[Athen] FW: Microsoft Word files to serve as talking books

[E.A. Draffan]

Now on the news
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9815836-7.html?tag=nefd.blgs 


Best wishes E.A.


-----Original Message-----
From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Pratik Patel
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 3:17 PM
To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network'
Subject: Re: [Athen] FW: Microsoft Word files to serve as talking books

Look at the following two links:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/nov07/11-13daisy.mspx
and
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/nov07/11-13DaisyPR.mspx

Pratik

Pratik Patel
Director, IT Access. Director, PeopleTech.
The City University of New York


-----Original Message-----
From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Kelmer, Susan M.
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 9:52 AM
To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network
Subject: [Athen] FW: Microsoft Word files to serve as talking books

Anyone know anything about this and whether it will actually work?  Or is
this pie in the sky...
 


>Microsoft Word files to serve as talking books

>

>By Elsa Wenzel

>

>Microsoft and open-source site SourceForge http://www.sourceforge.net/ 

>will offer a free plug-in early next year that will convert Office 2007 

>files to the DAISY format that translates text to speech.

>

>The free tool will add a "Save as DAISY" option within Word 2007, 2003 

>and XP software. DAISY XML files can be read aloud by speech 

>synthesizers, paired with audio narration and used to create electronic 

>Braille. Users can navigate open-standard DAISY documents quickly by 

>jumping between page elements, such as headers and indexes.

>

>The DAISY Consortium of 70 nonprofits has aimed since 1996 to make all 

>published information available to people with visual impairments and 

>learning disabilities. The acronym stands for Digital Accessible 

>Information System.

>

>http://www.daisy.org/

>

>Digital narration serves computer users with visual impairments, people 

>with learning challenges like dyslexia, as well as those with 

>Parkinsons disease and other conditions that make it hard to type or 

>hold a book.

>

>With the release of the Office 2007 suite in January, Microsoft shunned 

>the popular, XML-based Open Document Format for its own, new Open XML 

>format. The OOXML documents, which include Word files with the DOCX 

>extension, are easier to retrieve if corrupted than the older DOC 

>files.

>

>Versions of Word prior to 2007 can open OOXML documents after a 

>one-time download of a free converter from Microsoft.

>However, critics gripe that Microsoft's format change was unnecessary 

>and clumsy. Microsoft maintains that the new format enables greater 

>flexibility, such as accessibility features.


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