Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

10X: ten times the impact. 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? Photo credit: Katy Steinmetz, TIME Magazine.

Literacy 158

Literacy eBook United Kingdom Accessibility 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 13, 2009

I think it’s time to write a series of short essays on the struggle for accessible books, starting with this brouhaha. In it, we pointed out the irony that the first generation of ebook readers being inaccessible to blind people. Ebooks on PCs have had text-to-speech capabilities for years (although not always enabled).

Accessibility 100

Accessibility eBook Amazon Audio 100

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. Thanks again!

Literacy 166

Literacy Program United Arab Emirates Student 166

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Libraries for people who are blind or dyslexic are the primary source of accessible books in audio, large print or braille. Under our copyright exception, we simply buy a copy of the needed print book, scan it using optical character recognition, and create an accessible ebook.

Copyright 100

Copyright United States Library eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 20, 2015

We use digital ebooks at Bookshare’s core, which can easily be turned into braille, large print or digital audio (using synthetic speech technology). They have 250 part-time staff right now, and they want to grow to 800 staff by the end of 2016. and we needed more help.

Kenya 100

Kenya Social Student India 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

Accessible ebooks and Bookshare have helped sixth grader Kevin Leong overcome his reading challenges. The good news is that major changes in technology are reforming education. All e-books should have an audio capacity, using whatever smartphone or music playing device a person has in their pocket.

eBook 203

eBook Accessibility United States Student 203

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

As someone who travels roughly half the time, it’s important to provide some insight into what’s going on, especially since these meetings often influence where Benetech goes with our efforts. To paraphrase Mark Twain, I didn’t have time to write a short blog post, so I wrote a long one.

Accessibility 247

Accessibility License Copyright Library 247

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 14, 2009

The Author’s Guild asserts that they control the audio rights and that delivering a text ebook to a device which could speak it aloud with synthetic text-to-speech and that their commercial market for audio books will someday be significantly affected by TTS.

Copyright 104

Copyright Proposal Audio eBook 104

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

I wrote a post at the time with the detailed suggestions from the expert group about the text of the draft. This is why the making of accessible books is a classic example of market failure: if publishers could make a lot of money selling braille, large print, audio, and fully accessible textbooks, we wouldn’t need a copyright exception.

Copyright 158

Copyright India Library United States 158

Robert Weiner

JULY 20, 2013

It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make some plans for the future and {it is|it’s} time to be happy. {I It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make {a few|some} plans for {the future|the longer term|the long run} and {it is|it’s} time to be happy. {I Saved as a favorite|bookmarked!!}

Spam 131

Spam Bookmarking Info Site 131

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2016

The common link among our projects is information technology, which can be applied to just about every aspect of the social sector. Yet, nonprofits frequently lag behind the for-profit world in applying technology to their work. Benetech has a unique opportunity to repeatedly use technology as a social change agent.

Change 100

Change eBook United States Conservancy 100

Nonprofit Tech for Good

MARCH 25, 2022

They offer a chance to dress up, get together with others, and have a good time — while also raising money for a good cause. Maybe you could even send out dinner packages to all of your guests ahead of time so they get the full dining experience as well. Events are many people’s favorite thing about charity fundraising.

Virtual 351

Virtual Ideas Fundraising Stream 351

Tech Soup

APRIL 14, 2014

The free version interrupts your usage and requires you to turn it back on from time to time. Their team of journalists pull together a politics and technology news feed that condenses the essential information of the day and makes easy to look at on the small screen. I can tether the phone via USB cable, Bluetooth, or WiFi.

Phone 50

Phone Map Aggregator eBook 50

Qgiv

APRIL 26, 2021

Download eBook. One of the most engaging parts of a traditional in-person auction is the excitement of bidding in real-time. Web-based bidding uses features from both online and mobile bidding technology to deliver a virtual auction experience via a web browser on a desktop, tablet, or mobile device (like Google Chrome or Safari).

Virtual 52

Virtual Software Fundraising Registration 52

Qgiv

JUNE 9, 2021

With technology improving, virtual and hybrid events rising in popularity, and new event ideas coming to fruition, it can be hard to determine the best fundraising event that aligns with your audience, goals, and overall mission. Download eBook. Guests bid on items, have an exciting time, and go home with a valuable prize.

Ideas 59

Ideas Fundraising Virtual Fun 59

Connection Cafe

DECEMBER 22, 2013

So, it’s time to get in front of this group. Use email to communicate the success and importance of donor support, and give them reason to give again next time. On the NTEN blog, Lauren Giardin says it’s time to Take Charge of Your Editorial Process as Air Traffic Control. You should.

Story 54

Story Nonprofit Social Media Content 54