Florida wants blind and disabled to continue reading

Avid Readers are encouraged to not stop reading when the print gets too small. Florida residents who cannot see standard sized print, are unable to hold a book or turn a page, or have a reading disability, are eligible for Florida Bureau of Braille and Talking Book Library Services regardless of age. The bureau loans free "talking books" materials and equipment to eligible applicants. For more information, call 1-800-342-1828 or visit them online at http://dbs.myflorida.com/libra ry

The Bureau serves more than 39,000 Florida residents who cannot use standard print reading materials as the result of a visual, physical, or reading disability. According to their website, the Florida agency has the largest library of its kind in the U.S., with a collection of more than 2.4 million items in braille or on cassette, and annual loans exceeding 1.6 million items.

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) continues perparing for the transition from an analog to a digital format for its audio materials. Recent issues of "NLS Flash," the monthly bulletin reporting NLS activity related to digital books and magazines, have focused on such topics as the development of a digital asset management system, Internet download of reading materials to patrons, and the timely progress of the NLS digital transition. Each issue of "Talking Book Topics" and "Braille Book Review" includes reprints of the two most recent issues of "NLS Flash."

A contract was recently awarded to Battelle, a leading technology innovation firm, and a team of subcontractors for the design of NLS's future Digital Talking-Book (DTB) player, flash-memory cartridge, and cartridge-mailing container. The subcontractors working with Battelle are HumanWare, the National Federation of the Blind, and the Trace Research and Development Center of the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Extensive usability testing with a broad cross section of patrons has been completed.

The new player will be smaller and lighter than the current NLS cassette player, will include a built-in speaker, and will support the easy navigation functions inherent in DTBs. The cartridge will be larger than a credit card but smaller than a cassette and will be very easy to handle. The contractors will place great emphasis on the usability of the products designed, testing them with blind and physically handicapped users at many stages throughout the design process.

NLS has begun converting selected older analog titles to DTB format. Four contractors have been producing the first batch of DTBs, working from the open-reel masters in NLS's archive. In addition, all audiobooks recorded since the beginning of 2004 are produced in digital format, as well as on cassette, so that they will be ready to duplicate on flash-memory cartridges by 2008.

Web-Braille, the system that provides NLS braille books and magazines on the Internet, continues to grow. With more than 4,500 users and more than 8,000 NLS-produced titles, Web-Braille is now a permanent part of the NLS program. During 2005, NLS added books and magazines produced in Iowa and Minnesota, bringing to a total of nine the number of regional libraries contributing materials to Web-Braille.