Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

It became a burden to his family and caregivers to constantly drop what they were doing to turn a page, so he began seeking out ebooks. It also demonstrates how each ebook that is added to the Bookshare collection is a brick in our members’ foundation of independence and inclusion. Eventually he had to ask others to turn pages for him.

Life 147

Life Gift eBook France 147

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2015

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

Fund India United States eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 3, 2013

Guest Beneblog by Betsy Beaumon, VP and General Manager, Benetech’s Global Literacy Program. That’s why braille is an important focus for us in Benetech’s Global Literacy Program — we know that we must keep braille relevant and make it more available. Accordingly, U.S. federal law supports braille instruction.

Literacy 208

Literacy eBook Images Accessibility 208

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

People with print disabilities around the world have a right to high-quality ebooks that they can read with assistive technology. These ebooks can quickly be turned into Braille, large print or be read aloud by a synthetic voice synthesizer. These texts will be available in early 2012.?

International 166

International Brazil Austria eBook 166

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 15, 2012

With technology, you can do incredible things, but with a galvanized community of supporters who work together toward a greater good, we can do anything. By partnering with all these stakeholders, we reinvented the traditional library for people with print disabilities and brought modern ebook technology to this underserved community.

Library 164

Library Student eBook Accessibility 164

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

We see tremendous innovations in social enterprise, but these are merely part of larger, global changes in the ways in which society organizes itself to create public goods. In my contribution to Ron’s book, I discuss the framework that guides us at Benetech, the technology nonprofit I lead.

Develop 144

Develop Social Library eBook 144

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 17, 2014

It also underscores just how critical a balanced copyright law is for technology innovation. 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. copyright law. In the U.S.,

Copyright 196

Copyright Law Accessibility Library 196

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

The Bookshare promise to American students with disabilities is that if they need a book for education, Bookshare will ensure that they have it. 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. Richer countries like the U.S.,

Copyright 100

Copyright United States Library eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

In the United States, there are all too many students like Kevin, who are denied equal opportunity to engage in the same curriculum as their peers without disabilities. In 2004, the United States passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act , requiring schools to provide special education services to eligible students.

eBook 203

eBook Accessibility United States Student 203

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

If our Bookshare team is trying to help a blind student in India get a book she needs for university, make it easy for us to do that. The ability of that Indian blind student shouldn’t depend on whether she can get her university or a local blindness charity to do it for her. That’s so 20th Century (or 19th?)!

Copyright 158

Copyright India Library United States 158

Tech Soup

JUNE 4, 2014

Google Global Impact Award competitions have been held in India and the UK, and most recently in the San Francisco Bay Area. The finalists are an impressive roster of charities from diverse fields doing great work in nonprofit technology. Students develop and run a business, gain confidence, academic support, and mentorship.

San Francisco 61

San Francisco Award Google Challenge 61

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

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 11, 2013

Developing Open Source Software For Social Good For example, in the last few months, individual employees have used volunteer hours to create fun interactive, online learning tools for educators and students using Mozilla’s Webmaker. And, in so doing, we can help amplify the real, global impact they have on the lives of real people every day.

Open Source 118

Open Source Lesson Tech Project 118

Care2

AUGUST 7, 2007

57) Mobile (15) Nonprofit Benchmark Studies (15) Nonprofit Events (36) nptech (8) Online Advertising (5) Online Advocacy (47) Online Fundraising (97) Online Marketing (59) Online Organizing (32) SEO (3) Social Networking (109) Technology (31) Trends (51) Video (27) Volunteering (2) Web 2.0 (60) " "End Global Warming!,"

Causes 48

Causes Facebook Social Media Advocacy 48

Care2

JULY 24, 2007

57) Mobile (15) Nonprofit Benchmark Studies (15) Nonprofit Events (36) nptech (8) Online Advertising (5) Online Advocacy (47) Online Fundraising (97) Online Marketing (59) Online Organizing (32) SEO (3) Social Networking (109) Technology (31) Trends (51) Video (27) Volunteering (2) Web 2.0 (60) " "End Global Warming!,"

Causes 48

Causes Facebook Social Media Advocacy 48

Eric Jacobsen Blog

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

They are Optimistic Millennials grew up during a period of rapid change: the Cold War ended, the Internet went mainstream – changing the way we connect with the world and each other – and the world became a truly global market. Surges in technology made virtually anything seem possibly if we just give it enough time and effort.

Classroom 40

Classroom eBook Generation Leadership 40