HOMELatest News
Current DAISY News items are posted below. A list of Archived News items is also available.
Dolphin Computer Access Limited, a long time Friend of the DAISY Consortium and UK software company announced its acquisition of Software Express Distribution Limited . This acquisition enables Dolphin to bring on board an innovative UK software development company, most recently recognized for developing Guide and Handsfree Guide, access tools for computer users who are blind.
The 25 Tech Awards Laureates were honored at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California on November 12, 2008 where Hiroshi Kawamura, President of the DAISY Consortium accepted the award trophy on behalf of the Consortium.
What's new in beta 4? Improvements were made to internationalization, accessibility, and overall reading experience. There are two new notable features. First, AMIS supports text-only books now in addition to full-text, full-audio and audio-TOC books. Secondly, there is a new piece of documentation in DAISY format: the Keyboard Shortcuts book that can be found in the help menu.
As a nationwide institution, Synscenter Refsnaes caters to various needs of visually impaired children. The centre also offers boarding school facilities for blind and partially sighted children. More information about Synscenter Refsnaes/Robobraille is available in the list of DAISY Members and Friends.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 was published as a W3C Proposed Recommendation on Nov. 3, 2008. The technical material of WCAG 2.0 is now complete and has been implemented in real sites. WCAG 2.0 has been submitted to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) membership for final review and endorsement. Final publication is expected in December 2008.
The Novosibirsk Special Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NRSL) is now a recognized leader and coordinator of accessible library services in Siberia, Russia. Additional information about The Novosibirsk Special Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired is available in the list of DAISY Members and Friends.
Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) Version 1.1 is a W3C Candidate Recommendation. Candidate Recommendation period closes on January 5, 2009.
The DAISY Consortium presented its highest honor, the Culture of Sharing Award, for 2008 to Stephen King, Group Director Access and Innovation at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), UK. King was unanimously selected for the award by the DAISY Consortium Board of Directors in recognition of his long-term, visionary leadership in support of the Consortium's mission to develop and promote international standards and technologies which enable equal access to information and knowledge by all people with print disabilities and which also benefit the wider community.
Co-located with the Eighteenth International World Wide Web Conference in Madrid, Spain, the conference will be held on April 20-21, 2009. 'Web Accessibility for Older Users: Are We There Yet?' will be the main theme. Older Web users can remain productive and continue working if only technologies, especially the Web, were available and accessible to them. Topics of interest range from Accessibility Problems of Older Users and End User Tools to Universally Accessible Graphic Design Approaches. Details for submitting papers are available on the W4A 2009 Conference website.
Olearia 0.90b is a free open source software application for Macintosh computers. It will play DAISY 3 (ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005) and DAISY 2.02 books with audio content. Text only books are not yet supported. The updated version saves the play position. Due to enhancements in accessibility and code generation with the release of Leopard (OS X 10.5), Olearia requires Mac OS X version 10.5 or better. Olearia 0.90b can be downloaded from the CUCAT Olearia project website.
Students with learning disabilities may benefit from a new digital math textbook that reads problems aloud while highlighting the words on a computer screen, according to the findings of the first year of a small two-year study conducted at the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky.
The 2009 conference in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 4-5, 2009 will explore new directions through scholarship, best practice, and international networking. One of the main themes of the 25th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on Disabilities will be "Transforming Environment, Attitude, & Learning Through Universal Design". Attendees will focus on new research, hands-on workshops, and demonstrations that surpass the basic concepts of Universal Design. This thematic area includes Universal Design for Living and Universal Design for Learning with a special call for proposals on new technologies.
VoiceCorp AB provides start-of-the-art products and services to speech enable web-based content and other digital documents. One of the products is called the DAISY Generator. VoiceCorp is a company group founded by Phoneticom (a long time Friend of the DAISY Consortium) and entrepreneurs from the ReadSpeaker organisation. Additional information is provided in the VoiceCorp entry in the list of DAISY Members and Friends.
Odt2dtbook is an OpenOffice.org extension which supports export to DTBook (also known as DAISY XML, the text source of DAISY content). Version 1.0.1 was released October 20, 2008. It works with OpenOffice.org 3.0.
On July 24-25, 2008, the World Blind Union and KEI convened an expert group to consider a possible treaty for blind, visually impaired and other reading disabled persons. The meeting was held in Washington, DC. A report from that meeting is available in html, pdf, Microsoft Word .doc or Open Office odt format on the KEI website.
Effective September 17, 2008, Japan has revised Article 33 of copyright law to allow reproduction of texts and graphics in textbooks in formats that accommodate students with disabilities such as visual disabilities, developmental disabilities and learning disabilities. The producer of alternative format is requested to notify publishers but is not required to obtain permission from copyright owners. This development is a result of the long standing effort by Copyright Committee of the National Association of Disability Organizations for Accessible Broadcasting chaired by Mr. Yoshiro Inoue, representative of National Parents Organization of Children with Learning Disabilities, empowered by the UN CRPD. The revision of the copyright law opens up an opportunity to distribute textbooks to print disabled students within the compulsory education system (children 6-15 years of age) in full text synchronized DAISY format or multimedia with sign language in addition to Braille and large print that have been permitted.
The official translation of the copyright revision has not yet been made available.
IBM facilitated an online conversation by establishing a Standards Wiki during the summer of 2008. Seventy independent experts across the globe - from academia, standards, law, government and public policy - debated the question of whether standard setting bodies have kept pace with today's commercial, social, legal and political realities.
A minor update (Version 1.1) of the MathML in DAISY Specification has been officially released. This revision fixes minor errors and some language inconsistencies. The samples have also been updated.
The working group will hold conference calls on an as-needed basis to address issues and enhanced documentation which is maintained in the MathML in DAISY Project Area.
The AFB September issue of AccessWorld is a product evaluation of digital audio players and new access technology. A number of DAISY players have been tested by a group of AFB TECH testers. The report and links to a quick comparison of each player's features are provided in AFB AccessWorld September 2008, Vol.9 Issue 5.
Sun Microsystems granted $1 Million to the Open Source Community Innovation Awards recipients as a part of its commitment to freely available open source technologies.These winners received recognition for outstanding contributions to the worldwide Open Solaris, OpenJDK, NetBeans, GlassFish, OpenOffice.org and OpenSPARC communities.
Code Factory develops software tools for PDAs and cell phones targeted to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Please read the Code Factory, S.L. entry in the list of DAISY Members and Friends for additional information.
"The IDA CRPD Forum has been set up by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) to continue the work of the International Disability Caucus. The IDA CRPD Forum upholds the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as the universal standard for the human rights of all persons with disabilities...The aim of the IDA CRPD Forum is to develop a strong unified voice from civil society led by disabled people's organisations, DPOs, in matters concerning the CRPD." Visit the IDA CRPD Forum Web site.
Hiroshi Kawamura, President of the DAISY Consortium has stated that this is one of the most
important submissions from the disability community on the United Nations CRPD. Pages 35 to 38 will
be of particular interest. Portions of relevant articles from the CRPD Treaty are quoted, including
Article 2:
"'Communication' includes languages, display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print,
accessible multimedia as well as written, audio, plain-language, human-reader and augmentative and
alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and
communication technology;"
and Article 9 (f) and (g):
"(f) Promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities to ensure
their access to information;"
"(g) Promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies
and systems, including the Internet;"
The IDA CRPD Forum Submission to the United Nations Office High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR) is available on the DAISY Web site.
The DAISY Consortium is nominated for the 2008 Katherine M. Swanson Equality Award for developing AMIS software, which implements synthetic speech to make text and multi-media information available to people who have print disabilities such as visual impairments, cognitive or learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and people who are unable to hold a keyboard or printed publication. Details are provided in the DAISY Press Release.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has announced a call for papers for a Special Issue of ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS). This special issue will focus on aging and information technologies and will "explore specific opportunities and challenges and solutions for older adults and the increasing deployment of complex IT systems." Full details including paper topics and submission deadlines are provided on the ACM Web site.
In addition to the contract for digital talking book (DAISY) players which was awarded to Shinano Kenshi/Plextor (see From DAISY Prototype to the Largest DTB Player Contract Ever Awarded in the August DAISY Planet) NLS has awarded a contract for Digital Talking Book cartridge mailing containers, and for training for the staff of 128 libraries serving blind and physically handicapped readers throughout the U.S and its territories (see NLS FLASH for additional details ). A further contract for the manufacture of audio flash cartridges has been announced. The contract with Northstar Systems Inc. is for both 512 MB and 1 GB cartridges, with initial contract funding of more than $6.2 million US.
Activated Content is a recognized leader in digital audio watermarking with its own patented technology. Please read the Activated Content record in the list of DAISY Members and Friends for additional information.
Nominated by the DAISY Consortium, Dipendra Manocha has been elected as an International Members representative on the WBU (World Blind Union) Executive Committee. He will sit on the Committee for the next four years with Larry Campbell of ICEVI (International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment) who has been endorsed for his second term.
In effect since the 6th WBU General Assembly in Cape Town, December 2004, WBU International Members are entitled to nominate two members of the WBU Executive Committee.
Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, President of the DAISY Consortium, received the Dr. Dayton M. Forman Memorial Award from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). The award recognizes Mr. Kawamura's work to ensure equitable information services for people with print disabilities throughout the world. Details are provided in the DAISY Press Release.
Competition organizers, AltFormat.org, were deluged by creative, inspiring and heartfelt stories written by primary and secondary school students who have a print disability.
The awards event, held at the House of Commons in London UK, was hosted by Mike Foster MP and David Blunkett MP. Sir Steve Redgrave, five time Olympic rowing gold medalist who gave out the award commented, "This AltFormat story competition has clearly allowed the children's writing skills to flourish, safe in the comfort of their spelling and grammar are not being judged...I'd have quite liked to have had that opportunity available to me whilst I was at school." Sir Steve also has dyslexia.
The nine finalists, along with their parents, couldn't contain their delight as their imaginative stories were brought to life and played as multi sensory DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) digital talking books.
David Blunkett announced a pilot that will take place later in 2008 to transfer electronic books from publishers to schools to help deliver altformats in a speedier manner to young students, adding that the availability of electronic files that can be transformed into digital talking books, large print or braille will create a more level learning environment for everyone with a visual or print disability.
The winning students and their schools received laptops, ipods and alternative format software worth £25 000 (provided by competition sponsors Dolphin Computer Access).
Information about the Altformat Story Competition and the nine winning stories is available at AltFormat.org.
Kerscher accepted the award by teleconference to Linz, Austria during the ICCHP Conference on the evening of July 10. This is the third prestigious award presented to the DAISY Consortium in less than two months. All are in recognition of the Consortium's work in the development and promotion of international standards and technologies which enable equal access to information and knowledge by all people with print disabilities and which also benefit the wider community. Details are provided in the DAISY Press Release.
Kerscher, DAISY Consortium Secretary General, has been named among the first recipients for the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award which recognizes individuals and organizations working in the field of blindness that have made outstanding contributions toward achieving the full and equitable integration of individuals who are blind into society. Full details are provided in the DAISY Consortium press release.
The DAISY Consortium Annual Report for 2007 is now available and can be read online or downloaded as a zip file.
Details are available on the ATIA Web site.
Duxbury Systems, Inc. and Design Science, Inc. have announced "the availability of Duxbury Braille Translator™ (DBT) version 10.7 with support for direct import of Microsoft Word documents containing mathematical equations created with MathType™. This improvement will allow users to author math with MathType in MS Word and then translate those materials to braille via DBT for Windows." Additional information is available in the Design Science Press Release dated June 23, 2008.
The Universidad Miguel Hernández in Elche (Alicante) has published the first Spanish printed book that includes a CD-ROM with the audio version in DAISY format.
Accessible Digital Books: from Word to DAISY Seminar, June 23, 2008, from 9:30 - 12:30.
This seminar is organised by the Association BrailleNet with the objective to illustrate the potential of the "Save As DAISY" function in MS Word, using examples and demonstrations. It will be held at Cité des sciences et de l'Industrie - 30, avenue Corentin-Cariou - 75019 Paris, France. The seminar will present how documents designed according to accessibility recommendations can be save in DAISY XML format (DAISY/NISO Z39.86) and how these files can be transformed into other accessible formats such as DAISY DTBs, HTML, PDF, making them readable on a variety of platforms. The language of this seminar is French. Information about the Seminar is available in French and in English.
The call for papers for ATIA 2009 Orlando, closes June 23, 2008 (this has been extended to June 30). ATIA's 10th anniversary will be celebrated by two ATIA conferences in 2009, the first in Orlando Florida, USA, January 28 - 31, 2009. Details are available on the ATIA Web site.
The 2008 revision of the DAISY 3 Structure Guidelines is now available online and for download.
The DAISY Structure Guidelines, first published in 1999, are a resource for the creation of the textual content of DAISY publications and also provide information on the overall structural relationships that apply to any type of DAISY publication.
Sample DAISY books with MathML content are posted in the MathML-in-DAISY Project area, thanks to collaborative efforts of members of the MathML working group.
ICT Results Feature Article: Profits for publishers in making books accessible to all
"...What the EUAIN team has done is to bring all the accessibility organisations in the different countries (Europe) together to pool their knowledge. The team then put them together with the pan-European publishing industry to explore mutually-beneficial ways to work together..."
On the EUAIN portal: Online demonstrator for accessible content processing
"The XML Digital Talking Book (DTBook) format (NISO Z39.86) (also known as the DAISY format) was chosen as a pivotal format on which converters are applied on the fly to produce the output documents in different possible formats (HTML, PDF). Moreover, in order to make the process accessible to a wider audience and to demonstrate that well-structured documents can be produced easily with standard word processors, i.e. by non-specialists, input files can also be provided in an Open Document Format (.odt files). The Open Office word processor can be used for that. The use of Open Document Format is also important as this format is being increasingly recognised as pivotal for public sector information provision."
Mr. Kawamura's acceptance of the ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Award is available on YouTube. On behalf of, and as President of the DAISY Consortium, Mr. Kawamura was presented with this prestigious award by ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré during the Ceremony of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2008. The award was in the category of Science and Technology.
Announcement on Microsoft Presspass Site (5/21): Microsoft Microsoft Expands List of Formats Supported in Microsoft Office.
"There is essentially no computer in the world, desk-top, hand-held, or back-room, that doesn't process XML sometimes," said Tim Bray of Sun Microsystems.
Many useful informative links are listed and the community is invited to send an "XML greeting" or share a testimonial.
Hiroshi Kawamura took part in the 2007 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Brazil last November. The Pew Internet and American Life Project has just posted a series of 'Imagining the Internet' interviews. View Hiroshi Kawamura discussing the emergence of the DAISY Standard.
Hiroshi Kawamura, President of the DAISY Consortium, was honoured to accept the World Telecommunication and Information Society Award on behalf of the DAISY Consortium today in Cairo Egypt.
Publishing 'Sneak Peeks' Online
Note: This is an NPR (National Public Radio) Flash-enabled audio, with links to related stories.
Report any accessibility problems
An older related story from another source: Random House Audio abandons audiobook DRM
Accessibility format gets boost from maker of world's biggest text-authoring tool
Excerpt: Good structural metadata lets a blind user nimbly navigate, browse and search a document. Word and PDF weren't built from the ground up to support that. DAISY was.
DAISY users talk about the personal benefits of the “Save as DAISY XML” add-in for Microsoft Office Word.
- Watch the video in English (.wmv, 4 min 10 sec)
- Watch the video in Chinese (Mandarin) (.wmv, 4 min 10 sec)
- Watch the video in Dutch (.wmv, 4 min 10 sec)
- Watch the video in French (.wmv, 4 min 10 sec)
- Watch the video in Spanish (.wmv, 4 min 10 sec)
Today at 12:01 PDT the first official release of Microsoft's "Save As DAISY XML" translator for Microsoft Office Word and the simultaneous release of the newest version of the DAISY Pipeline were announced. Both are open source developments which support the creation of accessible content for people worldwide with print disabilities.
Full details and links to downloads, press release and related information, and support documentation for the Microsoft "Save As DAISY XML" add-in are available in the "Save As DAISY" area of the DAISY Web site. "We know that much of the information in documents today is created with Microsoft Word; this new add-in provides an unprecedented leap forward in the worldwide effort to make information available to all." (George Kerscher, Secretary General of the DAISY Consortium).
Information, links to the press release, and downloads for the Pipeline are on the DAISY Pipeline project page. This suite of migration tools supports the transformation of files from one format into other required formats. The release announced today offers compatibility with Microsoft Office Word. "This is a huge step toward achieving the DAISY Consortium's vision of a world where everyone has equal access to information and knowledge." (Markus Gylling, Technical Development Director for the DAISY Consortium).
Press documentation for Microsoft's "Save As DAISY XML" translator is also provided in DAISY 2.02 format. This DAISY DTB with synthetic speech was created using the "Save As DAISY XML" translator and the DAISY Pipeline. It is available for download from the Microsoft "Save As DAISY" project page.
The first official release of Microsoft's "Save As DAISY XML" translator for Microsoft Office Word was announced today. This is an open source collaborative project.
The DAISY Consortium announces a new release of the DAISY Pipeline, a free, downloadable transformation suite that transforms documents into accessible multimedia formats.
Award-winner Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille shares the spotlight with the DAISY Consortium supporting the fundamental human right for access to printed materials.
NISO, the National Information Standards Organization, a non-profit association accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), identifies, develops, maintains, and publishes technical standards to manage information in today's changing and ever-more digital environment.
NISO recognizes that standards must reflect global needs and is designated by ANSI to represent U.S. interests as the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) Technical Committee 46 on Information and Documentation.
Read the NISO Press Release announcing this DAISY Consortium/Microsoft collaboration: "NISO Standard at the Heart of Microsoft Translator for Open XML to DAISY XML".
In a new collaborative initiative, Microsoft and the DAISY Consortium will work together to develop an Open XML to DAISY XML Converter: "Save As DAISY XML". DTBook, the DAISY XML file which will be generated from the free downloadable plug-in for Microsoft Word, is the foundation of the DAISY/NISO Standard for reading and publishing navigable, multimedia content.
Geneva, 2 July 2007 - For Immediate Release
Visually Impaired Persons and Publishers Join IPA in Geneva for Dialogue on International Access
The International Publishers Association invited VIP (Visually Impaired Persons) experts and publishing industry stakeholders to discuss the issues of access of visually impaired persons across borders to works in accessible formats.
IPA invited experts to informal talks in Geneva. The invitees came from the World Blind Union, the DAISY Consortium, and IFLA/Libraries for the Blind Section to join publishing industry specialists from the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS) and the Dorina Nowill Foundation (Brazil). All were invited in their personal capacity, not as spokespersons of their respective organisations.
For Immediate Release
Mathematics Now Added to the DAISY Standard
The DAISY Consortium approves MathML - the first modular extension to DAISY
ZURICH, Switzerland - March 22, 2007 - The DAISY Consortium announced today the formal adoption of the specification for the DAISY/NISO Standard Modular Extension for Mathematics. The publication of the Mathematics Modular Extension is crucial to integrating accessible mathematics into DAISY and NIMAS-compliant books. The path to accessible mathematics is now clear.
