[Athen] [Fwd: New Concept in Textbooks]

[Melanie Thornton]

Well-said, Ken.  My sentiments exactly.

Ken Petri wrote:

> Hi Ron,

>

> Link to Pearson initiative really interesting--especially after 

> reading their partner list (gh, testHelp, Kurzweil).

>

> Of course the perennial question is, "why a special version?" Why not 

> just use epub to wrap DAISY and have the "special" book be the e-book 

> everyone uses. I hope that is the direction they are moving, rather 

> than to ghettoize the disability population with another "special" 

> technology: just make one technology that works for all. I know in 

> some cases it can't be done, but with e-books this isn't so.

>

> Cheers and thanks for the link,

> ken

> ------

>

>

> On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 11:37 AM, Ron Stewart <ron at ahead.org 

> <mailto:ron at ahead.org>> wrote:

>

>     Thanks for the clarification on this, guess I should have spent

>     more time on the site. 

>

>      

>

>     You are right on, an HTML based system would be great, Pearson is

>     now producing some HTML textbooks in the k-12 space unfortunately

>     there is not descriptive text on the images and no way to add it

>     at this point. Though I understand they are working on a possible

>     solution.

>

>      http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ4Z4&PMDbProgramId=67381&PMDbSiteId=2781&PMDbSolutionId=6724&PMDbSubSolutionId=6732&PMDbCategoryId=806

>     <http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ4Z4&PMDbProgramId=67381&PMDbSiteId=2781&PMDbSolutionId=6724&PMDbSubSolutionId=6732&PMDbCategoryId=806>

>

>      

>

>     Ron

>

>      

>

>     *From:* athen-bounces at athenpro.org

>     <mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org>

>     [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org

>     <mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org>] *On Behalf Of *Ken Petri

>     *Sent:* Monday, November 16, 2009 3:27 PM

>

>     *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network

>     *Subject:* Re: [Athen] [Fwd: New Concept in Textbooks]

>

>      

>

>     The output I saw was HTML. I created an account and tried to

>     create a couple of "chapters" of a "book." Students get an online

>     textbook, of sorts. It has the ability to mark up and add notes to

>     text, skip through chapters, etc. Even though it is HTML, it is

>     not very accessible.

>

>     There appears to be no keyboard-only navigation and the page

>     markup is geared primarily to visual users. The next-previous

>     buttons are not tab navigable, for instance. Neither are any of

>     the drop down menus that give you access to key functionality,

>     such as bookmarking and noting.

>

>     With a screen reader I can hunt around and mostly figure out what

>     things are (so long as I don't rely on the tab key--what most web

>     application users would expect), but I can't access any of the

>     necessary high-level fly-out menus. This keeps me from being able

>     to access a lot of core functionality--just like with

>     keyboard-only use.

>

>     Note: this is just a once over and I'm not even pretending to give

>     a complete analysis. I would say the system has promise (an all

>     HTML book system with basic not-taking ability) but the developers

>     clearly did not have accessibility in mind.

>

>     Best,

>     ken

>     -------------------------------------------------------

>      Ken Petri                    

>      Program Director

>      OSU Web Accessibility Center

>      102D Pomerene Hall

>      1760 Neil Avenue

>      Columbus, Ohio  43210

>      Phone: (614) 292-1760

>      Fax: (614) 292-4190

>      mailto:petri.1 at osu.edu <mailto:petri.1 at osu.edu>

>     -------------------------------------------------------

>

>     On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 1:12 PM, Ron Stewart <ron at ahead.org

>     <mailto:ron at ahead.org>> wrote:

>

>     It appears to be PDF based so I would not hold my breath.

>

>      

>

>     Ron Stewart

>

>      

>

>     *From:* athen-bounces at athenpro.org

>     <mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org>

>     [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org

>     <mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org>] *On Behalf Of *Heidi Scher

>     *Sent:* Monday, November 16, 2009 1:06 PM

>     *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network

>     *Subject:* Re: [Athen] [Fwd: New Concept in Textbooks]

>

>      

>

>     Hi Melanie,

>

>     I've not seen this, but electronic = access is definitely a

>     misunderstanding that I've been combating for some time now with

>     faculty.  Would definitely be interested in hearing about this

>     process and accessibility issues!

>

>     Heidi

>

>      

>

>     On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 8:28 AM, Melanie Thornton

>     <mpthornton at ualr.edu <mailto:mpthornton at ualr.edu>> wrote:

>

>     Has anyone seen books produced using this process?  I wrote to

>     them and asked about accessibility.  It concerns me because

>     professors may think electronic equals accessible.

>

>     Melanie

>

>     -------- Original Message --------

>

>     *Subject: *

>

>     	

>

>     New Concept in Textbooks

>

>     *Date: *

>

>     	

>

>     Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:15:51 -0500

>

>     *From: *

>

>     	

>

>     Publisher at gobongobooks.com <mailto:Publisher at gobongobooks.com>

>

>     *To: *

>

>     	

>

>     mpthornton at ualr.edu <mailto:mpthornton at ualr.edu>

>

>

>

>     Do you have a collection of notes, articles, tests, and other

>     materials for your course?

>

>     Would you like to integrate all of it with your word documents,

>     powerpoints, charts, and spreadsheets, and link to web resources?

>

>     Bongobooks helps you blend it altogether into an e-book for your

>     course.

>

>     You and your students receive great benefits including:

>

>         * An e-book that exactly matches your course requirements

>         * Zero cost to you and your readers (royalty option available too)

>         * Self - publish and retain ownership of your e-book

>

>     Take a look at: http://gobongobooks.com

>

>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

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>

>     If you prefer not to receive commercial email click here

>     <http://gobongobooks.com/unsubscribe.php?e=mpthornton@ualr.edu>.

>

>      

>

>     -- 

>

>     Melanie Thornton

>     Director, Project PACE

>     Associate Director, Disability Resource Center

>     2801 S. University Ave., DSC #103

>     Little Rock, Arkansas 72204

>     501.650.2239 (cell)

>     501.569.8240 (fax)

>     501.569.3217 (tty)

>

>     Websites:

>     http://ualr.edu/pace

>     http://ualr.edu/disability

>

>     We want your comments!

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>

>     AIM: MelanieatUALR

>

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>

>

>     -- 

>     +++++++++++++++

>     Heidi Scher, M.S., CRC

>     Associate Director

>     Center for Educational Access

>     University of Arkansas

>     ARKU 104

>     Fayetteville, AR 72701

>     479.575.3104

>     479.575.7445 fax

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-- 

Melanie Thornton
Director, Project PACE
Associate Director, Disability Resource Center
2801 S. University Ave., DSC #103
Little Rock, Arkansas 72204
501.650.2239 (cell)
501.569.8240 (fax)
501.569.3217 (tty)

Websites:
http://ualr.edu/pace
http://ualr.edu/disability

We want your comments! 
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