Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

The Marrakesh Treaty was signed last year, and now the efforts are ramping up to ratify and implement the Treaty, with the goal of helping overcome the book famine faced by people with print disabilities. At least, both groups would be showing up in Geneva with our different positions clear.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Robin was beloved by the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who had the honor of coming into direct contact with her. However, I'm here to spotlight the impact Robin had on millions of people who never had the pleasure of meeting her personally. Whatever works for the reader who needs to read differently. Not 70,000.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 3, 2016

We know a great deal about this Treaty, which is designed to help people who are blind or have other disabilities that interfere with reading, such as dyslexia. Our nonprofit organization operates Bookshare , the largest online library in the world that focuses on the needs of people with these disabilities. or the work we do.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 10, 2013

And though they use the massive sets of data they collect to help create a better experience for their consumers (such as customized ads or tailored movie recommendations), their primary goal is to use what they learn to maximize profits. Here big data affected a global policy debate—and will hopefully make a big difference.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

For them, Bookshare —Benetech’s Global Literacy initiative and the world’s largest accessible digital library for people with print disabilities—opens up a lifeline to reading. Here in the United States, we’re especially focusing on expanding our efforts to help more disabled veterans.

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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. When Bookshare was first created, most people with print disabilities read printed material via books on tape or hardcopy Braille books delivered through the mail.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 7, 2013

Although it might seem like a complicated document , we’re really excited about it because we think it will greatly improve global access for people with bona fide print disabilities. The goal of the Treaty is to end the book famine for people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. Works Covered.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 7, 2011

Thanks to commenter Differance bringing up in response to to our last post on this topic that made me want to take a new tack. You're absolutely right that information quality comes from people and that data's fitness for a particular purpose is very contextual. Commenter Iraqi Bootleg might have some very helpful ideas/examples here.]

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 27, 2014

Zach’s encounter with accessible ebooks is but one example of how Benetech empowers people who often face difficult challenges and whose needs are neglected. We build our tech-for-good products and reach dollar-by-dollar, and therefore every gift makes a difference for the people we serve.

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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. We want students like Brennan—and disadvantaged people everywhere—to have equal opportunities to make their lives better.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

The sad truth is that millions of people with print disabilities around the world continue to be left behind. In June, with the help of Stevie Wonder , we got a treaty that did just that: the Treaty of Marrakesh. We’re also expanding our efforts to help more people in the U.S., especially veterans with disabilities.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

How can our existing successful programs reach ten times more people? How can we use technology in a new way to improve people’s lives that is an order of magnitude better? Can we help stimulate the creation of far more technology-for-good ventures? 10X: ten times the impact. That’s what’s been on my mind lately.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2015

Guest post by Betsy Beaumon, President, Benetech We are seeking visionary leaders to join Benetech in applying technology to advance the rights of disadvantaged people around the world. We must help ensure that every report of abuse is a tool for justice. Benetech is organized as a nonprofit, but run like a business.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 24, 2011

The Think Different Summit was 15-20 smart people, led by an experienced facilitator, trying to imagine the future of the learning disability rights movement. Of course, with the prevalence of people with learning disabilities in the population being one in four or five, they’ve been part of probably every meeting I’ve ever been to!

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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. We have the privilege of being able to serve people with disabilities in large part because of a generous provision in U.S. copyright law. How do we uphold the social bargain?

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Boulder and seeing the winter beauty of the place right after a big snowfall as well as of connecting with many people excited about social impact. It was easy to focus on bringing my story to these students and hoping to help inspire them on their way to doing more social good.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 17, 2014

As a different kind of Silicon Valley tech company—a nonprofit with a pure focus on social good—our goal is to see that the best of technology gets applied to social needs left unaddressed by for-profit businesses. Let me first explain what Section 121, also known as the Chafee Amendment, has meant for Bookshare and the people we serve.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

What I liked most was the idea to create a body of knowledge that’s truly helpful to prospective and emerging social entrepreneurs. I hope this discussion helps other social enterprises examine and develop their own frameworks. Benetech’s New Project Framework helps us identify the next projects to work on. copyright law.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 4, 2010

The first news item was about the latest suicide bomber killing dozens of people: kind of a depressing start to the new year. It’s easy to forget in the daily grind just how unusual Benetech and our people are. But then, I remembered that we’re doing something to make the world a better place, and that cheered me up.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

People with vision impairments and other print disabilities deserve equal access to that treasure of information. WBU is the global organization representing the estimated 285 million people worldwide with vision impairments. The organization’s priorities are decided upon at the WBU General Assembly, which is held every four years.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

Having learning disabilities or various learning differences, they need alternative reading environments that rely on their strengths rather than on their weaknesses. We have the technological innovations to help these children and their families and educators, who are looking for strategies to aid their success. There are some 7.5

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 14, 2013

Unfortunately, most companies won’t pursue projects without the promise of big profits and the people who need tech tools the most often can’t afford them. These technologies, Gordon pointed out, make money for their inventors and owners but put multitudes of people out of employment. You can read Part 1, here.

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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. To help now, please visit Benetech’s Challenge campaign and give whatever you can. Thanks so much for your help! And the best part? This post originally appeared on the Benetech Blog.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 13, 2009

A: There are a lot of people these days who want to help other people out. People working with each other. Q: What's the difference between All for Good and other service websites like VolunteerMatch, Network for Good and Obama's Serve.gov? Other people are good at other things. Simplicity. A: No top three.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

In most cases, the request comes from someone who identifies a social need and believes that technology can help address that need. We don’t build a network of entrepreneurs, but rather function as a sounding board with social sector leaders on how technology could better help their organizations or communities.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

I recently was sworn in by Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter as one of nineteen people serving on the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities. The details are linked to here in the Federal Register , and includes a pointer to the actual law section.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 9, 2013

In this second installment of the three-part blog series (the first one is here ) on Bookshare International, I’m excited to share some of the ways in which our Bookshare library is part of the latest trends in the digital publishing world and is thus going deeper and serving many more people.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 14, 2009

An approach that puts social issues foremost; a strategy that delivers better results for far more people. We all know the limitations of the different traditional approaches to solving problems. When disaster strikes and people need water and shelter, they are not usually in a position to pay for that service.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 30, 2011

You have blogged about various funders looking for those "great leaps of imagination", that if created, could make a huge benefit to people. I can give commands (as above) for different levels of info. The hologram not to be just vision: but able for people to feel items, or have stuff spoken to them. But it's tech-time sci fi.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 8, 2010

I've been asked by a lot of people both inside and outside Benetech lately to not only talk about the what we do, but the why we do it: the thinking behind it. And the last group is well known to tech people, the X PRIZE Foundation. So, I was initially kind of skeptical about this eclectic group.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 3, 2008

I received a copy of her reflections and asked if I could share it with more people. Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that all people deserve "the right to seek, receive and impart information." Today, millions of people are denied this basic human right because they are not literate.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 29, 2010

The WEF is all about having a critical mass of incredible people. Mousa and I talked about his dream of helping centers for blind people in Iraq get the tech equipment they need. It’s great to see someone who is not yet 20 with many creative ideas about how to help, and the drive to make it happen.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 23, 2008

Hadley's brand of distance education for the blind (and people who care about blind people) has been adapted to focus on teaching of English in China. Because of Hadley's reputation, their twentieth anniversary was the nexus for many of the top blindness folks from China to come help them celebrate.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 3, 2008

Kathy would stop and chat with different people as we walked around the island's circumference, checking in before taking our party further. People eat a combination of imported and local food. Freda's life challenges right now have a lot more to do with issues that technology can't help.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

What if every person in need had access to the help they needed? Every day in every community, there are people who need help. the social safety net is effectively invisible to the people who urgently need help. Service providers struggle to help clients meet complex needs. The answer is open infrastructure.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 5, 2010

Although the Clearinghouse and Awards programs could be helpful to the cause of greater access for people with disabilities, I don’t think they truly take on the biggest opportunity for change. Actively optimize for search engines so that the people who need to find the information will. • Are they intended to inspire students?

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 22, 2010

Among the people I’m privileged to call a colleague here at Benetech is Viji Dilip, the International Program Coordinator for our Bookshare International service. I wanted to give back to society, to help people who didn’t have vision with their education so that they could become economically and socially independent."

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