Contact Details
Christopher Stephen
PO Box 38
Strawberry Hills NSW 2016
W www.readhowyouwant.c...
E cstephen@readhowyouw...
Accessible Publishing Systems
Multiple Format Electronic Bookshop
THE Australian publishing industry is expected to get a huge boost from a Sydney company that has developed technology to cost-effectively produce books in almost any format – even Braille.
Objective Systems director, Chris Stephen, is hoping his ‘electronic bookshop’ will directly benefit the disabled by improving their access to books. “We hope that publishers will support us so we can bring the disability market into the mainstream where it should be,” he said. Using the technology, the company can load a book into its system, then produce it in a huge number of print formats, including large type, several forms of Braille, DAISY talking books (DTB) and e-books. Mr Stephen said one of the most exciting aspects of the technology was its flexibility in creating custom-made formats, even down to the size of the book, the paper colour, binding type, and the typeface and size. “We have designed formats to help people with a variety of reading problems ranging from eyesight and eye tracking issues to dyslexia, which affects many people,” he said. “With our technology we can typeset to a special format automatically and can print the book anywhere in the world, then deliver it to readers for a similar cost to buying the standard book. We know of no other technology that can do that.”
The technology can also:
- locally print books not available in Australia
- prevent books from going out of print • easily produce new editions
- offer cost-effective, short-run and test-run publications.
The latter use could allow many Australians to realise their dream to be published. “I reckon we can take a manuscript and turn it into a book cheaper than anyone else,” said Mr Stephen. He is also hoping the technology will have other significant applications, from bill presentation to corporate publishing, education and online courses.