National Library Service Audio-magazines Now Available in Digital Format
"Our audio magazines are now available on digital cartridge," announced Karen Keninger, director of the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. "Cartridges mark a new reading experience for our subscribers: They'll have access to more magazines, higher quality sound, and more fine-grained navigation tools. We're also asking them to participate in the new recycling program."
The transition of audio-magazines from cassette to cartridge completes the digital conversion of the NLS talking-book program, begun in 2009. Cartridges offer superior sound quality and more in-depth navigation. They can hold multiple magazines or books and are delivered to patrons faster than cassettes. NLS has devised a circulating magazine system that will be cost effective and responsive for patrons who subscribe to magazines. As part of this system, subscribers will return each cartridge as soon as they've finished reading the magazines. Recycling cartridges will keep costs down and allow NLS to continue and potentially expand its magazine program.
By June 30, 2013, all subscribers to the NLS audio-magazine program will have been moved from cassettes to the cartridges. Patrons should return cartridges based on their subscriptions: weekly magazine readers must return their cartridges every week while monthly and bimonthly magazine readers must return their cartridges every month.
The NLS talking-book and braille program is a free library service available to US residents and American citizens living abroad whose low vision, blindness, or physical disability makes reading a regular printed page difficult. Through its national network of regional libraries, NLS mails books and magazines in audio and in braille, as well as digital audio players, directly to enrollees at no cost. Music instructional materials are available in large print, braille, and recorded formats. Select materials are also available online for download. Further information on eligibility requirements and enrollment procedures for the program are available on the NLS website or by calling 888-657-7323.
Salt Lake Community College Disability Resource Center Receives Outstanding Achievement Award from National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
The Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) Disability Resource Center was recently awarded the President's Award Recognizing Outstanding Achievements in Accessibility by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Utah.
"It is a real honor for the College to be recognized by the NFB," said Candida Darling, SLCC Disability Resource Center director. "The College as a whole—not just the Disability Resource Center—has made really remarkable strides toward universal accessibility, and we are very excited for SLCC to receive recognition for the good work that is done here to that end."
Darling cited JAWS, ZoomText, and a software purchase that assesses web site accessibility as resources that SLCC has recently provided that have been particularly effective at making the College more universally accessible.
"Many people from across the College have worked to improve access in our instruction, in our facilities, and in our online environments," Darling said.
About the College: Salt Lake Community College is an accredited, student-focused, urban college meeting the diverse needs of the Salt Lake community. Home to more than 62,000 students each year, the College is the largest supplier of workforce development programs in the State of Utah. The College is the sole provider of applied technology courses in the Salt Lake area, with 13 sites, an e-campus, and nearly 1,000 continuing education sites located throughout the Salt Lake valley.
