The Helene Server Takes a New Step Towards Individual Book Delivery for the Visually Impaired
By Guillon, Benoit; Desbuquois, Catherine; Burger, Dominique; Assistive Technology: From Virtuality to Reality, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 108-112Publication Date: 2005
Paper discusses BrailleNet’s Helene Server Project, which aims to create technical solutions to improve access to written information for people visual disabilities in France. One of the project’s main objectives was to create a national repository in order to improve collaboration between publishers and transcribers. Once this goal was met, the transcribers began to convert printed materials into Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) format. This format yields the same benefits for people with disabilities as standard audio books, though DAISY format has advantages in terms of ease in navigation and the display of synchronized text. When presented within DAISY format, documents can be converted to a variety of accessible formats. The Helene Server Project featured more than 2,000 paperback titles at the time the paper was written.
Published by: IOS Press (Website:http://www.iospress.nl)
Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE) (Web Site: http://www.aaate.net )
Link to text: http://iospress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=w28q5qq0t4tjywqd
