Bookshare : Free Digital Books for Struggling Readers Kim Parra, MA.

Bookshare : Free Digital Books for Struggling Readers

Kim Parra, MA

What is Bookshare?

• Bookshare is an online library of accessible copyrighted books for readers with print disabilities.

• Web based

• Over 205,147 titles in the collection

• Thousands of new books added every month

www.bookshare.org

Best Sellers List

Local and National Newspapers

Teen Bestsellers

Over 5,000 K-12 Textbooks

Bookshare Provides Free

Text-to-Speech Software

• Read:OutLoud by Don Johnston

• Special Bookshare Version

• Features Bi-modal Presentation• Outlining Feature• Talking Dictionary

How does a Bookshare digital accessible book look and

sound?

Bookshare Membership is Free

for Qualifying Students

Paid for by a Federal Grant

How does a student qualify for membership to

Bookshare?

Qualifying for a Bookshare Membership

• Students must have a “Print Disability”.

•“Print Disability” is defined by the Chafee Amendment of the Federal Copyright Law.

• Definition of “Print Disability” not associated with IDEA Special Education Law.

Qualifying for Bookshare

Print Disabilities:

• Generally described as a disability that makes it difficult or impossible to access standard text

1. Include blindness or visual impairments,

2. Physical disabilities that make it hard to hold a book, or

3. A severe learning disability that makes it difficult to process written text.

Visually Impaired Physically Impaired

Severe Learning Disability – Difficulty Reading Text

• This copyright law exemption tries to balance the needs of people who are unable to read normal print with the rights of publishers and authors.

• It is not based on who might benefit from access to accessible materials: it restricts the exemption to a group of people who are assumed to not be able to access regular print materials because of a severe disability.

• Publishers and authors don’t receive a royalty under this copyright exemption, and have an interest in ensuring it stays narrowly focused on the one or two percent of the population who can’t read standard print.

• Some people with very real disabilities that might benefit from accessible text may not meet this legal definition.

• People who are deaf, have cognitive disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism or mental illness do not meet this definition by virtue of those disabilities alone.

• It is quite possible that some people with these disabilities still qualify because of other factors.

• For example, a severe visual or learning disability could also be present in a person with these other disabilities. So, a person who is deaf and blind, or ADHD and dyslexic, could qualify.

• Bookshare puts the responsibility of certification on the professional signing the Proof of Disability form to confirm that each Bookshare Member meets the copyright definition.

.

How about these disabilities:

• Autism?• Emotional Disabilities?• ADHD?• ESL and ELL?

Not Qualified unless accompanied by a visual or physical disability, or a qualified reading disability.

(National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center)

Who is NIMAC?

National Instructional Material Accessibility Center

• Established by Congress

•A central electronic file repository for print instructional materials

•Effective 2008 Educational Publishers must provide digital book files to NIMAC

•Printed textbooks and printed core materials

•Written and published primarily for use in elementary and secondary school instruction

• Are required by a State Educational Agency (SEA) or Local Educational Agency (LEA) for use by students in the classroom

Curriculum materials required to be sent to NIMAC:

Bookshare is an Authorized NIMAC Broker

• Bookshare takes the NIMAC files and converts them into accessible digital text.

•Bookshare is responsible for distributing the accessible versions to eligible students.

•Teachers, parents or students seeking student-ready formats can acquire them through Bookshare.

Membership to Bookshare

Two types of Membership:

• Individual Membership

• Organizational Membership

Individual Memberships CANNOT ACCESS TEXTBOOKS.

MAIN DIFFERENCE IN MEMBERSHIPS:

Only Organizational Memberships (School Staff) Can Download Textbooks.

Teacher/School Staff Can Give Student a Digital Copy of Textbooks for both School and Home Use.

Individual Membership

• Parent can enroll their child online at Bookshare website & download application.

•Children under 18 will need a parent’s permission (signature).

•No cost if child is a student.

•Bookshare requires that individual application is signed by an educational or medical professional acknowledging a print disability.

•Parent can fax/mail back paperwork.

•Membership access sent via email to parent.

•Nimac Textbooks not available through individual memberships.

Organizational Membership

Any organization serving members or clients with print disabilities can join Bookshare.

Organizational Memberships:The Options are Endless!

NIMAC Textbooks are ONLY accessible through an Organizational Membership.

Organizational Membership

• Organizations that serve adults or students with print disabilities (e.g., individual schools, school districts, departments within schools) can register with Bookshare. • Within each organization, there are three possible roles:

• Primary Contact• Sponsor• Member

Primary Contact

Person who goes online and physically enrolls them self or their group with Bookshare.

• ONLY person who can add/remove sponsors.

• Same as Sponsor otherwise.

Sponsor

• Adds new Members• Downloads books for members.

•Sponsors agree online to the organizational membership terms.

•He or she might be a school employee such as a teacher, librarian, or paraprofessional. School volunteer cannot be a sponsor.

Member

•A student with a print disability whose organizational role is reading the books and educational materials downloaded from the Bookshare library.

All Primary Contacts and Sponsors should agree and adhere to Bookshare's membership terms, which require that they:

1. Use the services only for a qualifying student, and not for personal use or for non-qualifying students;

2. Inform student Members and new Sponsors that the materials downloaded from Bookshare may not be shared;

3. Maintain the student roster; and

4. Inform Members that they may also have an individual account

Confidentiality

•Bookshare recognizes the importance of protecting the confidentiality of students' information and has a strict privacy policy posted on its Web site.

•Bookshare prefers that organizations enter actual identifying information (e.g., first or last name) when registering Members for consistency in data, such as when a student moves to another school.

•Because some organizations have a need for greater confidentiality, Bookshare allows them to instead register Members using student numbers or pseudonyms.

Compatible Assistive Technology Software

• HumanWare Victor Reader Soft

• Don Johnston READ:OutLoud

• Kurzweil 3000, 1000

• WYNN

• OpenBook

• Window-Eyes

• JAWS

• ZoomText

• TextHelp

Read2Go - $19.99

Contact Information:

Kim Parra, M.A.Bergen ETTC Coordinator

BCSS Assistive Technology Coordinator(201) 343-6000 ext. 6545

[email protected]