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RECORDING FOR THE BLIND & DYSLEXIC CELEBRATES 20,000th DIGITAL TITLE Volunteers in Boston record The Associated Press Stylebook and achieve historic milestone

May 16, 2005 (Princeton, NJ) - As volunteers at the Boston Unit of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) recorded The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, little did they know it would become the 20,000th digitally recorded title added to RFB&D's educational library of audiobooks for students with visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disabilities that make reading standard textbooks difficult or impossible.

This major milestone in the nearly 60-year history of the national nonprofit organization comes just three years after the introduction of RFB&D's AudioPlus® digitally recorded textbooks on CD. Accessible 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.

The content of a standard textbook now fits on a single CD, eliminating the need for students to sort through a series of cassettes to find the page, chapter or section they need. Even with this compact technology, a library of 20,000 titles on CD is quite impressive. If stacked one on top of the other, 20,000 CDs would be as tall as an eight-story building; if laid out flat end-to-end they would stretch nearly a mile-and-a-half.

The Associated Press Stylebook, often called "the journalist's bible," is the gold standard of proper news writing, with rules on grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and abbreviation as well as guidelines for avoiding libel. For nearly three decades, this essential reference book has found its rightful place on the desks of writers and in virtually every newsroom in the world. In addition, RFB&D members writing for their school newspapers or pursuing college degrees in journalism have used the Associated Press Stylebook to determine whether Internet should be capitalized or if it's correct to use catsup or ketchup.

Since January, 22 volunteers at RFB&D's Boston Unit spent more than 35 hours of production time recording the book's 390 pages and making sure it was completed and available for ordering this month. "We are proud that our Boston volunteers played a key role in helping RFB&D reach this important milestone," said Christina Raimo, Executive Director of the Boston Unit of RFB&D. "Their dedication is helping to make the world of reading accessible to students with print disabilities throughout Massachusetts and the rest of the country."

RFB&D serves more than 137,000 students from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond with its one-of-a-kind collection of educational titles on CD or four-track cassette. RFB&D's AudioPlus digitally recorded textbooks on CD provide unprecedented navigation, ease of use and proven effectiveness as learning tools for students with print disabilities. Students rely on RFB&D's unique accommodation to access the printed page and to achieve educational success. All of RFB&D's accessible titles are recorded by volunteers working in 29 RFB&D recording studios nationwide, including Boston.

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