article thumbnail

Reply Comments on the Proposed Treaty for Access to Copyrighted Works

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

We filed the following comments to the Copyright Office's request for comments on issues about access for people with print disabilities. Many of the comments critical of the proposed treaty come from parties that object in principle to copyright exceptions, rather than having a direct stake in the issue at hand.

Copyright 158
article thumbnail

Receiving the 2013 Migel Medal

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

The Migel Medal, often called the highest honor in the blindness field, is awarded annually to one or two individuals whose careers exemplify exceptional accomplishments in the field. Helen Keller, who worked for AFB for many years, was on the original award board for its first twenty years, starting in 1937.

eBook 221
professionals

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Leveraging Impact through Technology (LIT)

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Today I’m delighted to share the exciting news about the new award we just received from OSEP to build upon Bookshare’s success and significantly improve access for students with disabilities. Bookshare is allowed to serve only students with a legally qualifying print disability per the Chafee Amendment to the Copyright Act.

Impact 140
article thumbnail

10X: CEO’s Update: Spring 2014

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

The Global Literacy team, led by VP & General Manager Betsy Beaumon, just celebrated our latest major milestones: serving 300,000 members, the majority of whom are American students with disabilities, and offering 250,000 accessible books on the virtual shelves of our library. What about yet another order of magnitude beyond that?

Literacy 158
article thumbnail

Bookshare Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary at Google

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

This summer, we will have three students working on Bookshare software for our users underwritten by Google’s Summer of Code program. Our vision is to provide equal opportunities for students with disabilities and help them overcome a major barrier to accessing to the most valuable prize in society: a great education. copyright law.

Celebrate 145
article thumbnail

Donor Spotlight: Lavelle Fund for the Blind

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

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. This experience helped us prove the potential of Bookshare to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Even in the United States, this was true of probably a quarter of our student users.

Fund 100
article thumbnail

President’s Update: Fall 2013

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

students, we also serve adults, seniors, veterans, and international subscribers in over 40 countries. Delivering Benetech''s statement to the WIPO diplomatic conference That’s why I’ve been actively advocating for a global copyright exception modeled after the great exception in the United States that made Bookshare possible.

India 142