Bugfest: A Glimpse into Our Product Release Cycle

Ever wonder how new features come into being within Benetech’s suite of products? Let’s take a short, virtual trip into the world of software product development at Benetech. I’m Ginny Grant, one of the Product Managers in Benetech’s Global Literacy Program. I’d like to focus here on some of the critical final steps in our product development process. These include passing tests that our professional Quality Assurance (QA) team performs as well as passing our “alpha testing sessions,” which we sometimes refer to as “Bugfests”!

Bookshare Web Reader Delivers Instant “Read Now” Experience

Bookshare Web Reader allows Bookshare members to directly open and read Bookshare eBooks with a Web browser, without having to download any files or use additional software reading tools. It enables users to adjust font size, colors and display format, and takes advantage of new and exciting features in the Google Chrome browser, which allow users to read books multi-modally, with word-by-word highlighting and text-to-speech. Web Reader saves time and effort…and delivers a great reading experience. All a user has to do is find the book s/he is interested in, select “Read Now” and read it instantly in their browser.

Big Data Means More Than Big Profits

This post originally appeared as part of an online debate about How Big Data Can Have a Social Impact, which the Harvard Business Review Blog Network hosted jointly with the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship and was reposted on Jim Fruchterman’s Beneblog. Big Data is all the rage in Silicon Valley. From Facebook to Netflix, companies are tracking and […]

Google’s Official Blog Highlights Bookshare’s Web Reader

Google’s Official Blog (as well as the online magazine Mobile & Apps) highlighted Web Reader, a new Bookshare reading tool, as part of announcing Google new accessibility features. Those features make it easier for people who are blind or have low vision to use the Google suite of Web apps.