable business in the sense that I'm personally committed to it but also, um, the low-cost structure of the business, you know, I don't have a staff. It's just me and another developer. Um, we're able to maintain, uh, to make a living from this, um, and, uh, we're not trying to strike it rich so we're not going to go out and--and expand and get investment and higher a big team.Um, and we can go on like this, uh, indefinitely and therefore that's the good news for customers is that the product will continue to get updated. You're not going to get stuck with a--with a product, um, that ultimately wears out and dies. Um, that's it, um, and thank you for listening, uh, and thank you Bookshare XE "Bookshare" for, uh, giving me an opportunity to present.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Thank you, Winston XE "Winston" . Before you go, we have a couple of questions from the audience. Um...WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Thanks.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" ...we have a (stammers) we have a question about Android XE "Android" and whether it--that, uh, includes Kindle XE "Kindle" Fire XE "Kindle Fire" .WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Uh, (stammers) it does. In fact, just today we submitted, uh, the app, uh, to Amazon XE "Amazon" and, uh, I--I expect that should be available shortly. Um, and Amazon has, uh, has this 50 dollar Kindle XE "Kindle" tablet which, uh, which, uh, which we bought to test on, uh, so there--so that's a low-cost option for a lot of people.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" So we'll keep our eyes out for that. The other question is regarding, um, iBooks and is there any integration with books for just are available in somebody's iBooks, uh, collection.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Uh, unfortunately not and the--and it's not because I don't want to, it's because it's impossible. (laugh) Um...Yeah, most commercial books, uh, from Kindle XE "Kindle" and from iBooks, they are--they are, uh, basically encrypted, uh, with something called DRM, uh, which means that no other app can open these books. Um, so, um, uh, some people, uh, know how to remove DRM, especially for Kindle books...GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" We don't talk about that. (laugh)WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" It's actually (stammers) it's actually not illegal. Um, it is not illegal. Um, there--there's a lot of misunderstanding about it. It's not illegal unless you, um, you know, you put--you put it on--on--on the internet and--and--and distribute it to everybody. If you just do it for personal use, uh...GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Exactly.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" ...so that--that--so that's another option.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Great. Um, let's see, I--we had a hand raised earlier. Um, uh, there's a lot of great, uh, yay's and we have a testimonial from one--one gentleman who, uh, says that, uh, prior to using Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" , since, uh, he--he has now read more books this year with Voice Dream Reader than in the last 50 years and thank you very much so that's a wonderful testimony to its capability.Um, and, uh, we have a--a question about the iPad camera provide synthesized speech. So, um, Kimberly XE "Kimberly" I'm going to request if you could please, um, that's--since that's very specialized about the product, unless Winston XE "Winston" you have a quick answer, we have to--we do have to keep moving on. Um, there's a question about the iPad camera to provide synthesized speech within--for a worksheet in class.So I'm not sure if that's specific to Go Read or if that's just a general question.WINSTON CHEN XE "WINSTON CHENXXYYAA:Speaking" Well, the question's probably whether you can use the camera on the iPad or iPhone to take a picture of a--of--of a worksheet and then import that into Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" . Um, the--the answer is yes, uh, but you will need another app, um, so you can try, um, A-B-B-Y-Y, Abbyy XE "Abbyy" has an app called FineReader.You can try, um, uh, there's another app called Cam Scanner XE "Cam Scanner" . Um, both are pretty cheap and--and, uh, you can use the iPad, take a picture of it and it will do OCR, which is it'll convert the images from the camera into text and that will produce a PDF file, which you can load into Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" and listen.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Any other questions for Winston XE "Winston" , otherwise we're going to--as we--we're going to (stammers) go from, um, Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" , which was, as you said, available on iOS and Android XE "Android" , over--back over to Nick XE "Nick" Bowen XE "Nick Bowen" who's going to talk about Go Read, um, which is Benetech XE "Benetech" 's, um, reading tool in that same space.Um, and we're going to be making these--these sites available, um, to anyone who's--who come--who has come to the webinar so, uh, we'll be leaving the names of those apps--we'll--we'll put those questions in there as well. Um, so we're going to move on. And Winston XE "Winston" , if I could please just remind you not to disconnect, uh, because otherwise we'll lose our webinar.You are our speaker right now so thank you very much and I'm going to hand it back over to--to Nick XE "Nick" and let me, uh, get his, uh, session up. Um, so if you could please stop sharing, Winston XE "Winston" . There we go. Uh, terrific and there we are. So Nick, please take it away with Go Read.NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" All right. So...GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" All right. Nick XE "Nick" 's back.NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" All right. So--so what is Go Read? So Go Read is Bookshare XE "Bookshare" 's free open source Android XE "Android" eBook reader that directly integrates with Bookshare, allowing for Bookshare members to access the content they know and love on the go. Devices XE "Devices" running Android 2.2 or newer can download Go Read directly from the Google XE "Google" Play XE "Google Play" store but do note that because of Google's flexibility, not all Android devices actually have access to the store.Uh, those with accessibility in mind, Go Read is fully compatible with the voice navigation for visually impaired readers using Android XE "Android" 's built-in talkback feature. For all Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members, Go Read includes integrated text-to-speech with customizable voices and synchronized sentence or highlighting to allow readers to access their desired Bookshare books in the ways that are best for them.Since its launch in 2012, there have been over 30,000 downloads. So Go Read does include many of the features that Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members look for, including the direct integration with Bookshare, allowing for members to download content directly through the app itself. It is fully compatible with Android XE "Android" 's talkback feature.It does offer full font style, size and color options as well as some layout and background color customizations. It includes built-in text-to-speech, featuring the selected text-to-speech engine of the Android XE "Android" device itself. It fully supports images and image descriptions for the Bookshare XE "Bookshare" content that does contain these items and, much like Read2Go, it does automatically save the last read location. Members pick up and read right where they last left off.In today's demonstration, uh, we will be previewing a soon-to-be-released update for Go Read so please do note that some of these items will be in slightly different locations. Uh, all actions within Go Read are completed through the menu. Uh, currently the menu can be found on the speak bar, or by tapping in the middle of the screen but soon will be found as where the screen shot is right now on the top right-hand side, the new header bar.Uh, downloading books is--is all done through the--the menu. Uh, once you open the menu, you find the get Bookshare XE "Bookshare" books option. From here, members will be prompted to log into their account and they can search by title, author or ISBN as well as browse our latest additions to the Bookshare library or popular downloads.Once the desired book is found, members can select on the title to find the download options. Do note that members signing in with Bookshare XE "Bookshare" 's new student access accounts will only be given the download options for books assigned to them by a teacher. To open previously downloaded books, members can select the downloaded books option from the menu.From this page, members can view a list of recently downloaded titles or downloaded titles sorted by title or author. When members have opened the desired book, they can start reading by simply selecting the play button found at the bottom of the screen. The audio will begin from the top of the current page. Do note this is one of the new features in the upcoming release.The current version does require some members to select read to me from the menu first. Go Read offers a wide range of audio options, primarily through the flexibility of the app itself as it uses...GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Uh, I'm sorry, it seems like we have lost our--our audio? Are we able to hear us now? Interesting. All right. Um, apologies so thank you, um, it sounds like we've got people coming back on we can hear. So, um, I'm going to have Nick XE "Nick" go back just a few slides...NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" Okay.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" ...um, to, uh, perhaps the menu, the--the fact that we have--our menu is now in a new and improved area, um, after, uh, the current release. All right. It sounds like we are--we are hearing, uh, (stammers) uh, Kathy XE "Kathy" says we are hearing Ginny XE "Ginny" . Are you able to hear Nick XE "Nick" ? Nick...NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" Test XE "Test" one, test one.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" All right. And are you getting the visuals? Right now we should be on an opening books and the new menu area. All right, thank you. Uh, so we'll slow it down a little bit (laugh) and here we go. Let's go back to our new menu and thank you for, uh...NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" So on screen now is the opening books and this is to (stammers) to open previously downloaded books. Members XE "Members" can select the downloaded books option from the menu. Uh, from this page members can view a list of recent downloaded titles or downloaded titles sorted by title or author. When members have opened the desired book, uh, they can start reading by simply selecting the play button found at the bottom of the screen.The audio will begin from the top of the current page. Note that this is one of the new features of the upcoming release. The current version does require some members to select the read to me option from the menu first.Go Read offers a wide range of audio options, primarily through the flexibility of the app itself as it uses the Android XE "Android" selected text-to-speech engine. Any voice installed on the device should work with Go Read. Use voicing engines such as Acapela XE "Acapela" and Ivona XE "Ivona" apps can all be found at the Google XE "Google" Play XE "Google Play" store.Go Read offers a shortcut to the Android XE "Android" accessibility menu to change these options within the Go Read menu itself. Go Read does offer a wide range of visual settings, including three prompt variations along with full color customizations. All of these settings can be found within the settings option of the menu.So, in conclusion, Go Read is a great entry level free application for Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members to get started with accessing Bookshare content. It is incredibly, uh, flexible and allows members to customize the app to best fit their needs and I do believe we have many minutes left. Are there any questions that came up along the way?GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" So please feel free to put any questions in there. Um, we--you'll see on the mobile reading tools page, um, in addition to Go Read and Voice Dream XE "Voice Dream" Reader XE "Voice Dream Reader" , um, there's Darwin XE "Darwin" --Darwin Reader XE "Darwin Reader" , um, and there may be others that are coming out or always getting new developers, uh, looking at ways that they can integrate with--with Bookshare XE "Bookshare" .I'm not seeing any questions come up, Nick XE "Nick" . I guess, uh, you did such a great job in presenting that or they're waiting for Greg XE "Greg" Stilson XE "Greg Stilson:See Also:Stilson" XE "Greg Stilson" . Um, so just also I want to do a quick reminder as we're a couple minutes ahead. Um, on tomorrow's presentation which, uh, is for (stammers) computer based, uh, reading tools and more, the and more is, um, will also be featuring, uh, Capti XE "Capti" Narrator XE "Capti Narrator" , which is available on iOS but not Android XE "Android" and on browsers.So if you are looking for a--another tool that is listed on the mobile, uh, reading tools page, that will be demonstrated on Wednesday the 28th. We do have a--a question. This is great. Um, so Chad XE "Chad" asked us to clarify is it only sponsors that can download NIMAC books on the Read2Go app but were--is this actually on any of the different apps?So I'm going to have Nick XE "Nick" , our support person here, to talk about that.NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" So NIMAC books are a very special collection of books within our library. Um, because of the restrictions that NIMAC has in place, we--we only allow, uh, sponsors to give permission to download these content but thanks to some of the new features, you--other individual members can actually download these books directly into the app itself.The big key is a sponsor must first share the book across a reading list. Once its shared, when a--when a student access member or when an individual member that it's shared with logs in to Go Read or Read2Go or any of our other apps, uh, the book will appear as downloadable in a--in the search results.So the long answer is no. (laugh)GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Did that answer, uh, your question? (laugh) Um, so and then Kimberly XE "Kimberly" has indicated that there was a, uh, problem a couple of years ago where the voice was (stammers) frequently out of sync with text. Has that improved? Um, and, uh, there have definitely been some improvements. Uh, we're still playing with that now but, um, please do try it again, uh, especially the usability has changed dramatically.Uh, so the--the release that--that Nick XE "Nick" just showed, uh, is due out in the next week so, um, please do feel free to keep checking on the Google XE "Google" Play XE "Google Play" store. So I'm going to, uh, call up Greg XE "Greg" Stilson XE "Greg Stilson:See Also:Stilson" XE "Greg Stilson" . Are you on the line? Let's see. I'm going to try--I'm muting a couple of different people and see if that allows us to hear Greg.Greg XE "Greg" , are you on the line? So Greg, I’m going to try promoting you to a co-presenter and see if that allows us to bring you in. Uh, let's try again. Is Greg available? I'm going to just move our slide deck over towards the Victor XE "Victor" Reader Stream XE "Victor Reader Stream" . Uh, so this is a screenshot of the page that comes off of the--there's a--devices--AT devices, uh, reading tools page, which has a number of different items from HumanWare, from Hims XE "Hims" .Um, we've separated them out into audio versus Braille XE "Braille" , refreshable Braille devices. Greg XE "Greg" , um, you are able to hear us on the line. It just--wait. Um, right, we are still, uh, trying to reach--we're a couple minutes ahead of, uh, our schedule so thank you for your--oh, Greg may be having, um, coming on and--and navigating through here.I do--Greg XE "Greg" , I do have up your slide deck. All right, we will give it another moment or two. Um, if anyone--we--I'm going to put Nick XE "Nick" on the spot. We're going to play (unintelligible) and it never happens. Uh, if anyone has any general questions about, uh, we also have Christina Cohen XE "Christina Cohen" who is our--head of our training organization.So, uh, I'm going to put both of these wonderful people up on--on, uh, if anyone does have any just generic questions, uh, while we await Greg XE "Greg" , uh, Stilson XE "Stilson:See Also:Greg Stilson" XE "Stilson" from HumanWare. Uh, we have a nice opportunity to, uh, you've got a forum. (laugh)Oh, questions. Boy, all right. I'm going to have people raise their hands. (laugh) Let's use that, uh, feature. Um, if you could--anyone who's got their hands up now, please raise--put your hands down. Uh, I'd love to see a raise of hands of anyone that is using the new student log in with their members or as an individual, oh, we've got a great question.Um, so we've got a question about explaining the differences between an individual membership that a teacher could have and one the parents have to sign. So let's, uh, going to go over to Nick XE "Nick" .NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" All right. So--so they--it sounds like there--there might be a little bit of confusion between these two so we have, essentially, two types of accounts that students can have. Uh, they can have an individual membership where they technically own the account or if they're under 18 it's owned by their parents or guardians.This individual membership can be linked with an organization so a sponsor or a teacher at a school can most certainly share books across reading lists or something along those lines but the individual membership still does technically belong, at that point, to the student directly or the student's parents or guardians.The second account type is our brand new one called our student access. This is where a sponsor can go in and when they add a student to their roster, they can simply add a username or--and password to it, the username does not have to be an e-mail address. It can just be anything. Uh, these accounts are very limited in terms of what they can access.They can only access content shared with them directly across reading list and they can only access it on Bookshare XE "Bookshare" -integrated tools. They cannot just download the raw files of these books. So what that means is if a student has just that student access account, they can access the Bookshare web reader on our website or they can access things like Go Read and Read2Go but only download those books that were, you know, specifically assigned to them.If a student does have a full individual membership, they can download the raw audio file, they can download the raw text files from the Bookshare XE "Bookshare" website directly and they can search the Bookshare library and download anything they want. There is no restrictions on there except for the--the NIMAC issue that, uh, we spoke of before.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Any other questions on that new--new access? Um, we are really definitely seeing a--a pick-up in the ability for students to be able to, um, access their own book through web reader and through different reading tools. Uh, oh, we're hoping that--a question did come up, actually, just on our user voice as to whether teachers would be able to see the personal e-mail addresses of those members who are both organizational members as well as students or as well as individual members.And there's a data privacy issue that was being--that was being, uh, that was directing us not to allow the teachers but we do understand that this is a important aspect to be able to allow the teachers to help their students so we are looking at that but we've, um, we've got 27 different state, uh, (stammers) student data privacy, uh, acts that are coming through.Uh, we have to be very mindful so, uh, we're looking at how we can improve on these ability that for the teachers as well as, uh, for the students. Any other questions, uh, happening out there? I'm--I'm afraid we may have to reschedule, uh, with Greg XE "Greg" and, uh, the Victor XE "Victor" Reader Stream XE "Victor Reader Stream" . One of the things he did want to make sure that we know is that it's completely, um, I--I think we need to reschedule it 'cause I--I could not do it justice.But, um, Victor XE "Victor" --the new Victor Reader Stream XE "Victor Reader Stream" is--is much more integrated with Bookshare XE "Bookshare" . There's no computer needed. Um, the wireless and use of the API...NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" Yeah, I was going to say, I can--I can speak a little bit towards the Victor XE "Victor" Reader Stream XE "Victor Reader Stream" . It's an amazing little handheld audio device. It does integrate directly with the Bookshare XE "Bookshare" API so members that are using this device can download books right through the device itself.Uh, just like you would within Go Read or--or Voice Stream XE "Voice Stream" that we spoke of before. Uh, it has an incredibly long, uh, battery life. Uh, I have to admit in the members that I've spoken with, I don’t think any one of them has ever actually run out of battery, um, which still blows my mind. And it has an immense amount of storage space on there.It's a--really is a great tool for--for Bookshare XE "Bookshare" members that are looking for a pure, portable audio device, uh, audio playing device for Bookshare books. Um...GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" We've got, uh, it has access to a number of different, uh, format types, including Braille XE "Braille" .NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" Um-hum.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Um...NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" And--and it--since it does access the Bookshare XE "Bookshare" text directly, it does have the features that, uh, a lot of people don't necessarily associate with an audio device, such as you can actually still access the raw text and go character by character or word by word through the item in there to make sure that there isn't maybe a little bit of a nuanced information there that might have been skipped over by the--the text-to-speech for some reason.Uh, it has huge options for speed for the text-to-speech, uh, you know, speed and--and quality of the text-to-speech, of course, uh, it really, really is a--a great tool.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Uh, I see a number of questions that are coming in so we'll, uh, go and address those in just a moment. Um, and I think we'll--what we'll do is we'll be rescheduling with, um, with Greg XE "Greg" and--because there are certainly other reference tools. Uh, it's a great--great option for him. I'm just going to slowly go through these--remainder of these notes just so that we have them in--in the, uh, webinar.And, um, certainly the place to contact is HumanWare, um, and, uh, we have a--a page, uh, a reading tool page for the Victor XE "Victor" Reader Stream XE "Victor Reader Stream" in our reading tools area. Um, so we're coming to the end of our hour. Uh, couple more questions are coming in. Um, let's see, Marcella XE "Marcella" has asked whether the new student access--the students need to log in to Bookshare XE "Bookshare" .org first.NICK BOWEN XE "NICK BOWENXXYYAA:Speaking" So the students simply need to log in wherever they wish to access these books. Uh, one of the great features of our mobile apps, including Go Read, Read2Go and Voice Stream XE "Voice Stream" is the Bookshare XE "Bookshare" member doesn’t actually have to be logged into the apps in order to read the books that are already on there. So if you're a--a--a teacher just looking to assist your students, one of the things you most certainly can do is just log into those apps directly, load those devices with the books that the students will need and then just make sure you log out before handing the device back over to the student.Um, but there is no requirement for the students to log into the Bookshare XE "Bookshare" website first. They can log in directly through the mobile apps and access the content, um, or the sponsors can facilitate for them.GINNY GRANT XE "GINNY GRANTXXYYAA:Speaking" Um, great. So we will definitely, uh, keep pulling up--Kimberly XE "Kimberly" has got some ideas of how we can improve, um, how to help get the--the individual memberships, um, and being able to have students being able to choose more novels or--or their own free reading, maybe perhaps make a request of their teachers, put them into, um, a reading list, um, while they--while they don't have a full individual membership.So we--we will continue to, uh, get feedback from-. Um, do we have Greg XE "Greg" ? Is that Greg on the line? No. All right. Well, unless there are any other questions today, we'll see many of you, uh, tomorrow again for, as I said, we'll be doing computer-based reading tools, plus, uh, plus Capti XE "Capti" , which goes across, uh, browser as well as an iOS app.Thank you all for your time and thank you for using Bookshare XE "Bookshare" . ................
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