Reflections on Bookshare.org

This week in IST611, we discussed accessibility and  related topics such as closed captioning and Universal Design for Learning. A website that boasts accessibility to its members is bookshare.org. A first glance at the site heralds "Books without Barriers" which is really what this site provides. The website exists to provide access to books for people with print disabilities. This service provides assistance for students with visual impairments, physical disabilities, and learning disabilities. The website even has a special exception to U.S. Copyright law to provide its services. Members download books, newspapers, and textbooks as an encrypted file and use adaptive technologies such as text-to-speech and Braille access devices. Only qualified members can utilize this service. Qualifying U.S. in K-12 (public and private) institutions, home-school students, post secondary students (public and private), and adult students all have free access to this service.
I think this is a great website providing access to those who need different formats to access the material. The site applies to different learning styles and caters to the Universal Design for Learning Principles providing Multiple Means of Representation for students with disabilities. When I land my first library teaching job, I hope we can utilize this service in our library.