E-BOOKS ACCESSIBLE TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED, COURTESY EPUB There is nothing different in the way 37-year-old Avneesh Singh uses his iPhone 5S. Whenever he wants to read an article, he whips out the device from his shirt pocket and slides his fingers on the screen; only that, in Avneesh's case, the phone's voice software begins to read the content aloud. Avneesh, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode who lost his vision due to a degenerative condition after he completed his BTech in computer science, is one of only five members of the Daisy Consortium's technical team that constantly advances the accessible EPUB format that enables millions of visually impaired and print-disabled readers read e-books. Accessible digital format Daisy Consortium, the international body responsible for standards in digitally accessible information system (DAISY), has made efforts in the last six years to bring accessibility to EPUB, the most popular e-book format in the world. Daisy Forum of India is part of the Consortium that drives use of accessible digital format in India. "EPUB 3.0, which is the accessible version has made a popular format more inclusive with the help of igitally accessible information system standards," said Delhi-based DFI President Dipendra Manocha, who was in Bengaluru for the DFI annual board meeting on Friday. "We have partner organisations across the country that convert textbooks into accessible format for school students who are blind. All of them provided an update on their work at the board meeting. Several e-books available to able bodied persons are now accessed by the blind, courtesy accessible EPUB, Manocha explained. For instance, 'Mightier Than The Sword', the latest Jeffrey Archer installment in the Clifton Chronicle series, is sold in Amazon Kindle with 'Text to speech' enabled (accessible) format. "So far, only Braille was the most common form of accessing knowledge. Now, accessible EPUB has made access to books more instant," Avneesh said. E-stores apart, platforms like 'Bookshare' provide nearly 100,000 titles in EPUB. Digital books The DFI board meeting discussed the ways of taking access to digital books to the million or so visually-impaired and print-disabled persons in India.Madhu Singhal, Managing Trustee of Mitra Jyoti and Daisy Forum of India General Secretary, said the organisation is reaching out to textbook societies, universities and school boards to make sure educational materials are provided in accessible EPUB. REFLINK: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/473109/e-books-accessible-visually-impai... Best Regards, Raghvendra R The information contained in this electronic message and in any attachments to this message is confidential, legally privileged and intended only for use by the person or entity to which this electronic message is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, and have received this message in error, please notify the sender and system manager by return email and delete the message and its attachments and also you are hereby notified that any distribution, copying, review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this electronic transmission or the information contained in it is strictly prohibited. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and may not represent those of the Company or bind the Company. Any commitments made over e-mail are not financially binding on the company unless accompanied or followed by a valid purchase order. This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Mail Scanner, and is believed to be clean. The Company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. www.jubl.com -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.