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On April 30, the National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
(NLS), a division of the Library of Congress in the United States, entered
the first phase of its transition to a digital playback system, as well as
releasing an upgraded version of its pilot download website. Beginning with
the testing of 5,000 digital players by NLS patrons in their homes, NLS is
preparing to launch full-scale production and distribution of 26,000
machines per month this year, ensuring continued access to reading materials
for more than 500,000 registered users.

New to the NLS program is a state of the art online component, called the
Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site. This new site for blind and
physically handicapped patrons of NLS now provides better than ever access
to digital audiobooks and magazines. The BARD digital books and magazines
are in the ANSI/NISO Z39.86 2002 format, the specification for navigable
digital talking books. Readers may press buttons on the NLS digital
talking-book player and compatible players to jump from chapter to chapter,
section to section or page to page. This ability to quickly navigate the
book structure, combined with the high-quality human recording, make the new
digital NLS download books one of the most significant advancements in the
provision of talking books for blind and low vision people.

"The high quality navigable digital books from the new NLS BARD service
represent a major advancement in access to books, magazines, and electronic
braille for Americans who are unable to read print due to blindness, low
vision, or physical disability", says Gilles Pepin, CEO of HumanWare. "With
BARD, NLS brings its library into the home of its patrons. Not only do NLS
patrons now have access to thousands of digital books but they can find
their book of interest and download it in minutes independently and from the
comfort of their home computer."

HumanWare manufactures the popular Victor Reader Stream, a DAISY NISO
compatible digital talking-book player designed in collaboration with the
National Federation of the Blind (NFB), which several thousand NLS patrons
already use to play the new digital NISO books. The NLS digital books on the
BARD site are protected by encryption and compatible digital book players
must be authorized by NLS for eligible patrons to play the books.

The ability to press buttons on the Victor Reader Stream to easily jump
between chapters, pages, or magazine articles, like the NLS digital
talking-book player, provides a rich audiobook reading experience never
before experienced by audiocassette readers. For reference books such as
cookery books the user can even enter a page number from the table of
contents on the Stream telephone-style number pad and the playback will move
immediately to that page. With the NLS player, Victor Reader Stream, and the
NLS BARD books, users now have immediate access to thousands of books and
can navigate them just like they would navigate the equivalent print book’s
structure.

The new BARD download audiobook and magazine service is available free of
charge to eligible blind and physically handicapped individuals in the U.S.
and to citizens living abroad, who have access to a computer and high-speed
Internet connection, and who have a free NLS digital talking-book player or
own an authorized compatible digital talking-book player such as HumanWare’s
Victor Reader Stream. To learn more about the new BARD service visit
https://nlsbard.loc.gov/

About HumanWare

HumanWare is the global leader in assistive technologies for vision,
including products for the blind and visually impaired. HumanWare’s products
include BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for blind people in
education, in business and in their personal lives; the Victor Reader
product line, the world’s leading digital talking book players; and
myReader2, the new version of HumanWare’s unique "auto-reader" for people
with low vision. For more information visit
www.humanware.com

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