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National Library Service Plans Next-Gen Audiobooks
The New York Times (as carried here by CNET, registration-free) is reporting on what seems like an overdue update planned by the adminstrators of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which -- thanks to a copyright exemption -- can provide audiobooks without paying royalties. The Library Service will switch from 4-track tape players to audio devices based on flash memory. The article does not mention what sort of codec might be chosen, but does mention a couple of reasons (fragility, and diffculty for use by the blind) to not simply use CDs bearing some compressed audio format. The amount of listenable audio that can be squeezed into readily available pocket-sized storage these days is incredible, at least if you consider listenable things like the 32kbps recordings of old radio shows that the Sherlock Holmes Society of London makes available. (I wonder why small hard drives weren't chosen, though; they seem to bear up pretty well.)
Blind + Linux = BLINUX
"The purpose of BLINUX project is to improve usability of the LINUX operating system for the user who is blind"
It also turns out that the Command Line Interface is better for blind users than a GUI:
Unfortunately, almost all modern applications present information in a two-dimensional format, and most employ graphical icons that have no meaning for the blind. Since it is impractical to rewrite all these applications, the blind community has been forced to perform a rather awkward retrofit, using various adapters. We should recognize that this is not the ideal solution. Pasting a screen reader on top of Netscape makes it accessible, but the result is hardly efficient. Over the past decade a small minority of blind users have discovered Linux, a free, text-based operating system for the home computer. Linux applications rarely employ graphics, and most of them are already linear, just like the mode (speech or braille) that is our Karma. All other things being equal, Linux is the best operating system for a blind user.
Interesting to say the least...and Open Source makes it possible for (non profit) institutions closely acquainted with working with disabled people to adapt the software as necessary.....rather than relying on the perception and motivations of a (profit minded) corporation(s).
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Dealing well with blindness requires a certain amount of discipline (I'm not blind, but I have done volunteer reading (finding engineers/scientists who can read engineering/science texts to blind engineers/scientists seems to be a particular problem) and other services for them).
You can just toss a CD on a table or something and find it. A blind person may not be able to do so, so the blind have places for things, and actually put those things in those places so as to always know where to look for them. Otherwise anything simply put down may be effectively "lost."
A flash card in it's place is no harder to find and handle than a CD.
The problem is the handling, not because of the size, but because of the way blind people have to use their fingers as their eyes, to do things like get the CD into the slot/tray, which can (and does) easily result in scratched CDs.
You can fumble around for the flash slot a bit without worrying about losing your data.
KFG
Mind you that MP3 is not a speech-only codec, and further that it is crap at low bitrates regardless of what you encode.
Speex is a whole other beast, best not judge it based on your experiences with MP3...
Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
Speex is not mp3. It is a BSD licensed CELP-based codec optimized just for speech, and hence much better at lower bit rates.
Phus. Sysiphus.
It's not for expired copyright works, but rather they are talking about an exemption in copyrighting books that allows libraries to make audiobooks for the blind without paying royalties. The blind do get shafted in a lot of ways, but they are at least allowed to have audiobooks made from copyrighted works. I know that around here there is a group that broadcasts newspapers on radio for the blind and reads books over the radio for the blind. These services are volunteer-run, and seem popular with many elderly people. I wouldn't be suprised if there is a service like the one you are imagining in existence.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
Even though the Archos mp3 players have screens, the open-source personal jukebox software Rockbox recently implemented a Talking Menu system that can announce directories and playlists. It's useful for non-visual operation, and it proving to be a hit with blind users. Rockbox is being ported to some of the iRiver players...
The last time I wrote about this it was marked down as Troll, probably by some iPod-happy blind-person-hating fanboi. If you're reading this then you are a grade A wanker.
Da Blog
The service is a lending library that provides books and players to the blind and disabled. It works much like Netflix. But there are no rental fees or postal charges of any sort. Readers are often elderly, housebound, or in nursing homes, with multiple disabilites, no internet access, no mobility, no disposable income worth mentioning.
I'm sorry you think it is a waste. Permit me to disagree with you most strongly. I speak from the perspective of being married to a wonderful lady, who also happens to have lost most of her sight. She is considered legally blind to the point that she cannot drive, and to where she needs adaptive technology to use a computer. I am often called upon to be her eyes.
Regular CD's may seem like a good idea at first. However, as was noted by another poster, they can only hold 80 minutes per disc, tops, and that's assuming that the player knows how to handle the extended-length discs.
When you pack that much data onto a CD, you run the risk of making it even more susceptible to scratches and similar damage than they already are. Take a look at some of the discs that are available for checkout at your local library sometime. See how beat up they are? And that's from FULLY SIGHTED people (mis)handling them. How well do you think someone who has little or no vision is going to do with it?
As for Braille "displays:" I really don't think you have any idea what you're asking for, and I know for certain from that comment that you've never seen a true Braille terminal.
I have seen them. They're almost as clunky, complex, and expensive as the old Teletype machines were, and they are incredibly difficult to learn how to use (it can take someone more than a year to fully master Braille 2, the most popular format). For someone who still has partial sight, as my wife does, Braille is often more difficult to deal with than simply getting something in high-contrast/large print.
The only merit I can see in your idea for the players is the large buttons. That's certainly helpful, though keep in mind said buttons also need large, easily-distinguished tactile shapes on them (as my wife's current cassette player does).
As for the rest of your tirade, I really don't have a clue what you're on about. "Social interaction?" Get real. Every vision or hearing-impaired person I've met to date has been just as nice to get to know, if not nicer, than many of the folks I've met who have all their faculties.
If you would really like some perspective as to what vision-impaired folk go through, I suggest you go volunteer to get yourself trained as a sighted guide. I think you'll find it to be a real eye-opener (pun intended, with no apology whatsoever).
Keep the peace(es).
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies