Accessible Book Collection Overview What is it? Accessible Book Collection provides a digital version of many books for students who need access to a text reader. About 1000 books are available for download. Like Bookshare.org, these books are for use by students with “print disabilities.” Schools need to keep a list of students who qualify – this can be done by individual teachers or kept by one “primary contact person” at each school. All students who would qualify for Bookshare also qualify for ABC.org since both of these services operate under the same authority. Any staff member may download a book for eligible students. Comparison with Bookshare There are a few features of ABC.org that make it different from Bookshare • More books are available for younger students including easy readers and picture books • Pictures are included in the downloaded files • About 300 books are available in a switch‐accessible version using either Clicker 5, Intellitools, or Boardmaker Plus format. These are particularly useful for teachers of students with physical disabilities. How to get started with it Log into your school account by going to www.accessiblebookcollection.org and clicking on Your school’s username and password have been provided to your school principal and resource teachers. If you are unable to locate your school’s information, you may contact the HIAT office. . 1. Click the to see the list of available books. 2. Find the book you want and click the download link. 3. Save the book to your school’s Copyrighted Text folder. 4. Open the book in Internet Explorer and then use either Natural Reader or WordQ to have the text read aloud to the student. More information Frequently asked questions about ABC.org Important note: Video on getting started with ABC Any book downloaded for a student: •
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Should be approved for use in MCPS Should not be stored on a public folder on the school network May be stored in the Copyrighted Text folder in Student Shared on the school network May be stored in the eligible student's personal My Documents folder Quick Start Guide – Accessible Book Collection
5/2011
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/hiat