Daisy

Digital Accessible Information System, is a relatively new format of accessible information. The end product is a CD which is either placed into a stand-alone Daisy Player, or used on a computer with a software Daisy player.

In brief, the text is spoken either by a real person or by an artificial voice and the information can be book marked for later use. There are facilities for fast forward and rewind, and to alter the speed of playback within reason. With the software version the text is also displayed on screen as it is read out.

In the case of educational books etc it is possible to integrate diagrams into the Daisy book so that it really is an electronic book!

We have tried out the voice "Daniel" with several users, and whilst it is still artificial it is acceptable given the extra costs of a reader, studio etc.

A by-product of Daisy production is that an audio CD can also be made to play in a standard CD player.