FS Reader Makes Things Easier

By:
Kolby Garrison
One of Freedom Scientific's newest applications that works with JAWS, is FS Reader. FS Reader is an application, that allows the user to read DAISY Books on their PAC-Mate or Desktop PC. The user can move by page, chapter, paragraph, sentence, section, heading, or any other element, depending on how the book is indexed. Users can read books from Book share, or other sources in DAISY format, making navigation both simple and smooth. If the book has recorded audio incorporated in to it, the user can customize the speed of the narrator. When recorded narration is available, the user can have the narrator read, or use synthesized speech, and you are also able to follow along in braille, using one of Freedom Scientific's braille displays. When Freedom Scientific first announced this new application, PAC-Mate users everywhere got very excited. We would finally be able to read DAISY Books on our notetakers, thus being able to take them with us and read on-the-go. This solution could have been available to an extent, using a portable player from RFB&D, but why carry an extra piece of equipment? Plus, the portable players can't read text-based DAISY Books, unless you had a bookport. Now, it seemed as though everything would be available in the already feature-rich PAC-Mate. Users waited eagerly for a year for the product to come out, and when it did, people were up and running within minutes. One shortcoming of this program, is that at this time it is not able to play books from RFB&D, though it handles books from Bookshare very nicely. Now, users can download a book from Bookshare in DAISY format, unpack it using the FS Unpack utility, and then read it using FS Reader without any problems. If the user wishes to ! use books from RFB&D, they must purchase a hardware or software solution from RFB&D directly. All in all, FS Reader is an excellent addition for your Desktop, Laptop, or PAC-Mate.