Accessible Versions for the Blind
Things No Longer There: A Memoir of Losing Sight and Finding Vision is available in several alternative formats for the blind:
- For an eBook, please contact: Margaret Walsh at the University of Wisconsin Press, phone (608) 263-1131; e-mail: mawalsh1@wisc.edu
- For an audio book (in MP3 format), please contact the author
- Members of Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic can obtain the recorded book on 4-track tape or on CD (in Daisy format) by calling RFB&D: (800) 221-4792; audio tape shelf number AB-HG052; CD shelf number CT-HG052; e-mail: custserv@rfbd.org
- The National Library Service, Talking Books Division, has Things No Longer There available on 4-track tape; LOC number 2004024546, book number RC 60711.
- The Canadian National Institute for the Blind offers the book in Daisy audio format on CD: DC26697; e-mail: library@cnib.ca. (Listen to Audio Selections from the CNIB Library recording )
- Bookshare.org offers Things No Longer There for download by members in Daisy digital and Braille digital formats; email: info@bookshare.org
Notes on the Alternative Formats
The eBook of Things No Longer There was produced by the University of Wisconsin Press and designed by the author for ease of use by blind readers. The eBook, a set of PDF files on CD, contains accessibility instructions to facilitate the use of JAWS, Window Eyes, and other screen readers in reading the chapters. It also contains instructions for converting the PDF files of the book into Plaintext files, which can then be read with a screen reader or magnification software. Settings are specified for adapting the Adobe Reader to read the chapters.
The audio book, available from the author, is a reading of the book on CD by Betty Risser, a longtime reader of books for the blind, who recorded the book on tape. The author then digitized the recording and prepared the audio book, now available in MP3 format (1 CD, playable on CD/MP3 players, and on computers). Betty Risser, who recorded the audio book, is herself legally blind and read the book by use of a closed-circuit television.
The RFB&D audio book requires a 4-track tape player; the RFB&D CD (in Daisy Format) requires proprietary software purchased from RFB&D in their dedicated player or installed in a computer.
The National Library Service Talking Book requires a 4-track tape player.
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind audio book is available in Daisy digital audio format for clients and requires proprietary software.
Bookshare.org provides the book as a computer download in text-only Daisy and BRF digital formats, with optional speech software, and also offers an embossed Braille version in partnership with the Braille Institute of America; download tools required.
Listen to an interview with the author on Tech Nation or read a background story to hear more about the production of the eBook and the audio book. For further information, please visit the Krieger Press Kit on the University of Wisconsin Press website.