This could have a large impact on access to books and it also includes those with "physical limitations, organic dysfunction or dyslexia". I am not familiar with many aspects of technology. But it may be possible that screen readers could translate some or all materials to other languages.
Terms of Proposed Settlement AgreementWill Revolutionize Blind People's Access to Books: The National Federation of theBlind, the nation's leading advocate for access to information by the blind, announced today that the recent settlement between Google & authors & publishers over the Google Books project, if approved by the courts, will have a profound & positive impact on the ability of blind people to access the printed word. The terms of the settlement that was reached, among Google, the Authors Guild, & the Association of American Publishers, on behalf of a broad class of authors & publishers, allow Google to provide the material it offers users "in a manner that accommodates users with print disabilities so that such users have a substantially similar user experience as users without print disabilities." A user with a print disability under the agreement is one who is "unable to read or use standard printed material due to blindness, visual disability, physical limitations, organic dysfunction, or dyslexia." Blind people, like other members of the public, will be able to search the texts of books in the Google Books database online; purchase some books in an accessible format; or accessaccessible books at libraries & other entities that have an institutional subscription to the Google Books database. Once the court approves the settlement, Google will work to launch these services as quickly as possible."
Among the most monumental aspects of the settlement agreement," said Jack Bernard, assistant general counsel at the University of Michigan,"are the terms that enable Google and libraries to make works accessibleto people who have print disabilities. This unprecedented opportunity to access the printed word will make it possible for blind people to engage independently with our rich written culture. Moreover, it is refreshing to find accessibility for people with disabilities explicitly included upfront, rather than begrudgingly added as an afterthought."
"One of the great promises of the settlement agreement is improving access to books for the blind & for those with print disabilities,"said Dan Clancy, engineering director for Google Book Search. "Googleis committed to extending all of the services available under the agreement to the blind & print disability community, making it easier to access these books through screen enlargement, reader, & Braille display technologies."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I feel like I came in at the end of the discussion and don't quite understand why anyone would resist Google providing the services described.
What I am looking forward to is the improvements in the technology of readers and translations that the power of Google is likely to provide.
I sell visual dyslexia glasses and presently have a TTS, text to speech, reader on my pages so visitors can listen to my content. The TTS service I use could be better and I suspect that Google's involvement with TTS will leade to better TTS readers.
I would also think that Google's involvement will lead to better translation software. I have tried the translation services out there and maybe I expect too much that a re-translation back into the original language will read as the original text. To date I am still wondering about how valuable translating my site into other languages would be with the translation quality as it is today for my content.
I like Google and its ability to make money from offering free services. It seems to make the classic win-win possible.
Post a Comment