ReadHowYouWant CEO Tricia Roth News Release on Accessibility and Kindle

                  


For Immediate Release


Contact:

Bradi Grebien-Samkow: bradi@readhowyouwant.com

971-340-9853


Publishing Innovator ReadHowYouWant Bridges Kindle Gap

for Blind and Visually Impaired Readers



Sydney, Australia, November 23, 2009—Amidst complaints of Amazon’s Kindle inaccessibility for blind readers, ReadHowYouWant, a new technology publishing company from Australia, is leading the way in accessible publishing by using proprietary XML conversion software to repurpose books into a number of formats to meet the varying needs of readers who are blind, visually impaired, or have print or learning disabilities.


Now readers can choose between as many as ten different formats before they buy a book at www.readhowyouwant.com, including electronic braille, synthesized audio MP3; optimized, large print, 24 point bold EasyReadÔ print-on-demand books, and DAISY—a talking book format that produces audio along with the written text. DAISY books play on DAISY players, which are either standalone units or computer applications. DAISY is ideal for vision-impaired and blind readers, dyslexic readers, and for readers who are unable to hold a conventional book or turn pages. Testing is also being conducted on several specialized formats for readers with dyslexia and eye-tracking issues.

“Technology now offers the possibility of access to hundreds of thousands of books for blind and visually impaired readers.  It is unacceptable that The Kindle and other mainstream reading devices have been designed with no consideration given to the requirements of universal design. The introduction of the Kindle DX in some universities discriminates against blind and visually impaired students, and educators should join with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Syracuse University in rejecting this as a textbook replacement until it is accessible for all students,” says Tricia Roth, CEO of ReadHowYouWant.


ReadHowYouWant is reaching out to visually impaired readers through partnerships with leading assistive technology companies, HumanWare™  and PLEXTALK®. HumanWare's™ products include BrailleNote, a productivity device for blind people in education, in business and in their personal lives; digital talking book players; and a unique "auto-reader" for people with low vision. PLEXTALK® is the producer of the PLEXTALK® Pocket and other digital talking book players.


 "Through our PLEXTALK® Pocket partnership with ReadHowYouWant, we are able to offer even greater access to and increased mobility for reading thousands of books available for download from ReadHowYouWant's extensive library,” says Deana Valdez, Sales & Marketing Manager, PLEXTALK® North America.

Through its partnership with over 70 leading trade and university publishers, www.readhowyouwant.com/braille currently offers some 4,500 titles in braille, DAISY, and audio MP3 formats¾from current bestsellers to health, political, spiritual, mystery, business, and history books. Readers can browse, sample different formats, and choose the format that is best for them. “New titles are being added weekly as the number of publishers partnering with ReadHowYouWant continues to grow,” reports Roth.