Anna’s Comments (group member since Jan 11, 2015)

Anna’s comments from the Accessible Reading group.

some nice updates: Iʻve got way more accessible formats to read now.
BARD.
both as a reader and app - and comsidering Victor Stream.

OverDrive audiobooks allow to change the speed by the way - from 0,75 (or slower?) to 2x.
So does Learning Ally app;.

I also am using VoiceDream app with built-in and additional voices.

Iʻve tried some (ebooks and iBooks with VoiceOver on OS X and in iOS); they work to some degree but itʻs not ideal yet. But worth trying and experimenting!
I added you - Iʻll have a lot of questions. :)

Hi yʻall,

Iʻm Anna. I live in Texas, and Iʻm learning Braille.

I can speak, read, and understand spoken versions of several languages, but currently I have no access to any accessible format of reading - argh...

So would anyone have some ideas to get me started?

I have all my life had some vision related issues, BUT now that I can read and write in Braille, I donʻt think vision should really matter. I would love to become e.g. a Braille literature (or even movie) transcriber in a few years, so Iʻm working towards that goal.

So please show and tell me how you get your accessible reads and where in the world you live. :)

I would LOVE to have my hands in many accessible reading things in many languages, like

- Old childrenʻs and fairytale books in Braille (in languages that have a Latin-based character set in use in Braille)
- Old mathematics books
- Old school books for kids
- Any other easy reader braille book :)

I can read in US Braille level 1 (so any international Latin-based stuff works), AND my comfort for good long reads would include:
- English (level 1, to soon expand to UEB and level 2 US) - Italian - Finnish - Spanish - Brazilian Portuguese
- For childrenʻs books that are really simple: also Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Greek

I would also love to try some books in Daisy-format, and maybe get a Daisy reader. But itʻs very hard to find any reading material in Daisy; the public library does not have it, and most publishers limit it to only those who canʻt see anything... Iʻm about to contact Learning Ally to see if they could help me - so Iʻm both interested in trying different books in Daisy, AND in telling stories in that format once Iʻll get up to speed with the system.

Meanwhile... have any of you found any ways to share Daisy format books? Are there any advanced reader books ever in Daisy? Where do you get them where you live?

And for other formats... my local library offers ebooks and audiobooks in Overdrive, so I can use that with my library card and iPhone and iPad. But those books are so slow, and itʻs quite tiring to play with VoiceOver (although it can be done), so... what other formats do you use and how?

Would Kindle or Kobo allow any ebook to be read aloud and listened to with headphones?

The easier and cheaper the solutions, the better :) - and if any of you would have some Braille materials to get rid of, Iʻd love to provide them a good home, and lots of learning...