San Francisco organization makes more than 1 million books available online to blind, dyslexic
By Brooke Donald, APWednesday, May 5, 2010
Project puts 1M books online for blind, dyslexic
SAN FRANCISCO — A new program at the nonprofit Internet Archive in San Francisco is doubling the number of books available to the visually impaired.
The organization is using money from foundations, libraries, corporations and the government to scan thousands of books into its digital database.
The new service being announced Thursday means 1 million books will be available in digital formats for free for people who are blind and have reading disabilities.
Marc Maurer, the president of the National Federation of the Blind, says access to books has been a big challenge for people who are blind or dyslexic.
Many of the digitized books sold commercially are expensive, they’re often abridged, and they’re not produced in a format easily accessed by the visually impaired.
