Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) books can be heard on standalone DAISY players,DAISY: Hardware Playback Tools computers using DAISY playback software,DAISY: Software Playback Tools mobile phones, and MP3 players (with limited navigation). DAISY books can be distributed on a CD/DVD, memory card or through the Internet.
A computerized text DAISY book can be read using refreshable Braille display or screen-reading software, printed as Braille book on paper, converted to a talking book using synthesised voice or a human narration, and also printed on paper as large print book. In addition, it can be read as large print text on computer screen.DAISY Consortium: "WHAT IS DAISY? ". Accessed 2009-11-23.George Kerscher: "Braille Production the DAISY Way", IFLA/SLB Pre-conference Seminar in Penang 1999. Accessed 23 November 2009.
Software players Currently available software-based players include, in alphabetical order:
Software players Description Author Operating system / Platform Windows Mac Linux iOS Android J2ME OtherCUCAT Oleariaan open-source DAISY reader for Mac OS X (2008)Download OleariaOlearia - Full Featured DAISY Talking Book Player For OS X at Google Code. DAISY Book Readeropen-source player for the GNOME desktop (GTK)DAISY Book Reader Daisy Delightopen-source player for DAISY 2.02, for Mac OS X and Unix-based systems (2008-2013)Daisy Delight daisy-playeran open source, multilingual, ncurses-based program for Linux to play DAISY books from the command linedaisy-playerJos Lemmens DaisyDucka free player for Daisy 2.02 audio booksDaisyDuck Unknown Dolphin EasyReader and EasyReader Expresscommercial e-book reader with support for DAISY, unprotected ePub and other formats, for Microsoft Windows, Android and iOSDolphin: EasyReader - Accessible eBook reader Dorina DAISY Reader (DDReader+)an open source, free software for Windows, reads only DAISY 3.0, available in English, Spanish and Portuguese emerson-readeran open-source and cross-platform (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows) Epub and DAISY player (2010). Requires Javaemerson-reader FSReaderDAISY Player Software for PAC Mate and Desktop; supports DAISY 2 and DAISY 3Freedom Scientific, Inc.: FSReaderDAISY Player Software for PAC Mate and Desktop Pratsam Reader Weba commercial online DAISY 2.02-player app for web browsers, supporting Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge Pratsam Reader Win, a Microsoft Windows desktop DAISY 2.02-player a graphical user interface, integrated guiding voice, DAISY Online Delivery Protocol support and keyboard shortcuts for navigation Simple Daisy Web Player an open-source software program that enables users to play DAISY books in a web browser Texthelp Read&Write (commercial; for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows)Texthelp Ltd: . Thorium Reader Open source. A cross platform desktop reading app, based on the Readium Desktop toolkit. Site, Source code
Discontinued software players AMIS - Adaptive Multimedia Information System: a discontinued open-source self-voicing player for Windows XP, Vista and 7 that works with several screen readers and is available in many languages. It was developed by the DAISY Consortium.DAISY Consortium: AMIS: DAISY 2.02 & DAISY 3 Playback SoftwareDAISY Consortium: Translations of AMIS Android Daisy ePub Reader: a discontinued open-source project for the Android platform, last updated in 2013Android Daisy ePub Reader AnyDaisy discontinued extension for Firefox 3.x by Benetech (does not work in Firefox 4 or above)AnyDaisy Firefox Extension ButtercupReader: a discontinued web-based silverlight application for DAISY 3 booksButtercupReader at Codeplex. DAISYPlayer: discontinued free player for Microsoft Windows; only available in Spanish DaisyWorm: player for DAISY 2.02 (2002) and DAISY 3 (2005), for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad; iOS 4 or higher, released commercially in 2010,DaisyWorm announcement since discontinued Darwin Reader: a discontinued reader for Android, reads DAISY 2.02 and 3.0 text and audio books Go Read: an open source DAISY reader for older Android devices (will not install on Android 10)Go Read GoDaisy: discontinued online DAISY player, in SwedishGoDaisy Online Daisy Player InDaisy Reader, a discontinued player for iPhone and iPod, accessible with VoiceOver; supports Daisy 2.02 and Daisy 3 Kolibre Vadelma, a discontinued open source DAISY 2.02-player supporting DAISY Online. Downloads and build instructions available for the Raspberry Pi-platform, compile instructions available for Debian Linux. MAX DaisyPlayer, a discontinued free player for Microsoft Windows.Deutsche Zentralbücherei für Blinde zu Leipzig (DZB): MAX DaisyPlayer . Mobile DAISY Player, a discontinued commercial player for Symbian phonesCode Factory: Mobile DAISY Player . Read2Go: a discontinued accessible, commercial e-book reader for Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), specifically for books from Bookshare, an online library for people with print disabilities; developed by BenetechBookshare: Benetech Announces New Accessible e-Book Reader for Apple iOS devices - iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch Users Can Read Bookshare Books with Read2Go , press release 26 January 2011.Read2Go for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store. Read:OutLoud 6 (discontinued commercial program for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows)Don Johnston Incorporated: 6. Read:OutLoud Bookshare Edition {discontinued}Don Johnston Incorporated: Read:OutLoud Bookshare Edition ReadHear (commercial, discontinued; for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows)gh, LLC: ReadHear PC , ReadHear Mac .
Server tools Daisy Uppsala Archive Project, server-side system for managing DAISY filesDaisy Uppsala Archive ProjectA Simple Daisy Web Player Online Daisy Delivery Technology, open-source software to deliver DAISY books onlineOnline Daisy Delivery Technology
Hardware players
There are a wide range of hardware products available that can play DAISY content, usually in a portable form factor. Some of these devices are dedicated to playback of books, while others focus on other functionality, such as PDA or mobile Internet access, and offer DAISY playback as either a feature of the unit or as a software add-on.
A short (incomplete) list of products that have built-in support for DAISY playback includes: American Printing House for the Blind, Inc., Book Port Plus and Book Port DT Pratsam Mobile, a portable handheld DAISY player that supports cellular networks, the DAISY Online Delivery Protocol, customized for use by the blind and visually impaired Victor Reader Stream, a hand-held portable DAISY player for the blind, visually handicapped and print impaired, produced by HumanWareHumanWare Ltd. Victor Reader Stream Product Page Victor Reader Wave, also by HumanWare, is a portable CD player that can play DAISY content from CD mediaHumanWare Ltd. Victor Reader Wave Product Page BookSense, a similar, smaller unit produced by GW Micro; the advanced XT model features built-in flash memory and Bluetooth headset support for playback, as well as an FM radioGW Micro: Booksense The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) in the United States has developed a proprietary DAISY player designed for use by its print-disabled patrons. The player will replace the aging cassette-based distribution system.National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS): NLS/BPH Digital Talking Book Player and Cartridge. SensePlayer by HIMS, is an advanced, accessible multi-media player, including field recorder, handheld tactile keyboard for the smart phone and tablet, and also including customized portable OCR device. The SensePlayer from HIMS based on Android operating system and paired with a classical, tactile keyboard.
Production systems
Add-ins or extensions to create DAISY files from office software are also available:
Microsoft and Sonata Software created a Save as DAISY add-in for Microsoft Word to convert Office Open XML text documents to DAISY. odt2daisy (OpenOffice.org Export As DAISY): an extension for Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice that exports OpenDocument Text to DAISY XML or to Full DAISY (both XML and audio).
Other tools for DAISY production include:
List of products by the DAISY Consortium Anemone Daisy Maker, an open-source program to make Daisy books from recordings with optional text and timings data Book Wizard Producer DAISY Demon, an open-source shell around the DAISY Pipeline to help automate the production of DAISY talking books, MP3, ePub, Word and HTML from XML file; developed by the Open University DAISY Pipeline daisy-validator Dolphin Publisher Obi: DAISY/Accessible EPUB 3 production tool Pipeline GUI PipeOnline, a web interface for the DAISY Pipeline PLEXTALK Recording Software Pratsam Producer, a production system for producing DAISY (with or without audio), import and management of PDF and XML, content quality measuring tools, automatic export of XHTML, DTBook, EPUB or Microsoft Word documents Tobi: an authoring tool for DAISY and EPUB 3 talking books
References
External links
DAISY Consortium DaisyNow.Net - The first online DAISY delivery web application Daisy 3: A Standard for Accessible Multimedia Books