Digital Books Get a Boost from Bookshare

Bookshare provides ‘books without barriers” to all students in the United States with qualifying disabilities. Inspired by Napster, the music-sharing service, Bookshare turns books into a format that can be read aloud by computers, magnified, and spaced differently so that students with vision problems or learning disabilities can read them. They’re even available at the same time new releases reach bookstore shelves, unlike typical audiobooks. Its services are an example of how e-book technology, taking off with consumers, has powerful potential for students who previously relied on more cumbersome and more difficult-to-obtain alternatives to the traditional book. It also means that kids who were anxious about advertising their disability can now cope with devices like computers, iPods, and tablets like iPads rather than dragging around larger more cumbersome and costly devices. If you know of someone who might qualify take a look – it is a whole new, and welcome, world for those with vision issues and learning disabilities.