A New Read on Digital Talking Books From: Speech Technology - 09/2007 - page 4 By: John Oberteuffer Recorded books for the blind first became available in the 1930s. Analog recordings created by volunteer readers were produced as 12-inch vinyl records - about 10 double-sides for the average book. This early production was expensive and time-consuming, so relatively few audio texts were available. Today, digital hardware, synthetic speech software, and powerful standards for digital talking books (DTBs) have dramatically enhanced the accessibility of print-originated material. Many DTB titles, including fiction, non-fiction, and textbooks, are available through nonprofit organizations such as Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic and Benetech Bookshare.org. Serving plate-sized, long-playing records and bulky phonographs have been replaced by CD and solid-state memory media and players for talking books. Read the entire article at: http://www.speechtechmag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=37407 Links: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic http://www.rfbd.org/ Benetech Bookshare.org http://www.bookshare.org/web/Welcome.html Kurzweil Reading Machine http://www.kurzweiltech.com/kcp.html DECtalk http://www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm?pageid=113583&top=0&productid=86503&trail=0 http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/DecTalk1.jpg AT&T’s Natural Voice http://www.naturalvoices.att.com/ Digital Accessible Information SYstem http://www.daisy.org/ National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard http://nimas.cast.org/