It will be the 10th Anniversary year for the DAISY Consortium when this annual report is distributed. This is a very important year for the DAISY Consortium and all of our Members and Friends. It marks ten years of accomplishments, achievements, exponential growth, and recognition of the DAISY Consortium as a significant international standards organization which supports the implementation of that standard.
The DAISY Consortium has begun to invest in the future and prepare for increased global growth as directed by the 2005-2006 Strategic Plan. Plans to reach wider 'markets' and appeal to groups outside of the historical scope of DAISY Consortium membership were developed. We began a reengineering process to enable this and to support expanded growth. Additional staff members were hired. The process of Web site redesign began.
The DAISY Consortium was named as the Maintenance agency for the DAISY/NISO Standard. This is the first time in the history of NISO that an international organization, an organization based outside of the United States, has been given this responsibility. This gives DAISY significant credence both on an international level and within the United States. The profile of the DAISY Consortium, as a standards organization, will most certainly benefit.
"The Culture of Sharing" was embraced at the November 2005 DAISY Board of Director's meeting held in Tokyo. This award signifies the highest honor conferred to an individual or organization by the Consortium. The recipient of the first Culture of Sharing award was Hiroshi Kawamura and DAISY Board member and employee of the NRCD Research Institute in Tokyo.
The 2nd Global Forum was facilitated jointly by the DAISY Consortium and the BASMA Association for Employment of Persons with Disabilities, one of the parallel events of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), in Tunis, November 2005.
The Board wishes to thank the Nippon Foundation for its continued financial support.
Policy and procedures for fundraising were written and approved by the Board, preparing the pathway for the Consortium to actively enter into fundraising activities to support the many critical projects of the DAISY Consortium. The position, "International Executive Director Business and Fund Development", was created, and Joyce Weaver was retained to lead this endeavor. One of the first steps has been to initiate a "U.S. Fund for DAISY" to allow the Consortium to effectively fundraise within the United States for the global mission of the DAISY Consortium. In addition, changes to the DAISY Web site which will facilitate on-line donations have been identified and will be implemented.
This past year marked the balloting of the revision of the DAISY/NISO Standard by NISO, and the approval of the standard by ANSI. It is, as a result, the formal revision to the Standard. Over the years this Standard has been referred to in a number of different ways, resulting in some degree of confusion. NISO has worked with the DAISY Consortium to co-brand the Standard. The official name is still ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005, followed by the name of the Standard, DAISY/NISO. The co-branding allows the DAISY Consortium to officially use the term "DAISY/NISO" Standard. In return, NISO may also reference DAISY in the name if they choose to do so. Development and implementation of DAISY Standard is an ongoing process. The implementation of this Standard is a focal point of the DAISY Web site.
The year 2005 marked the first time in the history of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) that an international organization was selected to be an official Maintenance Agency. As the Maintenance Agency for the DAISY/NISO Standard (ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005), Specifications for the Digital Talking Book, the DAISY Consortium is responsible for tracking and resolving all issues relating to the Standard, and to ensure that the specification remains current, relevant and pertinent. To facilitate this, a new area, "Standard", was added to the DAISY Web site. This area contains the information and tracking tools necessary to facilitate the Consortium's role as Maintenance Agency for the Standard.
This responsibility is in harmony with the Consortium's Mission: "Our mission is to develop, integrate and promote international DAISY standards, technologies and implementation strategies to enable global access by people with print disabilities to information provided by mainstream publishers, governments, and libraries in a way which will also be of benefit to the wider community."
The DAISY Structure Guidelines were updated to the DAISY/NISO 2005 Standard and the 2005 dtd in 2005 and posted on the DAISY Web site in September. The Guidelines were also edited and rewritten during the updating process. Updates are clearly identified by "New in DAISY/NISO, Release 2005". To read this document, visit the DAISY Web site
The Minutes of the DAISY/NISO Standard Advisory Committee Meetings are now posted on the DAISY Web site and are available to all.
Planning for, and development of the DAISY/NISO on-line issues tracking database was worked on intensively in the latter part of 2005. All identified issues will be posted to this database so that they are available on line. This will be the formal record of all related issues.
The MathML Modular Extension Working Group was formed in 2005, with a goal to develop a modular extension that conforms with the DAISY/NISO 2005 Standard and future revisions of that standard as far as possible. The proposed objective description of this group is: "to develop and submit a formal proposal (including all supporting documentation) for a MathML modular extension to ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005 in accordance with the modular extension guidelines." The deliverables set are:
Neil Soiffer, Senior Scientist with Design Science, Inc. is the Chair of the committee. Information about MathML-in-DAISY is available in the Projects area of the DAISY Web site.
In January of 2005 the original requirements document for Protected Digital Talking Books was published and a public call for comments was made. Throughout the year, the team worked to develop a specification that uses existing industry standards that are open and royalty free. Following review and revision, the PDTB Specification is to be delivered to the DAISY Board in 2006.
In keeping with the Strategic Plan, work on the DAISY Multi Format Converter Project intensified in 2005. DMFC addresses the need of the DAISY community to be able to transform content between different formats simply and economically. Examples of transformation needs are:
DMFC is an open source collaborative software development project hosted by the DAISY Consortium. The conversion software developed will address the transformation and conversion requirements of DAISY Consortium member organizations. Efforts put into the Microsoft FrontPage Project have contributed to DMFC.
This project was initiated by the DAISY Consortium to advance worldwide open, non-proprietary standards for multimedia that are fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The need for a DAISY/NISO authoring tool had been identified, and the initial requirements document was produced, reviewed and revised in 2004. The founding members, the DAISY Consortium, INRIA, CWI, and NRCD will develop a multimedia authoring software framework.
In May 2005, the Urakawa Team members met in Tokyo for three days and then in Urakawa for an additional two days of intense meetings. More than 30 representatives participated in the discussions that lead to this joint project. The participating organizations are:
The Urakawa Joint Project Charter states: "By using that combined knowledge base, we believe that we can create a comprehensive authoring software framework that includes an object oriented abstract data model, an API, and a code library that is robust and can carry us well into the future."
The teams required to carry this critical project to fruition were established and participants identified. The primary teams are:
A Project Charter was written, reviewed and finalized in 2005, as were the Design Requirements. Although the project is expected to span two to three years, the first deliverables, including a comprehensive object oriented multimedia data model, a software development tool kit (SDK), and the first application based on the data model and SDK, are planned for 2006.
The 2nd Global Forum was facilitated jointly by the DAISY Consortium and the BASMA Association for Employment of Persons with Disabilities, as a part of the parallel events of the WSIS in Tunis in November 2005. It is important to note that the WSIS is a United Nations activity. The DAISY Consortium organized the first Global forum in Geneva in December 2003. The objectives of the Tunis Forum were to:
Some of the many issues successfully addressed at the conference were, Internet access, education and training, mobile phone technologies, employment, capacity building, global library of knowledge sharing, social inclusion, multi-stakeholder partnership, accessible multimedia for reading and writing, disaster preparedness, and indigenous persons with disabilities. It is particularly important to note that the Tunis Declaration was adopted at this time. The declaration is available on the WSIS Web site
This is an integral part of the worldwide implementation of DAISY. Many DAISY Member organizations have established relationships with, and some have begun to collaborate with commercial publishers. The DAISY Consortium encourages this development.
During 2005 Microsoft Press contracted with the DAISY Consortium to produce a Microsoft Press publication in DAISY format. "Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out", was produced as a full text and audio DAISY Digital Talking Book, in the Consortium's first collaborative production effort with the publishing community. This was a complex project that was achieved through a collaborative effort between TPB and the CNIB. A variety of tools was used for the conversion processes and master production. The DAISY Consortium entered into this agreement with a number of positive outcomes for the DC. Production costs were paid for by Microsoft.
The size and scope of this project were considerable. FrontPage contains over 1300 print pages and 1118 images. One of the goals was to develop a "show case" DAISY book that could be used for development, demonstration and training purposes. The files received from Microsoft were converted, with output to DAISY/NISO 2005 which was then migrated to DAISY 2.02 for production purposes. Both human narration and synthetic speech were used for the audio output. The process was a developmental and learning experience, with a by-product of some of work contributing directly to the development of transformation tools (DMFC Project). The project, start to finish was completed with several months. It directly addressed the Strategy section of the DAISY Strategic Plan: "We will demonstrate the effectiveness and promote the adoption and implementation of the open non-proprietary DAISY standards among mainstream publishers, governments, libraries and manufacturers of consumer hardware and software." The DAISY Consortium was granted "non-exclusive permission to use the Microsoft Learning title Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out (0-7356-1510-1) (“the Material”) for demonstration and training purposes as examples in presentations and demos as part of a file conversion pilot."
The Daisy Consortium implemented the Culture of Sharing Award at the November Board of Director's meeting held in November in Tokyo. The award is the highest honor the Consortium can confer upon an individual or organization. The recipient must exemplify outstanding qualities of leadership, the meaning of sharing and the ethics of service, social awareness and collaboration. In addition, the recipient’s activities and contribution must have helped to move DAISY into the global mainstream.
The board unanimously selected Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura as the first recipient of the Culture of Sharing Award, thus setting the bar very high for future award nominees and recipients. Mr. Kawamura has served the mission of Daisy Consortium for over 10 years. He works for the NRCD, The National Rehabilitation Center for Person with Disabilities in Tokyo. Kawamura most recently served as Chair of the WSIS Disability Focal Point in Tunis, a project he has been involved with since the preparations for the 2003 WSIS meeting held in Geneva. Kawamura is committed to emergency preparedness and the paramount importance of access to information for all people.
The DAISY Consortium has selected an Inukshuk in glass sculpture to represent the magnitude of this award. The Inukshuk (pronounced IN-OOK-SHOOK) and meaning "in the image of man", are magnificent lifelike figures of stone which were erected by the Inuit people and are unique to the Canadian Arctic. Enduring symbols of leadership, they encourage people to remember the importance of friendship and of human interdependence which allows each individual to achieve what one person alone could not possibly achieve.
At the DAISY Board meeting held in Ueda Japan, Mr. Hachiro Kaneko, Chairman of Shinano Kenshi Co., Ltd., was awarded as a lifelong honorary Friend of the DAISY Consortium. Mr. Kaneko Senior is the first recipient of this honor. Shinano Kenshi Co., Ltd., parent company of Plextor Co., Ltd., has contributed significantly to the implementation of DAISY around with world, beginning the with development of the first DAISY hardware player in 1996.
One of the Consortium's major goals for 2005 was to strengthen bonds between DAISY and IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) LBS. DAISY participation at the IFLA LBS meeting in Gothenburg in August included presentations by Elsebeth Tank, Markus Gylling, and Dipendra Manocha representing DFA. These presentations successfully provided information and clarity on purpose and direction of Consortium. Greater contact between the leadership of each organization and mutual agreement to collaborate continue to be key factors which will allow the two organizations to work side by side.
The DAISY community was well represented at a number of significant conferences during 2005, including ATIA in January, CSUN in March, and VISION 2005 London in April.
Last year was the 20th Anniversary of CSUN. Once again DAISY shone at the Conference. There were nearly 4,500 attendees in 2005, with even greater international participation. One of the many DAISY sessions was a double lab session entitled: "DAISY Hardware And Software Players: A Hands-On Experience". This 2 1/2 hour interactive session provided participants with an opportunity to try many of the DAISY reading systems available. Developers and experts were on hand to assist and explain how the tools work.
ATIA 2005, held annually in Orlando Florida, USA, was attended by George Kerscher. This conference has significantly grown in the past few years. It is heavily attended by vendors many of whom provide products and services to members of the DAISY Consortium. ATIA is estimated to be the second largest conference in the world focused on technology for persons with disabilities.
The American Higher Education And Disabilities (AHEAD) conference was held in August in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. George Kerscher attended representing Recording For the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D). He found that much of the focus was on DAISY. Several DAISY vendors were represented and representatives from Bookshare.org also attended. The DAISY Standard is being promoted at the college level as the right technology for students with disabilities. Several states have passed laws that require publishers to provide XML files to assist students with disabilities obtain their textbooks in an accessible format.
RNIB hosted the VISION 2005 Conference in London England. This conference, organized under the auspices of the International Society for Low Vision Research and Rehabilitation (ISLRR), brought together approximately 2,500 international professionals, from 4 to 7 April 2005. The focus of the presentations was scientific research and present practice-based work from around the world. DAISY had a booth which was extremely well attended. Lynn Leith, George Kerscher and Kai Fuji worked the booth; at times conference participants were lined up to speak with them about DAISY. Lynn Leith and George Kerscher presented "Reading the DAISY way: the international standard for "A better way to read" and access to information for people with a print disability". The session was well attended and well received.
Information on all of the DAISY related conferences and events in 2005, may be found at "Past Events" on the DAISY Web site
The first DAISY course provided in French was held in September, 2005. Presenters were Lynn Leith, DAISY Consortium, Olaf Mittelstaedt, BBR and SBS, and Christian Gilbert, CNIB. The 13 participants attending were from French DAISY producing organizations in Belgium, Switzerland and France: ONA, BRS, AVH, GIAA. French public television recorded some of the activities at the end of the final day of the course. Christian Gilbert, as a French-speaking presenter, and Guillaume du Bourguet, who was the primary contact for this course, were interviewed. Participants' areas of expertise and skill levels in DAISY production varied widely. More information on this course is available in : The DAISY Course Report on the DAISY Knowledge Network
A list of the 2005 DAISY For All courses is provided in the section "Developing Countries" below in this report.
It is important to note that all DAISY For All Project activities are generously funded by the Nippon Foundation.
The primary DFA activities in 2005 were:
The DFA DAISY Training Courses and Focal Point Establishment Training in 2005 were:
The Strategic Plan states: "The DAISY Knowledge Network will be developed and implemented as a new and innovative way to build a community approach to maintain knowledge. The design will focus on knowledge sharing within the entire community engaged in the implementation of the standards." In 2005 the DKN was reworked, reshaped and prepared to go 'live' on-line in January 2006. It will continue to be available to 'the world'. As pled developments and features are implemented, some advanced functionality will be available only to Members and Friends of the DAISY Consortium. A more 'friendly' user interface for submission and management of content will be developed. Additional content will be sought from DAISY Members and Friends to expand the existing DKN.
During 2005 the Web site was reviewed and analyzed. Staff resources required to for a complete redesign were identified as was the required infrastructure. Current weaknesses will be addressed in the redesign.
The list management system which supports the many DAISY lists were upgraded to support additional users.
In December an issue of "DAISY News" was circulated to the DAISY Member and Friends lists. Although the format of the newsletter has not been finalized, the new 'look' and style reflect the fresh approach that the Consortium has taken to communications generally.
The DAISY Web site is an excellent source of information. News and updates from the DC, the DC Members and Friends, upcoming events, and, changes that may be of interest are posted regularly.
The audited statement of accounts has demonstrated once again that the Consortium continues to be managed within its budget, as plans move forward with complex and challenging goals, projects and initiatives.
In keeping with the DAISY Consortium's Strategic Plan, 3.7 Organizational Structure. New staff members were recruited in 2005 to "help drive forward the ongoing projects presented in the strategy and work plan."
Contracts for George Kerscher, Lynn Leith and Markus Gylling have been set for a two-year period, taking these employment agreements to the end of 2007.
There were two changes in Board membership during 2005. The Board representative for the Canadian DAISY Consortium, Elizabeth O'Brien, has taken maternity leave, and was replaced by Margaret McGrory (Vice President, CIO, Executive Director, of the CNIB Library). Tim Evans of Vision Australia, representing The Australian and New Zealand Accessible Information Group (ANZAIG), replaced Jane Evans as the ANZAIG Board Member.
The Nippon Foundation funding of the DAISY For All (DFA) project continued, as budgeted, through 2005.
The DAISY Board met three times during 2005 (Hamburg, London, and Ueda). Board Member participation and input at these meetings was essential for the health and growth of the Consortium. Representatives from Member organizations attended as observers at both the London and Ueda meetings. This was the first year that observers were permitted at Board meetings.
Membership growth continued in 2005. There were seven new Associate Members and three new Friends which joined the Consortium, making The DAISY Consortium stronger and better able to achieve its goals. At the end of 2005, the membership was comprised of 12 Full Members, 46 Associate Members, and 15 Friends.
New Associate Members in 2005 were:
New Friends in 2005 were:
At the spring Board Meeting in London, two Board Members, Peter Osborne and Jane Evans presented a paper entitled "LONGER-TERM OBJECTIVES FOR THE DAISY CONSORTIUM" for the consideration of the Board. This paper was intended to promote discussion of longer-term objectives, which would fully realize the vision and mission of the Consortium. Strategic directions, outcomes, goals and objectives were addressed. The conclusion of that report brings readers full circle to investment in the future and preparation for increased global growth. "An agenda for change throughout the world is only sustainable through investment in the development of sound business models which convince key people. We can argue equitable access to information for all, and many will be persuaded by this approach, but real change will come about when DAISY makes sense for all."
The DAISY Consortium has furthered the process of actively reaching out to the 'world', sharing the DAISY Mission and Vision, and why DAISY is for all people, everywhere.
Elsebeth Tank, President
General Meeting April 29th, 2006