The Sharjah International Book Fair: A Book Fair Journal

There were many over-the-top cultural experiences I took in on my recent visit to the U.A.E., where I headed this past November to represent Bookshare at the 32nd Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF). As Director of Content Acquisition for Benetech’s Global Literacy Program, which operates Bookshare, my key role is to engage with publishers in a deep conversation about the power of digital books to improve the lives of people at a reading disadvantage both here in the U.S. and around the world.

Bookshare Listed Among the World’s 100 Most Inspiring Applications of Digital Technology for Social Good

The Nominet Trust, a United Kingdom leading social tech funder, included Bookshare, our Global Literacy initiative, on its list of 100 global ventures using digital technology to solve some of the world’s biggest social problems. “It’s a life-changing service” for those with visual impairments or other print disabilities, states the Bookshare listing on the Nominet Trust 100.

Discovering Accessible Learning Resources with Benetech Labs—Part 1

At Benetech, we believe that as accessible digital content and applications increasingly become more available, they must also be easily discoverable. That’s exactly what we set out to do through the Accessibility Metadata Project, one of our Benetech Labs projects. Earlier this year, we submitted to Schema.org—an initiative supported by the major search engines—our group proposal for accessibility metadata that would make it widely possible to find online content with accessible features. Today we have big news to share: the Schema.org team has just announced it agreed to adopt the accessibility properties we proposed!

White Cane Awareness Walk 2013: National Disability Employment Awareness Month—Part 3

In this third installment of our blog series marking National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we’d like to share highlights from the Palo Alto White Cane Awareness Walk, in which we participated last Wednesday, October 16th. This annual event is held each October on or in proximity to White Cane Safety Day, a national observance celebrating the ability of people with impaired vision to lead independent lives. Last week, for the fourth consecutive year, Benetech and Bookshare proudly supported the White Cane Awareness Walk tradition in Palo Alto and we were delighted to join this celebration in partnership with the Palo Alto Lions Club, Vista Center and the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center (WBRC), the event’s host.

Rethinking Equality: National Disability Employment Awareness Month—Part 2

The summer when I was 14, I got fired from my first volunteer job because, over time, the company managers learned that I was blind. The only thing I could do was to be more determined than ever to compete in the world of future employment alongside workers without disabilities. Today that’s exactly what I’m doing. The thing that makes my employment experience at Benetech so fulfilling is that I’m part of a vibrant, dedicated and brilliant team consisting of both disabled and nondisabled folks who truly believe in the work we do and who strive each day to make the world a little better than it was the day before. And, in the end, I think that’s what all of us–disabled or not–want from our jobs.