Michael Covington
ECPA, Information & Education Director
Patrick Marc
HumanWare, SVP Marketing, EMI
Doug Hall
Board Member, Executive Committee Member and Principal
Read How You Want with a special focus on Christian publishers
Michael Covington
ECPA, Information & Education Director
Patrick Marc
HumanWare, SVP Marketing, EMI
Doug Hall
Board Member, Executive Committee Member and Principal
Read How You Want with a special focus on Christian publishers
Recommended for:
Marketing, sales, media, publicist, brand managers, author relation professionals
Space is Limited
Session 2:
That the Blind Might Read –
How digital content can make your content accessible for the visually impaired and learning disabled
There are still very few books available for the blind or visually-impaired from publishers within the ECPA member community. Yet we now have the potential for a whole new market of readers to be able to purchase Christian books in much the same way their sighted counterparts do and be able to order it in the format that works best for them.
ECPA is currently conducting a proof-of-concept with three member publishers to make selected titles Kindle and ebook ready and also show them the capabilities of RHYW (Read How You Want) services to make their books accessible to the blind and learning disabled.
In addition to converting books to the most popular XML-based ebook formats, RHYW goes one huge step further and converts titles to accessible formats such as: seven different EasyRead large-print editions, DAISY (used for synthesized speech for devices that read content audibly), and Braille. This is all done at no additional cost to the publisher with potential for getting a portion of the sale.
In this session, you can learn more about the results of this proof of concept and initiative, as well as meet representatives from Read How You Want and HumanWare (a global leader in assistive technologies and products for visually-impaired).
Presented by:
Doug Hall, Read How You Want
Michael Covington, ECPA Information & Education Director
Patrick Marc, HumanWare, SVP Marketing, EMI
As Information & Education Director at ECPA, Michael Covington oversees all industry data, research and training initiatives, including the channel-wide sales collection and interpretation system, Pubtrack ™. Covington has a decade of retail experience, having served most recently as General Manager at The Master’s – A Parable Christian Store in Clovis, New Mexico. In 2001, Covington was awarded The Jim Carlson Bookstore Manager of the Year. Covington was recently a CBA board member, a position he held since October 2004. He is married to Christina and has two sons.
Patrick Marc serves as the Market Development Manager for HumanWare, a global leader in assistive technologies for vision, including low vision aids, and products for the blind. Patrick says, “I feel great when I can see an 85 year old able to read her favorite books like she used to when her vision was correct. She is able to gain back something special: the pleasure of reading.”
Doug Hall has had an extensive career in the management and ownership of reading, educational and self-development companies. He was a principal, a board member and CEO of Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics International. EWRD was offered throughout the English speaking world where he affiliated with many publishers. He formed and built several other self development companies such as Active Learning, Smokenders International, NATEC, and YellowPages.com and owned a direct response educational advertising agency. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife Rachell.
