Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 9, 2018

Literacy and access to knowledge underpins just about every social good, from education, to economic development, to health, to women’s empowerment, democracy and respect for human rights. To bring the power of books to everybody on this planet, we must make books truly accessible. Third, the print book is not universally accessible.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

The Year That Was and the New Year Ahead Guest Beneblog by Betsy Beaumon, Benetech's VP and General Manager of the Literacy Program 2012 was a year of titanic shifts in the fields of consumer technology, education, and publishing, along with the requisite challenges brought about by such rapid change. We’ve added over 1800 books since then.

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Literacy Program United Arab Emirates Student 166

Bloomerang

MAY 6, 2022

Their priorities range from facilitating book donation drives to supporting arts education to funding playground construction and family literacy programs. . The Lisa Libraries. Clark Youth Incentive Program. Educational Assistance and Training Programs. The Harry Chapin Foundation. Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

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Education Grant Fund Resource 89

.orgSource

DECEMBER 18, 2023

Several providers offer open source or limited free access, which is a great way to test options. The software offers pre-built modules for common data analysis tasks and integrates with various AI libraries for model building and deployment. Not necessarily so. RapidMiner is another open-source platform with a drag-and-drop interface.

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Data Studies Music Analysis 221

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 21, 2012

For example, our Bookshare online library for the blind, uses several different social enterprises to do data entry and proofreading work on textbooks. Our first partner in this work was Digital Divide Data, an organization that has an outstanding training program in the area of data entry and outsourcing. We scan the books in the U.S.,

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Laos Digital Data New York City 235

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

At Benetech, we always ask ourselves how our existing successful programs can reach more people who need our services and how we can apply technology in new ways to enrich and improve more lives. These milestones represent a giant leap forward in the number of students and individuals we serve. The majority of our members are U.S.

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NTEN

JULY 22, 2021

It also helped us reframe what it means to have access to the tools that allow us to fully engage with the world around us. Some major victories were also won on both the local and federal levels in getting government recognition and support around digital access.

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Digital Utah Literacy Alabama 123

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 3, 2011

One of these sub-themes is “Accessibility: removing barriers and promoting disability-inclusive development.” Of course, accessibility is right up Benetech’s alley and the focus of our Literacy program. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

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Impact Technology eBook Student 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 15, 2012

Benetech’s Bookshare library is living proof that real, transformative change happens through partnerships and by helping people unleash their talents and energies. We blew up the old approaches to converting inaccessible books into accessible equivalents. With support from the Bookshare community, we changed that reality.

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Library Student eBook Accessibility 164

Tech Soup

JANUARY 22, 2013

Of course libraries are all about education in its various forms. PowerMyLearning is a new, free online resource that has educational games, videos, and other activities for elementary, middle-school, and high school-aged students. There are now a dizzying array of online resources in this area. I think I may have a lead for you.

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Library Education Game Video 61

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2015

The mission of the Lavelle Fund is to support programs that help people with visual impairments, including blindness, lead independent, productive lives. Frankly, it didn’t go as well as we had hoped, and Lavelle worked with us to retarget the grant to focus on students with visual impairments. government and states like Texas.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 16, 2013

You see, several months later, the federal Department of Education challenged us to compete against a well-respected national nonprofit 60 times our size in a bid to provide accessible educational materials for US students who are blind, dyslexic, or otherwise print disabled. million contract to do just that. Fast-forward six years.

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Advocacy Change Literacy DC 176

Tech Soup

JULY 25, 2012

Valerie Hill is an adjunct instructor at Texas Woman's University School of Library and Information Science and is also a librarian herself. She came to the Nonprofit Commons to share her areas of expertise in media literacy, human-computer interaction, and the impact of the digital revolution on education and libraries.

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Second Life Library Virtual Life 48

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 16, 2011

I just attended two days of meetings in Washington DC on the first year of the DIAGRAM Center , held at the Office of Special Education Programs in the Department of Education. The initial part of the project was to do a detailed survey of existing assistive technology products, to get a baseline for current support for accessible graphics.

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Images Alternative Student Accessibility 194

Tech Soup

MARCH 5, 2014

Pottsboro Area Library in Texas. We of course got lots of great stories, and our winner is the Pottsboro Area Library. Forty-two percent of Pottsboro’s school children are eligible for the National School Lunch Program. The library has new promotional materials to use. Their prize was a Dell Latitude Tablet 10.

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Library Digital Story Teen 54

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 17, 2014

Bookshare: Solving the “Accessible Book Famine” Twelve years ago, we had an idea for recreating the traditional library for people with print disabilities—such as those who are blind, cannot physically turn the pages of a book, or have learning disabilities, like dyslexia—using the then-emerging technologies of digital books and crowdsourcing.

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Copyright Law Accessibility Library 196

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 2, 2012

Bookshare, Benetech’s pioneering digital library for people with print disabilities, celebrated its 10th birthday last night with a terrific party that was attended by many of our long-time friends and supporters. As a result, we quickly became the largest online library for people with print disabilities. said Stevie. Thanks Stevie!

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Celebrate Google Literacy Library 145

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2015

Technology is playing an ever larger role in increasing respect for human rights and delivering better services, and we have two rare opportunities to lead world-class tech-for-good programs. Benetech is hiring new Vice Presidents for our Global Literacy and Human Rights programs.

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Technology Literacy Social Uganda 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 3, 2013

Guest Beneblog by Betsy Beaumon, VP and General Manager, Benetech’s Global Literacy Program. Betsy Beaumon I recently had the honor to speak at the first-ever Braille Summit , hosted on June 19-21, 2013 by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and Perkins School for the Blind. Accordingly, U.S.

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Literacy eBook Images Accessibility 208

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

How can our existing successful programs reach ten times more people? Technology currently serves privileged groups through tools that provide access to education, literacy, health, and justice. Our Bookshare online library is continuing to multiply its impact. 10X: ten times the impact. That’s what’s been on my mind lately.

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Literacy eBook United Kingdom Accessibility 158

Tech Soup

JULY 18, 2017

TechSoup Global's new Local Impact Map is a trove of information on what nonprofits, NGOs, and libraries around the world are doing with their TechSoup-procured IT to further their missions. They’ve made good use of TechSoup’s donation programs. Here is just a sampling of what we have collected so far.

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Map Local Program Impact 36

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 1, 2014

For instance, Benetech’s Human Rights Program is focused on helping human rights practitioners, activists, and journalists uphold their commitments to protect and do no harm to the communities they serve. Case in point: our accessible online library, Bookshare.

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Technology Open Source Data Exercise 192

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 3, 2008

This is a guest blog from Anna Reid, an Amherst student who interned with Bookshare.org International this past summer. A related, but slightly different and less recognized issue, is the fact that people with disabilities such as blindness often have limited access to printed materials, even if they are well-educated.

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Accessibility India United States International 100

Tech Soup

APRIL 12, 2012

Get mobile broadband access for your organization with a donated fourth-generation (4G) modem or wireless hotspot from the Mobile Beacon Donation Program. Organizations eligible for the Mobile Beacon Donation Program can request one of the four devices (admin fee: $15) per TechSoup fiscal year. Choose from One of Four Devices.

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Accessibility Mobile Classroom Library 54

Tech Soup

JULY 16, 2013

And what if a person, regardless of age, could learn anything from typing to HTML to using an iPad without any cost or accessibility barriers? Libraries, nonprofits, and schools are already working hard to teach digital skills and competency, but they need support of the entire community to help people thrive in the technology age.

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Digital Literacy Community Build 66

Tech Soup

APRIL 30, 2012

TechSoup Global's new Local Impact Map is a trove of information on what lots of nonprofits, NGOs, and libraries around the world are doing with their TechSoup-procured-IT to further their missions. They’ve made good use of TechSoup’s donation programs. Here is just a sampling of what we have collected so far.

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Map Local Program Impact 65

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

This reality changed when Frank found out about Benetech’s Bookshare accessible digital library for people with print disabilities. Frank’s story exemplifies the life-changing power of access to information and reading. I began a reading binge. Without this service, Bookshare would not be the resource it is today.

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Life Gift eBook France 147

Tech Soup

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Basically, it allows one computer to serve several people in a lab or library at very low cost and with minimum maintenance. Computer Technologies Program in Berkeley, California, was one of our test sites. They also operate a PC refurbishment program called their Computer ReUse Center , which refurbishes 200 computers per year.

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Case Study Program Technology Studies 40

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Benetech's largest social enterprise is the Bookshare online library for people who are blind or otherwise disabled when it comes to reading print. The deal was: help people with disabilities that can't access books and don't hurt the economic interests of the publishers (and authors). copyright law. Department of Education).

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Copyright Social Law Student 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 8, 2011

I want to unveil several of these new initiatives, as well as sneaking in some of the incredible things happening in our core programs in literacy and human rights. We’re thrilled that students and other readers who have disabilities that keep them from reading standard print can now read the same books as their peers, using the same devices.

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Guatemala Literacy Qatar Open Source 159

The Modern Nonprofit

MAY 1, 2024

Reach out to Asian American student groups on college campuses as well. Make the event family-friendly and accessible to enable broad participation. Offer childcare, wheelchair access, multi-lingual materials, etc. Community bulletin boards at libraries, colleges, and coffee shops are great outreach channels.

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Celebrate Education Fundraising Culture 59

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 16, 2014

From people in Latin America who face severe water scarcity to at-risk human rights defenders and students with disabilities, our users and their families are the ones who best convey the impact of our work. Consider third grade student Brennan Draves. Brennan Draves and his mother, Lindsay Draves, at school.

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Open Source Africa Zimbabwe Malawi 183

Tech Soup

APRIL 25, 2014

Millions of low-income students rely on free or low-cost school meals. This means youth who had access to nutritious meals during the school year may be undernourished or hungry over the summer. That's when the federal Summer Food Service Program steps in, offering nutritious, free summertime meals to low-income school-age youth.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

During that time, we’ve grown from offering one product to offering many products and services, in four program areas: education, human rights, the environment, and, now, tech volunteerism. To explain our approach, let’s look at Bookshare , our accessible online library for people with print disabilities. copyright law.

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Develop Social Library eBook 144

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 20, 2013

And when the idea of a peer-to-peer ebook library came to me, it was George who I went to with the idea. But, by eventually following Donna’s advice and talking to the Office of Special Education Programs in DC, we discovered the funding and the way forward for Bookshare to begin to realize its potential. Washington?

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eBook Award Copyright Syria 221

Tech Soup

AUGUST 14, 2013

This week we learn about the Resilient Africa Network (RAN), which is helping African students use open data for disaster relief. RAN is establishing Resilience Innovation Labs within participating universities throughout Africa, coupled with online laboratories and a new online science library to help with its work.

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Data Student Open Digital 52

Tech Soup

JUNE 27, 2017

I'd like you to meet Kerry Thomson at Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County, Indiana; Lori Chidgey of Corazon Ministries in San Antonio, Texas; Betty Martin of Cape Girardeau Public Library in Missouri; and the late Rory Foster of the Northwoods Wildlife Center in Minocqua, Wisconsin. A World Where Everyone Has a Decent Place to Live.

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San Antonio Wisconsin St. Louis Indiana 50