Print Access

Bookshare.org – XRCVC Partnership: Launch of Bookshare.org India Chapter

The XRCVC has been working towards creating appropriate changes in the Indian Copyright Laws to make the printed word accessible to the print disabled in the country

In the meantime it has also begun its work to create practical ground level models to ensure that the much awaited book access starts taking shape. Towards this effort in October 2008 XRCVC is happy to announce the launch of Bookshare.org India chapter

Bookshare.org is the world’s largest online library for persons with print disabilities (www.bookshare.org). Bookshare.org is starting its Indian Memberships at highly subsidized rates to benefit the print disabled community in India

XRCVC has partnered with Bookshare.org to become their Western Indian Region’s representatives. As part of this partnership XRCVC will regulate registration of the western India regions print disabled person’s memberships to Bookshare.org

If you want to know more about becoming a Bookshare.org India Member please read the FAQ

If you wish to become a member you can download the forms, fill them up in hard copy and courier the same to us along with a DD of Rs 400.00 in the name of “The Bombay St.Xavier’s College Society”

Individual Membership Form
Proof of Disability Form

You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the above 2 documents. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

Bookshare.org – DFI Partnership: Reaching out to the Publishing Community

Till such time as the Indian Copyright law keeps pace with the world XRCVC as part of the DAISY Forum of India (DFI) has partnered with Bookshare.org to jointly approach the Publishing Community in the country. Internationally Bookshare.org has already had large scale success in similar ventures with leading publishers as their partners.

DFI is a national level network of organisations working with the print disabled in the country working toward the promotion of accessible formats.

The publishers are to be approached for seeking permission of their titles to be made available through the DFI-Bookshare network to qualified print disabled users. DFI and Bookshare have set into place an effective screening and safeguarding system which would ensure that the publisher’s rights are protected. The partnership hopes to open up the window to the written word to the print disabled community in India by securing permissions from the leading publishing houses in the country for as many titles as possible.

If you are a publisher who wishes to expand your reach of the printed word to the print disabled and would like to know more about how you can partner with us, please contact us.

Print Access Workshop

On 26th Nov 2008 the XRCVC conducted a one day workshop a concrete step towards increasing Print access.

The objective of the workshop was to inform and equip visually impaired participants and related stakeholders in the use of technology that would make the printed word accessible to them.

The one day workshop involved a total of 32 participants which included visually impaired students, parents and professionals and involved demonstration of various technologies as also different ways to access the printed format.

The key themes that were covered in the one day module included:

1. Importance of accessing the printed word.
2. Emerging Technologies and hardware that can be made user friendly.
3. Basic facts about assistive technology.
4. Optical Character Recognition Systems (OCR) –

• Hindi – English
• Regular scanner v/s/ Zoom-ex v/s Mobile OCR
• Other technologies v/s OCR

5. DAISY format – orientation and hardware / software used.
6. Other Reading Devices – SARA and other Low vision Aids
7. E Libraries and their access
8. Internet accessibility and content identification.

Write-Right: Understanding Homonyms Better (New Heading)

Understanding words - their meanings, spellings and use - can be a challenge for students whose first language is not English. This is all the more difficult for the visually challenged as they cannot see how a word is spelt on paper.  This book Write Right! Understanding Homonyms Better would be helpful to anyone who is interested in the English language and in learning how to use words.