Need ibook help....

[siloam]

I am trying to decide between an iPod and another devise that works with Audio books for the blind and dyslexic, but I can't find the ibooks to even see what sort of selection they have.

 

Or does it just work with the same format as Kindle and Nook?

 

I am seriously confused right now. :D

 

Heather

[ElizabethB]

You can get a kindle app for your iPad. I do not have one, I just do iBooks and PDFs. (the iPad can also do PDFs in its iBook function, that is a nice feature.)

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000490441. This talks a bit about the kindle app.

[RamonaQ]

There are many ways to do audio. The major differences are between a human reader and a text-to-speech (robot reading).

 

Human Reader:

1) CDs. You can get tons of these free from the library. You can convert them to a format that a "listening" device (either an ipod/ iPad/iTouch or MP3 player/ Sansa clip) can hear.

 

2) RFBD.org has tons of audio read by volunteers (not professionals). You get these in a WMA format, and need to use certain MP3 players (we have a SANSA clip for about $30). You can get an RFBD account for free with a professional certifying your disability.

 

3) audible.com. You can purchase various audio books and load them to either an iPod/ MP3 (sansa)/ iTouch

 

4) Overdrive. You can download books from your library that you can listen to in overdrive, and put onto devices (usually MP3 devices, now sometimes apple products).

 

Text to Speech.

1) If you can obtain the electronic format of text, there is software that can read it. I am thinking of Don Johnson software to read bookshare.org (which has many books available in an electronic text format).

 

Alternative, if you have the electronic format you can convert it to ePub or PDF that various electronic readers can use.

`2) Devices that can do TTS upon obtaining electronic format, which have the benefit that you can read along with listening.

a) Kindle: if you buy books that allow TTS. Then you can listen to purchased books. You can load PDF files onto Kindle, but I am uncertain if you can use TTS. We just purchased a Kindle at a steal, so we will experiment more with this (I am very interested if we can load bookshare. org books converted to ePub format to see if we can use the TTS).

b) Nook. I think it is similar to Kindle (but I have not really researched it)

c) iPad. You can do TTS with books in iBooks, along with other application (but not kindle). You can load books from Amazon that you purchase (but can not access TTS). iPad can also listen to audio books (see above) through use of audio.

d) iTouch. Newest version can do TTS (so like iPad) but the screen is teenier. However, I just read a nifty article by an older dyslexic, and he said the first books he has read and enjoyed were on the iPhone (iTouch) since he didn't experience text crowding, and each reading page was very accessible. You can also listen to audio books (see above).

 

Maybe that helps clear it up? Or not. I did want to summarize what I have been figuring out about obtaining audio texts.

Edited November 27, 2010 by RamonaQ

[siloam]

Thanks, both of you!

 

I hands down want a human voice and I really would like them to be able to read along with the it. I am fine with that being a real book if necessary, but it would be nice to have it packaged.

 

How is the selection with ibooks? For some reason I am having a hard time seeing what books are available. It looks like I could also just install software and have it play from our computer. Do you know if that is correct? The kids do have their own computer, so I don't have to have a portable device, it would just be nice because then they don't have to manage who gets on when.

 

With RFBD do you have to have it connected to the internet for WMA files? Is the $30 reader portable, or is it just software that manages their files?

 

The library generally doesn't work for me, unless they have set up something online. I will have to check that. I had nothing but problems with them when I tried using it before.

 

Audible.com is what I have used the most to date. I just have to also buy the book, and hope that both are unabridged. I do try to figure that out ahead of time, but when you buy used and such you don't always get exactly what you hope for. :D

 

The Don Johnson software I have looked at before, just not in depth. I was just unsure if it was an electronic or human voice.

 

In talking to dh he hands down doesn't want to spend huge money on this. He thinks the kids will just drop it in the sink. To be honest he has a point with how many keyboards and CD drives we have had to replace. Side note, he just recently allowed them to use an extra set of $50 headphones that I used to use. DH needed a new pair (with some feature for work) and so I got his old pair and he thought it was logical that the kids get the $50 pair. I just had a gut feeling, but couldn't make a logical argument quickly enough before he had announced the kids could have them. After it was announced I didn't want to play bad guy. Long and short of it is 3 months later they have tripped over my headphone cord enough that mine no longer work well, and they have destroyed the $50 pair as well. (How many times does a child try to walk off with them on till they remember?) I sure wish I had pulled my thoughts together faster, because then I would at least have the $50 pair to fall back on. Meanwhile that mistake is fresh is his mind. :D

 

Once the kids are out of the house I might seriously go electronic. I love real books, their touch and feel but storing them are a nightmare. I think I will just keep the best of the best and go electronic for the rest. Meanwhile I am going to stick with methods that allow me to burn CD's combined with some on the computer when I can't get them on CD.

 

Heather

[RamonaQ]

I am not sure we are speaking of the same thing? For me, when I download iBooks, then they are available for TTS, not a human reading them. These are actual text on the screen.

 

The iTunes store does have audio books, read by a human, for purchase. If you install iTunes on your computer, yes, you are right you can listen to them on your computer. iTunes is free, listening on your computer is free. You could also download them to a portable device, we do this to our iPad, or iTouch. Maybe even the Sansa device (that we use for RFBD), but I have never tried that.

 

With RFBD, you can download books read by a human volunteer. These books are free, and you download them, via RFBD software. You can listen to them on your computer (free), or transfer them to a portable device that plays WMA format. We use a Sansa Clip ($30).

 

I also download audio books (read by a human actor) for free from our library, using Overdrive. You can listen to those at the computer or transfer them to a portable device (I have been able to transfer to both our Sansa and also the iTouch). Those are only available to you for the check-out period.

 

In all these cases that I have just mentioned, these are audio only. You do not have any text (unless you download that from bookshare.org OR you have an actual book).

[siloam]

I am not sure we are speaking of the same thing? For me, when I download iBooks, then they are available for TTS, not a human reading them. These are actual text on the screen.

 

I looked it up, and it isn't as bad as some I have heard. It still is pretty monotone, and that is what I really dislike when just listening to book. If I was also reading the text...it wouldn't be so bad.

 

The iTunes store does have audio books, read by a human, for purchase. If you install iTunes on your computer, yes, you are right you can listen to them on your computer. iTunes is free, listening on your computer is free. You could also download them to a portable device, we do this to our iPad, or iTouch. Maybe even the Sansa device (that we use for RFBD), but I have never tried that.

 

Cool, then I will go ahead and download the software and get set up to use ibooks.

 

With RFBD, you can download books read by a human volunteer. These books are free, and you download them, via RFBD software. You can listen to them on your computer (free), or transfer them to a portable device that plays WMA format. We use a Sansa Clip ($30).

 

I take it the quality can vary? As long as they at least try I think we will be fine. To date I haven't had too many problems with buying the separate texts for the kids to follow along with.

 

I also download audio books (read by a human actor) for free from our library, using Overdrive. You can listen to those at the computer or transfer them to a portable device (I have been able to transfer to both our Sansa and also the iTouch). Those are only available to you for the check-out period.

I will looking into it more. The library system here should be awesome, but I find the workers so flaky and inconsistent that I couldn't depend on it. You only have to have as little as $5 in fines to start having problems. I would go in to set up a "payment plan" on fines. If they were busy they would give me the run around every time. They didn't want to do the paperwork (like I wanted to either). I once had them flat refuse and told me they made a note on the account so I could check out on Tuesday. On Tuesday I went in with all the kids. They could see that I had paid $10 on fines on Saturday (yes just 3 days ago), but unless I was on a payment plan, no they couldn't check out or renew ANY books. It didn't matter that I had paid half the fines off on Saturday, and that if they had set up a payment plan I could have only paid $1 a month and not had anyone bug me. I finally had to leave, find an ATM, pull out a $20 bill and go pay the $10 left in fines. This was normal for these guys. But half of the city is on a different library system, which technically I am out of area for, but they are the cool system. They don't care. They let you check out books and keep them forever, as long as no one puts them on hold. I know people who drive over there so they don't have to deal with the system here. If the other system has something up and running, that would make my day.

 

Thanks for all your help. I actually started looking into all this a year ago and became so overwhelmed I gave up. Your research has make life much easier for me.

 

Heather

[RamonaQ]

Concerning RFBD, yes, it is read by a volunteer, they are not actors. The highest quality are those books read by an actor (available for audible, iStore or from the library).

 

I agree that the library can be a hassle, but I do love the convenience of downloading books from home. When the kids were smaller, if we were just having an "off" day, I would just download a book, and we would listen to it for the afternoon.

 

I have been surprised that my ds does not mind the robot reading of TTS, and he has always followed along with the actual text. I asked him if he liked human or TTS, he said he honestly didn't care. There are also some shockingly good TTS:

 

Example that I got from the Eide Dyslexia blog; a good link too http://www.dyslexicadvantage.com/163-dyslexia-help-getting-the-most-from-rfbd-and-bookshare.html

 

jeez, louise! I just was talking about this with dh, and he found these TTS voices (I think he is going to download them for us....I will report back) but listen to some more of these. Incredible

http://www.convenienceware.com/download.php

 

Edited November 28, 2010 by RamonaQ