Even though the Library of Congress created BARD before Bookshare came into
being, for years Bookshare was our main source for reading because of its much larger
collection. Only recently have BARD become a helpmate, in part due to manufacturing
audiobook sequels for series whose professional recordings did not garner enough
money to warrant producing future installments. And whenever these disability-specific
resources fall behind, there’s Audible. If you're wondering where the problem is, we're
getting there.
PROS of the DISABILITY-SPECIFIC RESOURCES
A Bookshare membership with unlimited downloads is free to all students and
$50 a year for non-students. Begun in 2002, its library was maintained for five years by
volunteers who scanned personally purchased books (members choose whether to
download the book in braille or any other options, as the site services all print disabilities
and methods of accessing them, since computers are not equipped to read braille
documents), and uploaded said files to the site. It has grown exponentially since 2007,
both due to the combination of these individuals efforts and a substantial library grant
that led to agreements with various publishers to send eBooks. Those agreements now
make it possible for a blind person to jump online and enjoy the luxury of getting a book
on its release date. Consequently, it also cuts down on having to send emails to
volunteers, asking if they'll pretty please spend their hard-earned money on books for
the benefit of blind fans. These requests were often necessary on account of either a
volunteer becoming disenchanted with an author/series, or an author's works being
abandoned partway for no discernible reason.
BARD is volunteer based, with nonprofessional narrators offering their time, and
the site runners using things like best-seller lists and less obvious means to broaden
their stock (utilizing the same scanning and uploading techniques as Bookshare for the
much smaller braille database). It's free once you've verified your disability, and you can
choose either digital downloads, or buy a device to access
these "daisy files"--an audio file with the ability to search and
navigate by paragraphs, headings, like the flexibility in print
files, that is playable on a computer with free downloadable
software, or a blind-specific portable device such as a
Bookport. (BARD does provide their preferred player on
request--Bookports are available from the same companies
that sell those electronic braille devices--but that's getting into
personal preference and usability territory.) Since a Bookport
or computer works for Audible too, it's a win win--unless the
narrator's bad, then you're in trouble (and if your device only
plays daisy files, then it's one more thing you're yoked to while
you have another device for Audible, but again, personal preference).
HERE'S THE PROBLEM
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