Subject: Digital Talking Book Standard Approved
Marilyn Geller (marilyn.geller@verizon.net)
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 12:40:58 -0500
From: "Marilyn Geller" <marilyn.geller@verizon.net> To: <niso-l@cni.org> Subject: Digital Talking Book Standard Approved Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 12:40:58 -0500 Message-Id: <NCBBKEFJJLDBJLEDHPKAIEACDMAA.marilyn.geller@verizon.net>
Bethesda, Md., USA – (March 15, 2002) Today, NISO, the National Information
Standards Organization, announced that the national standard for the Digital
Talking Book (ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2002) has been approved.
A Digital Talking Book (DTB) is a collection of electronic files arranged to
present information to the blind and physically handicapped reader via
alternative media. The most common medium will be human speech. However, a
DTB produced in accordance with the new standard can include a file
containing the contents of the document in text form, thereby permitting
output via synthetic speech, refreshable braille display devices, or visual
display in large print.
The NISO DTB standard, whose development was coordinated by the Library of
Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
(NLS), will make electronic resources presented in DTB format more
accessible to print-disabled readers worldwide. “The five-year effort was
completed by an international committee representing a broad range of
stakeholders dedicated to providing alternative-format materials to
print-disabled readers,” explained Patricia Harris, NISO Executive Director.
The standards project was coordinated by Michael M. Moodie, NLS Research and
Development Officer, who chaired and organized the NISO Digital Talking Book
Committee’s meetings and work groups from its inception in 1997 through the
final approval of the standard by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) on March 6, 2002. “This standard will facilitate the efficient
presentation of information through a variety of alternative media and will
make it easier for readers to navigate the digital world,” Moodie said.
The international community partners with NLS in this complex effort are the
Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (of the American
Library Association); American Council of the Blind; American Foundation for
the Blind; American Printing House for the Blind; Blinded Veterans
Association; Canadian National Institute for the Blind; the DAISY
Consortium; Hadley School for the Blind; Assistive Devices Industry
Office–Industry Canada; IsSound Corporation; National Federation of the
Blind; Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic; Talking Book Publishers, Inc..;
Telex Communications, Inc.; VisuAide, Inc.; and the World Blind Union.
“The ANSI/NISO DTB standard is built on specifications and needs formulated
by blind and visually impaired users, who were heavily involved in every
aspect of the development effort, “ Harris said. She noted that “during the
development process, the full committee met eleven times across the United
States and Canada and smaller working groups met countless times in person
and via conference calls and e-mail.”
In explaining the importance of the DTB standard, Moodie said “it makes
possible a powerful, flexible reading system that easily adapts to different
types of documents and different user needs. It provides a framework under
which a person or agency can create DTBs ranging from a very simple novel to
a long, complex reference work or textbook. The standard was built as far
as possible on existing standards and specifications, so programming skills
and software tools developed for other purposes can be applied to the DTB
world.”
“The real beauty of the DTB standard is that it allows users great
flexibility in how they read those DTBs–some will want a straight, linear
reading experience, while others will need sophisticated functions that
allow random access to sections of the DTB, the ability to turn on or off
elected elements (e.g., footnotes), and the capability to set bookmarks,
highlight portions of text, or do keyword searches,” Moodie said.
According to Frank Kurt Cylke, NLS Director, “The bottom line is that this
single standard addresses the requirements of a range of agencies serving
users with a wide variety of reading needs. It is truly a universal
standard that will benefit the blind community for generations to come.”
The International Coalition of Access Engineers and Specialists (ICAES)
named NISO as one of the winners of their 2001 Collaboration and
Coordination Award for its work in developing the DTB specifications.
This standard, like all NISO standards, is available for downloading free
from the NISO web site (http://www.niso.org).
About NISO:
NISO is the only U.S. group accredited by the American National Standards
Institute to develop and promote technical standards for use in information
delivery services providing voluntary standards for libraries, publishers
and related information technology organizations. All NISO standards are
developed by consensus under the guidance of experts and practitioners in
the field to meet the needs of both the information user and the producer.
For information about NISO’s current standardization interests and
membership possibilities, please visit the NISO website at
http://www.niso.org.
About NLS:
Over the past seventy years, the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, has been a leader in
provision of library services to blind and physically handicapped
individuals. Each year it distributes 23 million books and magazines to a
readership of more than 759,000 individuals who cannot read regular print
for visual or physical reasons. NLS functions as the largest and frequently
only source of recreational and information reading materials and services
for a segment of the population who cannot readily use the print materials
of public libraries. The NLS International Union Catalog contains 382,000
titles in 22 million copies. The average reader borrows 40 recorded books
and magazines a year. As an integral part of the Library of Congress, NLS
every year selects, produces, catalogs, and distributes 2,000 full-length
books and magazines in 2,000,000 braille and recorded copies. Reading
materials are distributed to a cooperating network of 141 regional and
subregional libraries where they are circulated to eligible borrowers.
Reading materials and playback machines are provided free to borrowers and
returned to libraries by postage-free mail. For additional information
about NLS, please visit its web site: <www.loc.gov/nls>.
For additional information contact:
For NISO:
Marilyn Geller
Communications Coordinator
National Information Standards Organization
Telephone: (301) 654-2512
E-mail: <nisohq@niso.org>
For NLS:
Robert E. Fistick
Head, Publications and Media Section
National Library Service for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped
The Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
Telephone: (202) 707-9279
E-mail: <rfis@loc.gov>
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