Darrell Hilliker

April 17 Conference Call for Blind Students: Making Bookshare Work for You!

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Bookshare is an online digital library that is free for students in the United States.

High school, college, and graduate students all find the collection to be an indispensible resource when it comes to finding the books they need for schoolwork and for pleasure reading.

Join the conversation with Allison Hilliker, Bookshare Collection Development Associate and Cherie Miller, Bookshare’s University Program Manager. We will be taking your questions live throughout the discussion. There is no need to pre-register for the event, just call in and join us.

  • April 17, 2011, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm PST
  • Phone number to call: 866-210-1669.
  • Pass code: 6567672

During this discussion you will learn:

  • What Bookshare is and how you can become a member
  • How Bookshare can make your school work and pleasure reading much easier
  • About our new Read2Go app; an app specifically designed for Apple iOS that will allow for quick download and easy reading of Bookshare books on the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone
  • How to use Bookshare most efficiently and effectively with your notetaker or digital book player.

We look forward to talking with you on April 17!

Freedom Scientific Acquires Blind Access Journal

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In a move that is sure to surprise the blindness assistive technology industry, Freedom Scientific has just announced that it has purchased the popular accessibility evangelism website BlindAccessJournal.com for $100,000 from its publisher, Darrell Shandrow.

Freedom Scientific representatives said this move puts the company on a par with other assistive technology companies like Serotek that also have recognized media outlets in the blind community.

“We’re excited to have Blind Access Journal on board with us,” said Jonathan Mosen, Freedom Scientific’s vice president of hardware development. “We know Darrell will put his passion for accessibility evangelism into his new role as our director of public relations, where he will be an excellent advocate for the use of our products as a means to make accessibility happen.”

“It was a very hard sell! After intensive negotiations concerning the content that will be permitted on the site, I must say I am honored to become part of the company in the industry with the largest screen-reader market share,” said the journal’s publisher, Darrell Shandrow. “I know that only JAWS can truly provide the level of accessibility we as blind people need now and well into the future.”

CSUN: Braille 2000 and Accidental Accessibility

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I had an enlightening conversation with Dr. Robert Stepp, where I learned that the Braille 2000 translation software for transcribers is accidentally accessible but not marketed for use by blind people. I think we ended on a positive note, and I hope many of you will find this an interesting look at how some small companies in our own field employ many of the same arguments as the mainstream technology industry to explain why they are not fully accessible.

Listen or Pause – Braille 2000

Download – Braille 2000

CSUN: Churning Out the Dots at 800 Pages Per Hour on the Index Braille Box!

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Just in case you’re thinking there’s nothing new and innovative in the field of hardcopy Braille production, Index Braille is here to turn heads with the new 800-pages-per-hour Braille Box! I spoke with Björn Löfstedt, Index Braille’s CEO, about this fast, quiet $13,000 Braille embosser that should find a home in many Braille production houses around the world.

Download, Play or Pause – Braille Box

Seeking Qualified Blind People to Apply for Bookshare Job Openings

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Benetech is looking to fill four Bookshare positions with highly-qualified professionals who know how to lead teams, manage projects, plan products, write grant proposals and much more.

If you’re blind and you believe you’ve got what it takes, please check out these position postings and apply as soon as possible.

Through the employment of a representative number of blind people and others with print-reading disabilities in decision-making positions, we can restore the heart of Bookshare and guide it to a more accessible, responsive future. Let’s all get out there and fill the inboxes of Benetech’s human-resources team with awesome cover letters and resumes that will get their attention and get our people in the door!

Phoenix-Area Blind iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch Users Asked to Fill the Room at Upcoming iOS Developer Group Meeting

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The Phoenix iOS Developer Group (PI) will be holding its February meeting on the topic of accessibility. Justin Mann, a blind iPhone user, will be presenting on the use of Apple’s built-in VoiceOver screen reader with several innovative iOS apps that enable business productivity, social-media participation, identification of items in the surrounding environment and much more.

Anybody is welcome to attend. This is an excelent opportunity to show some app developers that accessibility matters and that blind people are using iOS devices in number. Let’s fill the room with as many Phoenix-area blind people and their talking iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches as we possibly can!

The meeting will be held at the University of Advancing Technology located at 2625 West Baseline Road, Tempe, Ariz., from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 2.

We look forward to seeing all of you there. Â