TVI Tidbits - Volume 2, No. 10
April 6, 2010
Download and play a book using the NLS player
and a flash drive
Science Resources
April 2010 APH News
AFB Consulting and Adobe Present Free Podcast:
Debunking the Myth of PDF Inaccessibility
The National Center on Secondary
Education and Transition (NCSET)
APH is looking for field testers for its new Baseball!
A Message from Fred Otto:
The following information is for your information and not an endorsement of any product or service:
1) Download and play a book using the NLS player and a flash drive
Do the following:
- Download the file for the book you want to play onto your desktop or in whatever location is easiest for you.
- Unzip the resulting file onto your flash drive; it should unzip into its own actual folder.
- Be sure to safely remove the drive. There is usually an option for this in the system tray, and/or in your (My) computer area, you may be able to find Safely Remove as an option when you right-click or press the context-menu button on that drive’s listing.
- Now, put your flash drive in the player.
Note: You can put multiple books on the same flash drive; just repeat the above steps, making sure to put each book in its own folder. To switch between books on the player, just hold down the play/pause button until you hear a beep, then use your fast-forward and rewind keys to select among the available books. (Thanks to an AERnet post by Terrence van Ettinger for this tidbit!)
National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS): http://www.blindscience.org/ncbys/Default.asp
University of Northern Iowa Resources for Blind Students http://www.uni.edu/walsh/blindresources.html
Please visit our April issue, now posted at: http://www.aph.org/advisory/2010adv04.html
Click on the above link or copy and paste it into your favorite web browser.
Your monthly link to the latest information on the products, services, and training opportunities from the American Printing House for the Blind. Headlines include but are not limited to:
- NIMAC Celebrates 20,000th File
- Help Wanted at APH
- APH Now Accepting Donations Online!
- Recruiting Youth with Visual Impairments to Help with Study
- In Memoriam Dr. Arnall Patz
- New Products from APH, Including the Book Port Plus!
- The Braille Book Corner and much, much more…
4) AFB Consulting and Adobe Present Free Podcast: Debunking the Myth of PDF Inaccessibility
4/05/2010 - 6/30/2010 at: http://www.afb.org/afbconsulting.asp?Action=Events&SectionID=
90&URLID=34&EventID=2156
The free 90-minute podcast will demonstrate how Adobe's ubiquitous PDF is accessible by people with disabilities using assistive technology. Topics to be covered include different types of PDFs, using Adobe's built-in accessibility features, and navigating PDF documents. This podcast is perfect for users of assistive technology, keyboard users, web masters, content providers/authors, Section 508 coordinators, and rehabilitation trainers. The podcast will be available Monday April 5, 2010, after 5:00 PM EDT.
5) The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) coordinates national resources, offers technical assistance, and disseminates information related to secondary education and transition for youth with disabilities in order to create opportunities for youth to achieve successful futures. NCSET is headquartered at the Institute on Community Integration in the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development. Visit NCSET at: http://www.ncset.org/ and don’t forget to check out their resources for IEP and Transition Planning at: http://www.ncset.org/topics/ieptransition/default.asp?topic=28
and New York State’s Effective College Planning Guide at:
http://www.sunyjcc.edu/college-wide/pdffiles/effectivecollegeplanning(sg).pdf
and the latest issue of the NCSET Newsletter at: http://www.ncset.org/enews/current.asp
6) APH is looking for field testers for its new Baseball! A Message from Fred Otto at APH:
We are looking for field evaluation sites for a new game under development called "Touch 'em All Baseball." This board game updates, expands and replaces the baseball game that had been a longtime APH offering but was discontinued two years ago. The new game will be more varied and more realistic, but will also have options for beginning or simplified play. The game includes a felt baseball field with bases and moveable player pieces; spinners that dictate the pitching and hitting results; scorecards for keeping track of balls, strikes, outs and runs; tactile and printed action diagrams; and a booklet of game rules and suggested teaching activities.
Evaluators will be asked to introduce the game to students, and then to observe and interact with students as they play the game. Evaluators should also try out the teaching suggestions and assess their usefulness with students. A detailed evaluation/comment form will be provided.
Ideal field evaluation sites will have:
-- several visually impaired students 4th grade or above who
enjoy playing games, including some braille-reading students;
-- regularly scheduled time for games or recreation with teacher
observation;
-- ability to complete and return the evaluation form during
the summer months.
If you are interested in helping with this project, please
contact Fred Otto (fotto@aph.org) by
e-mail. (No replies to AER list, please.) Include the following
information in your message:
-- number of braille-reading students/low-vision students anticipated
-- age ranges or grades
-- setting (e.g., classroom, after school, camp)
-- your preferred format for guidebook and evaluation form: large
print, Word 2007 file, or braille
We expect to send the materials out for evaluation in mid-
to late April and ask for forms to be returned at the end of
June 2010. Thanks in advance for your interest, and feel free
to forward this request to other people or other discussion lists.
- Fred Otto fotto@aph.org
Tactile Learning Project Leader (and baseball fan)
APH Educational Research