After months of development I am happy to announce that we have launched the first completed version of the Open XML to DAISY translator. This represents the output of a great partnership between DAISY, Sonata Software (one of our incredibly talented development partners), and Microsoft. I think all of us agree that it’s tremendously exciting to be able to get this technology out in the wild so that people can start using it to achieve the things we envisioned when construction started last year.
There is already a great example of practical usage taking place this week in South Africa. Using the Save as DAISY translator and the newly launched DAISY Pipeline, trainers are teaching classes of people to convert HIV/AIDs manuals and educational material into DAISY. This is a great example of using DAISY for more than just the extremes of “print disabilities”. People who can’t read and that otherwise would have no access to this critical information are able to educate themselves about potentially life threatening issues. Seeing technology used in this manner is the most fulfilling feeling to anyone who does this for a living.
Of course, it’s also exciting to see the amount of content and momentum with DAISY rapidly increase with the expansion of sites like bookshare.org and Braillenet.
We have produced a short video to help people understand the technology. Rather than embed the video here I have chosen to provide a link to the site where they are hosted. There you will be able to find the video in numerous languages including Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, French, Spanish, and English. To check the videos out go here:
http://www.youtube.com/openxml
Most importantly, you can download the final version of the translator here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=208610
I really hope that some of the many developers who are out building solutions for Open XML will consider incorporating technology like this into their solutions. We hosted our translator on SourceForge for this very reason. We really want developers to have best in class resources when it comes to understanding and innovating on accessibility for Open XML.
To top it off, I am also very happy to say that we have already started to plan the next version of the translator. We are already working closely with DAISY and Sonata to gather requirements so please feel free to post ideas here.
With that, get out there and create some DAISY books for the world!
-Reed
PS
DAISY has new released a new version of the Pipeline and it too is a really impressive accomplishment. Head to www.daisy.org to learn more.