| 30+ Accessibility Tools, Softwares & Resources for The Visually Impaired Posted: 27 Mar 2009 10:32 AM PDT 
Free ebooks are meant to be read and enjoyed by everybody regardless of physical imperfections, hence why this post is being made, although I must admit that this should be the first post that should be posted here. Having said that, do join me in the journey to increase this list of resources to make it a comprehensive one, to provide and create the proper accessibility channels. I’m sure there are other list out there which covers some of the areas below, but I do hope this post will somehow be a part of the whole effort in making this a reality.
Audio Ebooks
Been covered here, 35 total sites found so far providing free downloadable audio ebooks. Adobe Reader 9 Accessibility
Taking note that 99% of the ebooks on this site are in PDF format, Adobe has a site dedicated specifically in providing information in greater details on making it easier for people with disabilities to read PDF files. Since Adobe PDF Reader is free, I think it’s worth taking advantage of this built in feature. For more information, you can jump straight to Adobe’s special section or click the following link to download the manual - Accessing PDF Documents with Assistive Technology: A Screen Reader User’s Guide (PDF, 368k). Screen Readers (Free)
One of the most obvious ones came with your copy of Windows. Just go to (WinXP) Start Menu > Accessories > Accessibility > Narrator. Or if you prefer to use a magnifier to zoom into piece of information, go to (WinXP) Start Menu > Accessories > Accessibility > Magnifier. - FireVox - Firefox Browsers
Fire Vox is a free and open source extension for the Mozilla Firefox web browser that transforms it into a self-voicing application. Easy to install and operate, it works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It can work independently, or together with screen readers such as Orca. - Satogo - Browser IE 6.0+
Offers a web-resident version of this screen reader to users completely free of charge, making any computer with internet accessible in seconds. Simply visit www.satogo.com and create your free SA ToGo account. - Spoken Web - IE / Windows
Spoken is a Web portal, managing a wide range of online data-intensive content like news updates, weather, travel and business articles for computer users who are blind or visually impaired. - NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) - Windows
A free and open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system. This software can enable blind or vision impaired people to access computers running Windows for no more cost than a sighted person. - Thunder Screen Reader - Windows
Thunder is award-winning free screenreader talking software for people with little or no sight. - WebAnywhere Alpha - Browser Based
A non-visual interface to the web that requires no new software to be downloaded or installed.It works right in the browser, which means you can access it from any computer. - Screen Access for All (SAFA) and here - MS Word / Windows
Media Lab Asia & NAB Delhi have jointly developed the screen reading software named SAFA. This is an open source software & supports many Indian languages. It is being provided free of charge by NAB Delhi. - VoiceOver - Mac
VoiceOver for Mac users is an accessibility interface that offers you magnification options, keyboard control and spoken English descriptions of what's happening on screen. - Orca - Open Solaris, Fedora, and Ubuntu
Orca is a free, open source scriptable screen reader. Using various combinations of speech, braille, and magnification, Orca helps provide access to applications and toolkits that support the AT-SPI (e.g., the GNOME desktop). - Emacspeak - Unix / Linux
A free screen reader for Emacs which is written in C and is portable to all POSIX-compatible OSs. - EDBrowse - Unix / Linux
Edbrowse (or edbrowse) is a command-line program for Unix-like systems that combines features of text editors, web browsers, and email clients. It was originally intended for blind users. - BRLTTY - Unix / Linux
A background process (daemon) which provides access to the Linux/Unix console (when in text mode) for a blind person using a refreshable braille display. It drives the braille display, and provides complete screen review functionality. Some speech capability has also been incorporated. Screen Readers (Commercial) - JAWS - Windows (Demo available, Purchase $895.00 (Standard), $1,095.00 (Pro))
- Mobile Speak - Mobile Phones / PDA (30 day Trial available, Purchase $275.00)
- Virgo - Windows (Demo available, price unavailable)
- Window Eyes - Windows (Demo available - expires every 30 minutes (reset upon reboot), Purchase $895.00)
- ZoomText - Windows (Free Trial available, Purchase $595.00 CD Version. Other options available.)
- SuperNova - Windows (Free Trial available, Purchase price unavailable)
- Hal - Windows (Free Trial available, Purchase $795.00)
- Simply Talker - Windows (Free 30 day Trial available, Purchase $50 - $100 (Various versions))
- Proloquo - Mac (Demo available, Purchase $299)
- PCVoz - Windows (No demo? Purchase $90 (5 users) & $150 (10 users))
- Tex Edit Plus - Mac (Trial version available, Purchase $15 Single User License)
- Lookout - Windows (Demo? Purchase £107.00)
- HT Reader - Windows (Free trial available, Purchase EUR 300.00)
- Issist - Windows (Free trial available, Purchase $19.95/month)
Text to Audio / Speech Applications (Online & Offline) - SpokenText - Online Converter (Free)
It allows you to record (English, French, Spanish or German) PDF, Word, plain text, PowerPoint files, RSS feeds, emails and web pages, and converts them to speech automatically. - Vozme - Online Converter (Free)
- Odiogo - Transforms sites & blogs into audio formats (Free)
- Talkr - Converts text-only blogs into Podcasts (Free)
- TextAloud - Windows (Free Trial available, Purchase $29.95)
- Natural Readers - Free & Commercial versions available
- Ispeech - Commercial
- Hearwho - Free & Commercial versions available
- Text to Audio File 1.1 - Mac
- CoolSpeech & TextSound - Commercial
- Piston Text to Speech Converter - Commercial
- SpeakText - Commercial
- Alive Text to Speech - Commercial
- Text2Go - commercial
Podcast Directories
An awesome list of podcast directories compiled by Podcast411.com can be found here. At the time of posting, there are 161 available sites within the list, which allows you to access to frequently updated podcasts from various sites within each directory. Click here for Podcast411’s list of podcast directories. Flash & Accessibility
Flash is by no means a new technology as it has been part of the web for quite some time. Perhaps it’s not too far to say that Flash is one of the main contributor to our overall internet experience today. Being a robust platform, it could actually compliment or enhance the already existing text and image oriented areas of the Internet with more interactive elements such as audios and videos. For more information on this topic, here are a few sites which cover it extensively … - Usability.com.au
- WebAim.org
- Adobe.com
- Niquimerret.com - Accessibility in Flash bug and issue list
- Evolt.org - Stephen Hawking and Me - Flash MX Accessibility
- NNGroup.com - Accessibility and Usability of Flash for Users with Disabilities. A PDF report is also available on this site, check it out.
Other Resources - Panix.com - Accessible Ebooks, Etexts and Textbooks
- AlistAPart.com - Accessibility, Web Standards, and Authoring Tools
- DiveIntoAccessibility.org
- The Open & Closed Project - Uniting global knowledge of accessible media
And finally but not least, some ebooks on Accessibility - 50 Online Accessibility and Usability Tools (Good Read & Tool)
- Accessibility 2.0: People, Policies and Processes
- Holistic Approaches to E-Learning Accessibility
- Website Content Accessibility of 30,000 Cypriot Web Sites
- Word Templates for Web Accessibility
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| 3 Free Relationship Ebooks by K. Allen Posted: 27 Mar 2009 08:51 AM PDT 
MEN a Primer For Women
by K. Allen "If it has tires or testicles, you're going to have trouble with it". There are lots of men in the world. Some are more delightful than others, but most will be very happy if only you'd notice them. Men are neither monsters nor simpletons; they are, like us, a mix of the good, the bad, and the indifferent. Men pretty much want the same things women want. They mainly want someone to give a damn about them. Men are human beings first and men second. This meanings that men also have feelings, hopes, fears, dreams and desires. Men regard women as both the most fascinating and the most exasperating people on the planet. To men, women get upset at the silliest of things and women wonder why they haven't strangled such unthinking persons yet. This slender book is an effort at a kind of reapproachment between the genders in the hope that more women will have more fun and more men will remain unstrangled. Click on the link below to download this free ebook:-
MEN a Primer For Women (PDF) or support the author by purchasing the paperback.
WOMEN a Primer For Men
by K. Allen “My reason for writing this book is my being tired of watching men selfdestruct when it comes to women. I have a great deal of sympathy for men but, really, the elementary mistakes you fellows make are enough to make one weep.” It is a testament to the essential kindness of women that most men remain unstrangled. This small primer has been written by an independent woman of vast interpersonal experience in the hopes that men will remain unstrangled because they, finally, 'get it'. Click on the link below to download this free ebook:-
WOMEN a Primer For Men (PDF) or support the author by purchasing the paperback.
The Altar Chase
by K. Allen Dating is very simple. You go somewhere and scope out those available. You select from them and make contact. You hold a 15 minute conversation with them and get phone numbers. You set up dates and go on dates. Sex is up to her but he is always prepared. You enjoy doing the rounds until one says “stand and deliver”. Then you marry that person. What’s so hard about that? …. Click on the link below to download this free ebook:-
The Altar Chase (PDF) or support the author by purchasing the paperback.
Or all of the above ebooks can be downloaded from the author’s website at:-
K. Allen’s official website
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