Latest What's New on Blindness
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Subject: RNIB ELECTRONIC BOOKS
Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) will soon announce the release of AccessBooks, a DOS-based library of electronic books and periodicals on 3 1/2-inch diskettes designed and tested specifically for blind and visually impaired people.
AccessBooks, which are produced by AccessBooks Ltd for the RNIB, employ a proprietary DOS-based program for displaying books and periodicals from major publishers who have authorised publication in this form. Each AccessBook is a complete copy of the printed work with illustration descriptors added where necessary.
Each AccessBooks features: Hypertext linking from a multilevel table of contents to the book text.
Full text search. In plays and books of poetry, search for page and line numbers as in the printed copy.
An ASCII table search for characters that are difficult to enter from the keyboard.
A note-taking feature where notes can be saved and retrieved for later reference. Audible tones indicate where notes were saved.
A bookmark that saves the reader's place when the book is closed.
The ability to export the book as a text file. In some books, this feature may not be available to protect author and publishers' copyright. Printed installation instruction and product information booklet.
Full program and book text is displayed on screen for use with screen magnifiers.
Each AccessBook is supplied on a diskette with an install program and a menu program. New books are automatically added to the menu when installed.
Each AccessBook also includes a complete tutorial and a help file. Also included are atlases for Hal v4, Hal v5, Hal-Lite, and a .set file for Vocal-Eyes v3. During installation, there are prompts to choose an atlas or the .set file, or proceed without installing an atlas or .set file. AccessBooks are speech friendly, and should work well with most voice synthesisers.
System requirements: A 386 IBM- compatible personal
computer. DOS v5.0 or above (Windows v3.x or 95 running DOS in a window). A
high-density 3 1/2-inch floppy disk drive. 8 Megabytes of RAM. Hard disk space
to store the system and data files (approx 1MB per book). A screen-reader and
voice
synthesiser. Optional-screen magnifier.
Titles currently available: Cambridge University Press: Human Rights and Europe (law). Cambridge School Shakespeare King Lear. Cambridge School Shakespeare Hamlet. Cambridge School Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream. Cambridge School Shakespeare Twelfth Night. Cambridge School Shakespeare Julius Caesar. Cambridge School Shakespeare Macbeth. Cambridge School Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet.
Sarah Morley: Windows 95 Explained.
Penguin Classics: Kidnapped.
Scientific American special report, The Internet: Fulfilling the Promise.
Educational course packs for schools are also
available that include an electronic AccessBook, a large print book of the same
title, and the publisher's printed book. Royal National Institute for the Blind
distributes
AccessBooks.
PO Box 173
Peterborough PE2 6WS, UK.
Tel +44 (0) 1733 370777.
Fax+44 (0)1733 371555.
http/www.rnib.org.uk
Free demonstration programs are available by replying directly to the author of this notice and indicating your choice of demonstration program listed below.
Human Rights and Europe. Windows 95 Explained. Scientific American special report. King Lear.
The demonstration program will be sent via e-mail as a self-extracting executable that creates an install disk.
Coming soon: Many additional titles. Dictionary and thesaurus. How-to computer books. AccessBooks Internet site for product and title Information and demonstration down loading.
Sincerely,
Ernie Whitenack, Product Manager.
erniew@adi-east.com