what's the date of the article?

On Mar 15, 2011, at 8:27 AM, Peter Altschul wrote:

 
 

 


-----Original Message-----
Picking A Player

Below is an article from Access World of the American Foundation For The
Blind.

In this age of trying to figure out what portable digital reader to use,
there is much to consider.

Ms. Kendrick does a superior job providing a rundown of available
readers, prices and more.

I have inserted the links into the article since the links were only
activated if one was reading the article from the original page.

"Picking a Player:

A Roundup of Devices for Playing NLS and Other Talking Books

by Deborah Kendrick

So much to read. So many ways to read it.

For those among us who grew up as braille readers in the '50s, '60s, and
'70s, the notion that we might one day have more to read than we could
possibly ever consume was, well, unfathomable!

Fast forward to the era of the Internet, Web-Braille, and Bookshare, and
it is not surprising that it is sometimes difficult to keep all the
possibilities and technologies sorted out. With the advent in recent
years of downloadable audio books from sources both commercial and
specifically for blind and low-vision users, many are now asking not
only about content and sources, but also about the devices on which to
play that content.

Talking books from the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped

(NLS) are the audio books most familiar to the blind. They have been
around the longest, for one thing, for 77 years compared with just 10 or
15 years for commercial audio books, and they're free. When NLS books
became available for download and the NLS machines for playing them were
not yet available for distribution, a product called the VictorReader
Stream from HumanWare enjoyed an almost unprecedented popularity when it
was introduced three years ago. The product was shown at the summer 2007
conferences, and blind people everywhere were clamoring to buy them.

The initial attraction was the ability to play NLS books on them, but it
wasn't long before many other sources and formats were rendered
compatible as well.

Since the release of the VictorReader Stream, the accessible audio book
player market has changed considerably. The NLS machine became available
in 2009, so all eligible NLS patrons have received or will soon receive
one free of charge. Other new devices have come on the market, and a few
that preceded the VictorReader Stream have scrambled to play books from
additional sources to be competitive. For many blind and low-vision
lovers of books, however, so much so quickly on the audio book front is
confusing. Some mistakenly believe, for instance, that only the
VictorReader Stream can play talking books. Others understand that NLS
books can be played on the NLS machines, but are unaware that other
materials can be played on those machines as well. Some have encountered
only one of the many devices available and are unaware that there are
competitors.

This article aims to present the current line-up of possibilities,
highlighting strengths and weaknesses where relevant, and alerting
consumers to the good news that, for once, we have loads of choices!

Content Sources

For efficiency's sake, let's talk first about the most popular sources
of audio reading material currently available to blind and visually
impaired people. This is by no means a complete listing of available
content, but any one of these sources could supply a book lover with
more material than could likely be exhausted in one lifetime. They
provide, in other words, a bountiful beginning.

NLS Web-Braille

The common denominator for reading material for blind people is the NLS.
The first downloadable books from NLS were books and magazines
transcribed into braille. In 1999, the Web-Braille site:

http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/webbraille.html
<blocked::http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/webbraille.html>

was launched, making digital files of brailled books and magazines
available for download. These files are in Grade 2 braille, formatted
for production. A person downloading a book or magazine from Web-Braille
could produce it in hard copy with a braille embosser or read it on a
braille notetaker. With software on a computer capable of "back
translating" the Grade 2 to uncontracted braille, a person could also
have the file read aloud via text-to-speech software.

Some of the players in this article also offer this capability, i.e.,
the ability to translate Grade 2 braille files for listening via
synthesized speech.

NLS Digital Talking Books

The launch of Web-Braille was followed by the NLS's download site for
digital talking books (DTB).

Today, it's called NLS BARD:

https://nlsbard.loc.gov/cgi-bin/nlsbardprod/index.cgi
<blocked::https://nlsbard.loc.gov/cgi-bin/nlsbardprod/index.cgi>

and it offers eligible patrons downloadable digital recordings from the
NLS talking book collection.

Recording for the Blind And Dyslexic

http://www.rfbd.org/alt/ <blocked::http://www.rfbd.org/alt/>

Recording for the Blind And Dyslexic (RFB&D)

The principal source for human-voice recordings of textbooks at all
educational levels, was a leader in using DAISY mark-up for both audio
and text navigation. Simply summarized, DAISY mark-up gave one the
ability to navigate a book or other document by chapter, section, or
other subheading, thereby providing an equivalent function to that
enjoyed by a sighted reader using print. From the RFB&D website , books
can be downloaded by eligible patrons and played on some handheld
devices.

Audible.com

http://www.audible.com/ <blocked::http://www.audible.com/>

Audible.com is a commercial online source of books recorded by
professional readers.

Audible offers thousands of titles recorded by major publishers. These
are the same recordings available in bookstores and public libraries on
cassette or CD. Various purchase plans are available, but books are
generally considerably less expensive than if purchased from retail
stores. Audible has approved a number of the handheld devices used by
blind people to play Audible content.

Bookshare

www.bookshare.org <blocked::http://www.bookshare.org/>

Bookshare.org is a tremendous source of digital books for blind or
visually impaired people. These files are text only, not human voice
recordings. Files can be downloaded in either DAISY or translated
braille formats. A membership is required to confirm eligibility, but
membership fees range from free to $50 annually.

Material from all of the above sources is encrypted. That means that
files from these sources can only be played by eligible members or
patrons and only on players rendered compatible by the content source.
On all of the players currently available, various other types of
content can also be played, ranging from music and described movies to
your own text documents. Your own needs and the type of files you will
most likely want to access will be factors in your choice of player.

Who Are the Players?

At this writing, there are seven known machines that play books from NLS
and other sources. One of those seven is the NLS digital talking book
player itself, which was reviewed in the August 2010 issue of
AccessWorld.

http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw110403
<blocked::http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw110403>

All of the remaining six are available for purchase from a variety of
sources, range in price from approximately $300 to $1,400, and have an
equally wide range of capabilities.

The NLS DTB machine, provided free of charge to all eligible NLS
patrons, has a USB port on the right side to accommodate a USB flash
drive. The NLS talking books downloaded to this drive can be played on
the NLS machine. This machine can also play digital books from RFB&D,
podcasts, and MP3 files.

VictorReader Stream

As the first commercially available handheld book player capable of
playing the NLS DTB, the Stream is mistakenly understood by many
newcomers to be the only handheld player capable of playing such books.
It isn't. The Stream can also play books from Audible.com, RFB&D, and
Bookshare.

It can play and organize music and other MP3 files, and it can play text
documents. It has a built-in speaker and microphone, and is an excellent
recorder for personal notes, lectures, or other materials. It sells for
$349, and its controls are intuitive and easy to learn.

Book Sense

Perhaps the smallest of the handheld players designed for blind
consumers, Book Sense is a sleek product from GW Micro that plays NLS
DTB, RFB&D books, books from Audible.com, and a variety of music and
podcast formats. It uses the NeoSpeech voices of Paul and Kate for
listening to books from Bookshare, National Federation of the Blind
Newsline, and a variety of computer-generated text files, including
Microsoft Word's .doc and .docx files. The Book Sense has a built-in
speaker, microphone, and excellent recording capability. There are two
Book Sense models.

The basic Book Sense offers the above features, whereas the Book Sense
XT has the addition of an FM radio tuner and 4GB of internal memory.

Icon and Braille Plus Mobile Manager

These two devices come from the same root product, the Icon created by
LevelStar, but have some distinct differences. Unlike the other players
in this article, these two players are far more complex in the features
they provide. They are basic personal digital assistants with wireless
capability, and thus the ability to search the Web, read and write
email, download podcasts, and stream audio content from the Internet.
Each also includes a word processor, address manager, planner,
calculator, and Web browser. For data input on the Icon, the telephone
keypad is used, similar to the method used to text message on cell
phones. The Braille Plus Mobile Manager adds a Perkins-style braille
keyboard for data input. The Icon is available from its original
developer, LevelStar, and the Braille Plus Mobile Manager is available
from the American Printing House for the Blind.

These two devices are included here because they are also excellent
tools for playing books from NLS, RFB&D, Bookshare, Audible.com, as well
as a variety of music and podcast files.

They are the only players on this list employing the Eloquence speech
synthesizer, familiar to many blind computer users. Each contains a 30GB
hard drive, an internal speaker, and a microphone for recording
capability. Each sells for approximately $1,400.

PlexTalk Pocket

The PlexTalk PTR1 was one of the very first portable digital book
players appearing on the market nearly a decade ago. It weighed just
over two pounds and was noted for its superb engineering quality.
Available from the same Japanese manufacturer, Shinano Kenshi Corp., the
PlexTalk Pocket is the size of an average cell phone and incorporates
many of its predecessor's features along with new upgrades to make it
competitive with today's handheld book players.

The PlexTalk pocket plays digital books from NLS, RFB&D, Audible.com,
and Bookshare.

It can play your music and other MP3 files as well as text files. It has
a built-in speaker, microphone, and excellent recording capability.

Book Port Plus

The newest player on the scene is the Book Port Plus, designed by the
American Printing House for the Blind and intended to replace its
earlier Book Port, one of the first handheld book players designed
specifically for blind users. The Book Port Plus uses the same hardware
as the PlexTalk Pocket, so it is quite similar in appearance. It can
play digital books from NLS, RFB&D, Audible.com, and Bookshare. It plays
text files, music, and other MP3 files. It has a built-in speaker and
microphone for personal recordings.

Conclusion

The above are meant to be mere overviews of the products available to
blind and visually impaired users for playing audio and text versions of
digital books. Many other nuances set these machines apart from one
another. Variables include the increments and ease with which one can
navigate material, the degree to which music files can be cataloged and
tagged, the kinds of generic sound files that can be played (WAV, OGG,
WMA, etc.), and the sophistication of recording capabilities.

All are in the $350 price range, with the exception of the Book Sense XT
at $499 and the Icon and Braille Plus Mobile Manager, which, as outlined
above, offer far more functionality than simply playing digital books.

For more detailed descriptions of any of these products, please read
previously published AccessWorld product evaluations

http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?SectionID=1
<blocked::http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?SectionID=1>

or the following manufacturer websites:

VictorReader Stream

http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/blindness/dtb_players/compact_m
odels/_details/id_81/victorreader_stream_daisy_mp3.html
<blocked::http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/blindness/dtb_players
/compact_models/_details/id_81/victorreader_stream_daisy_mp3.html>
Book Sense ,
http://www.gwmicro.com/Booksense/
<blocked::http://www.gwmicro.com/Booksense/>
Braille Plus Mobile Manager and Book Port Plus
http://tech.aph.org/pda_info.htm
<blocked::http://tech.aph.org/pda_info.htm>
PlexTalk Pocket
http://www.plextalk.com/in/ptp1/index.html
<blocked::http://www.plextalk.com/in/ptp1/index.html>
Icon
http://www.levelstar.com/ <blocked::http://www.levelstar.com/>
Article Source:

AccessWorld(r) - September 2010"
 
Larry Martin
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