----- Original Message ----- From: "BlindNews Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 6:18 PM Subject: Microsoft Word files to serve as talking books
> CNET News > Tuesday, November 13, 2007 > > Microsoft Word files to serve as talking books > > By Elsa Wenzel > > Microsoft and open-source site SourceForge http://www.sourceforge.net/ > will offer a free plug-in early next year that will convert Office 2007 > files to the DAISY format that translates text to speech. > > The free tool will add a "Save as DAISY" option within Word 2007, 2003 and > XP software. DAISY XML files can be read aloud by speech synthesizers, > paired with audio narration and used to create electronic Braille. Users > can navigate open-standard DAISY documents quickly by jumping between page > elements, such as headers and indexes. > > The DAISY Consortium of 70 nonprofits has aimed since 1996 to make all > published information available to people with visual impairments and > learning disabilities. The acronym stands for Digital Accessible > Information System. > > http://www.daisy.org/ > > Digital narration serves computer users with visual impairments, people > with learning challenges like dyslexia, as well as those with Parkinsons > disease and other conditions that make it hard to type or hold a book. > > With the release of the Office 2007 suite in January, Microsoft shunned > the popular, XML-based Open Document Format for its own, new Open XML > format. The OOXML documents, which include Word files with the DOCX > extension, are easier to retrieve if corrupted than the older DOC files. > > Versions of Word prior to 2007 can open OOXML documents after a one-time > download of a free converter from Microsoft. However, critics gripe that > Microsoft's format change was unnecessary and clumsy. Microsoft maintains > that the new format enables greater flexibility, such as accessibility > features. > > > http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9815836-7.html?tag=nefd.blgs > BlindNews Mailing List > Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "subscribe" as subject > > Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe" as subject > > Moderator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Archive: http://GeoffAndWen.com/blind > > RSS: http://GeoffAndWen.com/BlindNewsRSS.asp > > More information about RSS feeds will be published shortly. Send instant messages to your online friends http://in.messenger.yahoo.com To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
