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Press Release
NATIONAL NONPROFIT REACHES 30,000
DIGITAL TITLES AS IT EXPANDS LIBRARY OF RECORDED TEXTBOOKS FOR
STUDENTS WITH PRINT DISABILITIES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 18, 2006 (Princeton, NJ) - As it moves
toward an all-digital service by the summer of 2007, Recording
for the Blind & Dyslexic® (RFB&D®) has reached
another milestone - the recording of the 30,000th RFB&D's
AudioPlus® digital title. RFB&D is a nonprofit organization
and the nation's educational library of recorded textbooks for
students with visual impairment, learning disabilities or other
physical disabilities that make reading standard textbooks difficult
or impossible.
The addition of the
30,000th digitally recorded title to the organization's CV Starr
Learning Through Listening® Library means that one student
could read more than 82 different books daily for a year. If 30,000
CDs were piled one on top of the other, they would form a stack
nearly 120 feet high - the equivalent height of a 12-story building.
If laid out flat end-to-end, they would stretch more than two
miles!
This significant event in the nearly 60-year history of RFB&D
comes just 16 months after volunteers recorded the organization's
20,000th digital title - The Associated Press Stylebook. By the
time RFB&D transitions completely to a digital format in June
2007, 35,000 titles will be available to its members, and the
collection will continue to grow daily.
Improved Listening Experience
CDs are far more convenient and portable than analog cassette
tapes. In fact, the equivalent content of 10-12 cassettes now
fits on a single CD. Playable on specialized CD players or with
specialized software on standard multimedia PCs, RFB&D's AudioPlus
textbooks provide unprecedented navigation features that allow
students to jump from page to page or chapter to chapter with
the touch of a button.
RFB&D launched RFB&D's AudioPlus textbooks on CD in 2002,
anticipating transitioning its more than 141,000 members to digital
technology would require a slow phase-out of cassettes over approximately
five years. RFB&D has been helping members "Go Digital"
and make the switch from cassette to CD by:
- Offering advanced
notice of planned changes to give members time to adapt to digital
and get accustomed to the enhanced navigation features RFB&D's
AudioPlus CDs offer.
- Offering a hybrid
CD/four-track cassette player to help members make the transition
from RFB&D's Classic Cassettes™ to RFB&D's AudioPlus
CDs
- Providing individuals and institutions with accessible multimedia
or print training tools and, whenever possible, live assistance
with playback devices and software
- Offering frequent
digital player discounts and promotions to help members switch
from analog to digital format.
Currently, 70% of RFB&D's
members use digital either exclusively or in combination with
their existing analog playback devices. RFB&D wants current
members, as well as those interested in joining, to discover the
advantages of audio textbooks on CD. To get more information on
conversion to an all-digital format, contact an RFB&D Member
Services Representative at 800-221-4792.
For information on
RFB&D, volunteering or making a donation, call toll-free 866-RFBD-585
(866-732-3585) or visit RFB&D's accessible website at www.rfbd.org.
additional media inquiries:
RFB&D News Desk 1-800-803-7201, press 6
media e-mail inquiries
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