ULTimate KidBooks

KidBooks is now available for the Macintosh as a free downlown from the Switch In Time Web site. KidBooks was developed at CAST but has recently been turned over to Charles Silverman, a former CAST employee and the original KidBooks developer, for further development and future support. When the program was distributed commercially by Universal Learning Technologies (UTL), it was known as Ultimate Kidbooks. Note that the program has been enhanced and is now available as Freeware.

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Children with physical, cognitive, or visual disabilities often have difficulty reading or participating in some class activities because they cannot turn book pages or see text. Print-based information is inaccessible to these students, making it nearly impossible for them to become fully active class participants. In working with teachers during professional development seminars, CAST staff recognized the need for universally designed software that could help educators and curriculum developers create electronic, accessible books for children. In 1997 ULTimate KidBooks, a multimedia publishing system that enables teachers, parents, and specialists to create electronic talking books with built-in educational scaffolds was released. Designed for young readers, ULTimate KidBooks supplements the written word with flexible reading supports including highlighting, text enlargement and synthesized voice.

Product Highlights

ULTimate KidBooks consists of two applications that allow users to create and to read digital books: KidBook Maker™ and KidBook Player™ .

KidBook Maker enables teachers and parents to create electronic books with tools that allow them to:

• import or scan in text and graphics;
• lay out pages;
• edit text;
• choose text styles, sizes, and colors; and
• create templates for pages and books.

KidBook Player gives children access to these electronic books and provides them with educational supports such as:

• flexible speaking and highlighting;
• single switch support;
• choice of synthetic voices, including English and Spanish;
• multiple voice and highlighting speeds;
• bookmark capability; and
• automatic or user-controlled reading.

With these universally designed functions, all students in an inclusive classroom can read the same materials.

Product Market and Impact

Teachers applaud the versatility of ULTimate KidBooks. They are using it not only to create digital forms of class materials, but also to create customized books (such as class albums) and to help students write their own books. Because it offers sound, editing supports, and graphics, the software provides an excellent writing environment for older students who have difficulty with conventional writing tasks. Some school systems are even using ULTimate KidBooks to create digital libraries of their districts' reading lists, and to digitize entire literature curricula.

This creation of electronic text helps bring school systems closer to offering universally designed curricula--curricula that all students, regardless of ability, can access. With ULTimate KidBooks, more students can experience the joy of reading, and therefore, participate more fully in their learning.

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