-
- . Who
are we?
· What do we do?
· How are our Large
Print Books
different from others?
· What publications are offered and where do they come from?
· Help availability?
· Links?
· Improvements?
-
Who are we?
Text-Key started as a service of M G Harrington Co, a litigation
support
company. Over the years, it provided a
number of publications including
the Law Enforcement Legal
Reporter. To make the text easier to read on
a computer
screen, 14-point type was used.
-
-
-
Prior
to her death, Virginia M. Woolf, a partner, began to experiment with much
larger type for the vision impaired. The Virginia M. Woolf Foundation,
a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, is now continuing this work. We
now regularly publish VISION ENHANCEMENT, a newsletter of Vision Worldwide
in 48-point type.
-
-
What
do we do?
We provide publications in ELF format (enhanced letter
format) Publications may be read with the Acrobat Reader, which is included
on each CD-ROM. Each CD from Text-Key contains two versions in ELF format:
one in 30 point, one in 48 point type. In addition, each CD has versions
intended to be read and versions intended to be printed. This is done
to accommodate different levels of vision impairment.
-
-
-
Acrobat
Reader makes it easy for the reader to change the font size for more comfortable
reading. The ELF formatted version can be read with the most recent version
of most screen readers. (Check with your provider to make sure their software
is compatible with Adobe Acrobat, Version 5. tagged, files.)
-
How are our publications different from others?
We should note some differences that differentiate our service from products
now available: There is hardware and software which enlarges printed text,
but this is expensive, may require scanning equipment and only enlarges
text without regard to the formatted page.
-
-
-
Our
publications, unlike most text on CD-ROMs, are specially formatted. The
user doesn't have to scroll from side to side or from top to bottom of
a page. Nor is this a matter of merely increasing the size of the type.
We make sure the sides of the screen don’t cut off words. Each CD-Rom
contains two versions of the book – a printable version and an on-screen
version. Each version is available in 30 and 48-point font. The on-screen
version has one screen of text per page to eliminate the need to scroll.
The print version prints on the entire page, as opposed to one screen
of text per page for the on-screen version. Many people with impaired
vision cannot comfortably use a mouse or see the computer cursor. Readers
can press the Tab key or left or right arrow keys to navigate the Text-Key
publications.
-
-
-
We
distribute our publications on self-loading CD-ROMs. Individuals can read
the publication as soon as the CD is loaded. Readers do not need access
to the Internet, a modem, or special hardware or software. The text is
formatted, but typical Web publications are not.
-
What publications are offered and where do they come from?
We prepare three kinds of publications: material submitted to us by an
author or publisher, royalty free publications found on the World Wide
Web and copyright protected works reproduced and distributed under a provision
of the 1976 Federal Copyright Act created for the blind and vision impaired.
All publications we find on the web are priced the same; those that are
submitted to us by an author or publisher are priced by arrangement with
the author or publisher.
-
-
-
The
price of copyrighted materials will be determined on a case-bycase basis,
depending on whether or how much royalty is paid to the copyright holder.
In addition to traditional books, we prepare other publications like manuals,
newsletters, and texts, which are ELF formatted. We would like to be invited
to propose working on publications you think should be available in a
large font. We are also planning to introduce material in Spanish.
-
-
-
Help
availability-24/7
-
We
know that not everyone is a computer guru and one doesn't have to be to
use a Text-Key produced publication. The Acrobat Reader contains its own
54- page help file. In addition, we have provided our own help pages.
Since the ELF publications are produced specifically for the Reader, these
help pages should answer most questions. On the other hand, we understand
that help files will cover not every situation. We are therefore prepared
to receive telephone calls at any time of day, seven days a week. We may
sound sleepy at times, but we pledge to try to help.
-
-
-
For
a question about a specific problem or to discuss Text-Key publications
in general, call: (424) 263-2057.
-
Links
We welcome inquiries about exchanging links with other sites and will
continually add links to any site providing similar services for the vision
impaired.
-
-
-
Improvements
-
We
welcome suggestions to improve our service. There are varying degrees
and kinds of vision impairment and we have tried to serve the largest
group. This means we may not, probably cannot, serve everyone. Still,
we would like to hear from you. We are breaking new ground and know we
have a lot to learn. You can help us.
