Bookshare and Code Factory Announce Partnership To Introduce Mobile Technology for Print Disabled Readers
By Benetech, posted on January 30, 2008Bookshare® and Code Factory have announced the formation of a partnership to introduce technology that allows Bookshare members to read digital books on their mobile devices. Code Factory will demo V2.0 of its Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile at the conference of the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) at the Caribe Royale All-Suite Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, USA. The demo will be hosted at the Benetech® booth (Lobby 2) on Friday, February 1 from 4:30 to 5:00 pm.
Code Factory launched V2.0 of Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile Smartphones in November of 2007 and will soon release v2.0 of Mobile Speak for Pocket PCs. Both products feature a built-in software application for reading Braille formatted (BRF) files with synthesized speech output, Braille, or both, as well as a Bookshare unpacking utility. “For a long time we’ve admired Bookshare for its great achievements in increasing access to books for the blind and visually impaired,” said Eduard Sanchez, Code Factory CEO. “Our American users constantly tell us that the excellent Bookshare services have changed their lives.”
“We are excited about the possibility of Bookshare subscribers reading books on their mobile devices using Code Factory’s screen readers. We will examine the Mobile Speak product line closely and test features that allow users to access Bookshare on the move, anytime and anywhere,” said Jim Fruchterman, CEO of Benetech, the nonprofit organization that operates Bookshare.
About Bookshare
Bookshare is an online community that allows people with print disabilities to legally download books and periodicals to be read as Braille, large print or synthetic speech. Offering the world’s largest accessible library of scanned books and periodicals, Bookshare received a $32 million five-year award from the U.S. Department of Education to significantly expand the availability of accessible electronic books and software for reading those books. Bookshare is operated by Benetech, a Palo Alto, CA-based nonprofit technology development organization that creates social enterprise projects for the disability, literacy and human rights communities.
About Code Factory
Code Factory is a software company committed to the development of products designed to remove barriers to the accessibility of mobile technology for the blind and visually impaired. Code Factory is the leading provider of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and Braille interfaces for a wide range of mainstream mobile devices including Symbian-based and Windows Mobile-powered Smartphones as well as Pocket PC phones and PDAs. Code Factory is the only accessible software provider to support close to two hundred different phone models working on the GSM, CDMA and WCDMA networks. To learn more about Code Factory and its mission of bringing complete accessibility to mobile devices, visit www.codefactory.es.