Book Scanning
Enhance a Person's Reading Skills
TransAccess can take any printed media (books, magazines, etc.) and convert it into a format compatible for a reading software program, such as Kurzweil 3000. This helps an individual with a learning or visual disability to independently read text. TransAccess will also edit the text for spelling and readability. TransAccess can also scan books and save them as a TIFF file.
What is a TIFF File?
Tagged Image File Format is a common image file format, similar to JPEG and bitmap. TIFF files opened in Kurzweil 3000 are automatically converted into Kurzweil 3000 format, which can then be read. It can also be opened in WYNN, OpenBook, and Kurzweil 1000 in a similar way. TIFF does not retain any editing changes.
Why is Editing Important?
Other companies just scan books. Our scanning service includes zone editing, spell checking, page numbering, and chapter dividing.
Zone Editing
Zones, which tell Kurzweil 3000 where to read, are automatically added to scanned images in Kurzweil 3000. Text that is not in a zone will not be read at all. TransAccess adds, removes, or adjusts the zones to make the text read more fluidly. In the example below, the zones at the top of every page in the novel, including the page number and the title of the book, have been removed so that they do not interfere with the flow of the text. (Click on the image for a larger view).
Spell Checking
Often text that is scanned is misinterpreted by Kurzweil 3000 and misspelled. The word will not appear misspelled on the scanned image, only on the underlying text. TransAccess spell checks the scanned text, which helps it read more correctly. In the example, the spell check caught that the "i" in "machinery" was misrecognized as an "l." Without a spell check, Kurzweil 3000 would misread “machinery” as "match-el-nary" or something else entirely. (Click on the image for a larger view).
Page Numbering
Typically, books are scanned into a single file and every page is ordered by how it was scanned. For instance, if page 10 was the second page scanned, then it is automatically numbered as "Page 2." After scanning, TransAccess renumbers the pages to correctly correspond to the corrected page in the book. (Click on the image for a larger view).
Chapter Dividing
It's difficult for readers to find a section in a book when the whole book has been scanned into a single file. Before scanning a book, TransAccess will divide the book into chapters and then save each chapter as an individual file. (Click on the image for a larger view).
Please note: Multiple files can be opened in Kurzweil 3000 at one time when referencing more than one chapter.
Make it Happen
As you can see, scanning a book is much more than running the pages through a scanner. Anyone with a reading or visual disability should have equal access to printed material. TransAccess can help make that happen.
To Request Services
It's easy - just fill out this online
Book Scanning Request Form and follow the additional instructions!
- Cost: $1.25 per scanned page in Kurzweil 3000 format. $.75 per scanned page in TIFF (with no editing).
- There will be a $15.00 charge for additional copies of a CD. For these, we will also need a letter and proof of purchase indicating that a corresponding print copy of the document exists as noted above.
- If you are expecting a large volume of books requiring scanning (approximately 40 or more), you might consider a subscription service. For this service we charge $1000 and offer half price on all scanning for one year. (Please see the prices quoted above).
For more information contact John Cavano, OTR/L at (408) 278-2005.
