EFFECTIVENESS OF DAISY LEARNING COURSEWARE TO ENHANCE LEARNING OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AT TEACHER EDUCATION LEVEL

Abstract

DAISY (the Digital Accessible Information System) is a technical standard for digital audio books, periodicals, and computerized text. DAISY is designed to be a complete audio substitute for print material and is specically for use by people with “print disabilities”, including blindness, impaired vision, and dyslexia. Based on the MP3 and XML formats, the DAISY format has advanced features in addition to those of a traditional audio book. Users can search; place bookmarks, precisely navigation line by line, and regulate the speaking speed without distortion. DAISY also provides aurally accessible tables, references, and additional information. As a result, DAISY allows visually impaired listeners to navigate something as complex as an encyclopedia or textbook, otherwise impossible using conventional audio recordings. DAISY multimedia can be a book, magazine, newspaper, journal, computerized text, or a synchronized presentation of text and audio. It provides up to six embedded “navigation levels” for content, including embedded objects such as images, graphics, and MathML. In the DAISY standard, navigation is enabled within a sequential and hierarchical structure consisting of (marked-up) text synchronized with audio.