George Kerscher: A Pioneer in Digital Talking Books Still Forging Ahead
By Kendrick, Deborah; Access World, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 26-34Publication Date: May 2001
Article on George Kerscher, a pioneer in the development of digital talking books. The article traces Kerscher's beginnings as a high school literature teacher, where he used talking books in a classroom setting, to his creation of Computerized Books for the Blind (CBFB). CBFB is a nonprofit organization for the distribution of books in ASCII files on floppy disks. He then went to work with Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D), where he focused on the organization's new text project, producing books on floppy disks with navigational capabilities in 1991. His work led to the creation of the Digital Audio-based Information System (DAISY) Consortium in 1995. Kerscher was unanimously elected chairperson on the Open E-books forum (OEBF) in New York City in May 2000, which is dedicated to establishing common specifications for all E-book materials. He now travels from convention to convention, promoting the issues of blind accessibility with commercial developments.
Published by: AFB Press (Website:http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=46)
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) (Web Site: http://www.afb.org )
Link to text: http://www.afb.org/aw/AW0203toc.asp
