BARD Screen Reader: Applying for a BARD Account

Hi, I'm Vikki Vaughan and today we'll learn how to apply for a BARD account. This workshop is intended for screen reader users. We'll be using NVDA as our screen reader but it will work pretty much the same no matter which screen reader you use.

If you are a low vision user, be sure to check out our low vision version of this workshop. You might be wondering what is BARD. BARD stands for braille and audio reading download. It's our one stop shop for all the digital books and magazines available through the National Library Service for the blind and print disabled or NLS. Eligible NLS patrons can use their BARD account to access more than 110,000 audio and braille books.

That's not all, BARD also has over 80 current magazines available for downloading. In this series, we'll learn how to apply for a BARD membership, search for and download desired books and transfer our digital books to affordable cartridge. To access BARD our first order of business is to apply for a BARD membership.

Let's jump right in to the NLS BARD website to start our application. This web address is nlsbard .loc .gov. Loc stands for Library of Congress. And gov stands for government.

Screen Reader: Document, email address edit, blank.

Vikki: When we first open the website we find our cursor in the email address edit field. This is convenient because once we have our BARD login information, we return to this page to quickly log in. While we're here let's have a look at some of the links we find on the BARD homepage. First, we'll jump out of the form field with the escape key. Then we'll use the keyboard shortcut, NVDA PLUS F7, to list our links. Now when I say NVDA, I'm referencing the NVDA modifier key. We can use either the insert or caps lock key, depending on our configuration. NVDA plus F7 brings up a list in which we find all of our links.

Screen Reader: Elements list dialogue, tree view, level zero BARD mobile for Fire tablet six of ten.

Vikki: Since BARD is a web based service, we access it through our online devices. Whether it's our computer, our phone or our tablet. As we arrow through our list, in addition to BARD mobile for Fire tablets, we find links for BARD mobile apps for Android.

Screen Reader: BARD mobile for Android five of ten level zero.

Vikki: And iOS devices like our iPhones and iPads.

Screen Reader: BARD mobile for iOS devices four of ten level zero.

Vikki: This workshop focuses on accessing BARD digital content using a Windows computer. It's great to know we have so many choices. Let's explore other links on BARD's main page. We'll use the up arrow key to move through our list.

Screen Reader: Frequently asked questions three of ten level zero. Instructions, two of ten level zero. BARD application instructions.

Vikki: Here at the top of the list we find a link entitled BARD application instructions. Let's press the enter key to open this link.

Screen Reader: https//nlsbard.loc.gov/ login//nlsgooglechrome, document.

Vikki: I pressed the control key to silence NVDA for now. We have landed on a new page where we find our application instructions. There's lots to read here so let's summarize the important points. In order to apply for a BARD account, we must meet three requirements. First of all we must currently be an NLS patron. We must also have an active email account and finally we must have access to the internet. If you don't yet have an NLS account, you can call their toll free number for assistance in signing up. The number is 1-800- 424- 8567. If you prefer to apply online, visit the NLS website for more information. The web address is loc.gov /nls. Let's list our links and check out a couple of other links on this page.

Screen Reader: Elements list dialogue. Tree view. NLS download at loc.gov, one of seven level zero.

Vikki: As we use our down arrow to move through the list, we find two links for BARD applications.

Screen Reader: Privacy policy, two of seven, level. Link to BARD application for individuals, visited three of seven, level zero.

Vikki: This link, BARD application for individuals, is the one we want to use.

Screen Reader: Link to BARD application for institutions, four of seven, level zero.

Vikki: This link entitled link to BARD application for institutions is for institutions that serve people with visual impairments, such as voc rehab, schools and hospitals. It's the one we use at Hadley. Let's up arrow to the link to apply as an individual.

Screen Reader: Link to BARD application for individuals, visited three of seven, level zero.

Vikki: We'll press enter to open it.

Screen Reader: BARD enrollment application Google Chrome. BARD enrollment application document. Graphic the National Library Service for the blind unprint disabled. Individual application.

Vikki: We've opened a new application webpage and we'll be filling out a form. Let's tab to our first item, a convo box.

Screen Reader: Please select the library you are affiliated with. Convo box, please select the library elapsed.

Vikki: Here we're asked to select the library with which we are affiliated. This is important information because our local NLS library processes our BARD application. Let's press alt and the down arrow to open our drop down box.

Screen Reader: List, please select the library, one of 96.

Vikki: We have a couple of methods we can use to select our local NLS state library affiliate. We can either arrow down or use first letter navigation to find our home state. Let's try the latter. Since I live in Tennessee, I'll press the letter t.

Screen Reader: T, TN - Tennessee Library for Accessible Books and Media in Nashville, Tennessee. 77 of 96.

Vikki: This jumps me down the list to the Tennessee Library for Accessible Books and Media in Nashville. Unless you also live in Tennessee, your local NLS library will be different. Once we've selected the appropriate library, we press the enter key to select it.

Screen Reader: Please select the library you are affiliated with, convo box TN - Tennessee Library for Accessible Books and Media in Nashville, Tennessee, collapsed.

Vikki: We then tab to the submit button.

Screen Reader: Submit button.

Vikki: And press our space bar to select it.

Screen Reader: Individual application. E, edit city, edit state, convo box collapsed Tennessee zip code.

Vikki: We've opened the BARD individual application page and here is where we enter our personal information. For some reason when we first open the page our cursor's in the middle of the page. Let's press shift plus tab repeatedly until we here our first edit field. First name edit field.

Screen Reader: City, second, address, last name, middle initial, first name, edit, blank.

Vikki: We tab through each edit field to complete the form. Near the bottom of the page we're asked to provide our email address. As I mentioned earlier, BARD uses our email address as our user name on the account. It's really important that we use the same email that we used when we signed up for the NLS service to sign up for BARD service. The reason it's important is when we complete our BARD application it's sent to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. They check with our local library to make sure that we have an NLS account. Our email address is our user name for both accounts, our NLS and our BARD account.

Screen Reader: E-mail address, V, I, K, I, Vikki, .

Vikki: As with many forms, we are asked to enter our email address twice to confirm the correct spelling. After the email address and conformation edit fields, we tab to a drop down box.

Screen Reader: Please select the type of player you will be using. Convo box NLS digital talking book player/ BARD mobile app collapsed.

Vikki: Here we select the type of player we will be using. We press alt and the down arrow to open our drop down box.

Screen Reader: List, NLS Digital Talking Box Player/BARD mobile app, one of 20.

Vikki: We can either arrow to or use first letter navigation to select our player. Let's down arrow to hear some of our choices.

Screen Reader: APH Book Port DT, two of 20. APH Book Port Plus, three of 20. APH Braille Plus Mobile Manager, four. Apex BrailleNote/VoiceNote, five of 20.

Vikki: If we use a refreshable braille note taker, we can also access BARD's digital content as braille files. Today we'll press the N key to select the NLS Digital Talking Book Player.

Screen Reader: N - NLS Digital Talking Book Player/ BARD mobile app, one of 20.

Vikki: And then press our enter key to select it.

Screen Reader: Please select the type of player you will be using convo box NLS Digital Talking Book Player/BARD mobile app collapsed.

Vikki: Just one more step on this page. After we've filled in all of our personal information, we tab to the submit button and press the space bar.

Screen Reader: Submit button.

Vikki: Now I won't actually do this today because I'm demonstrating the process for you. Within a few days of completing the application process, we'll receive an email from BARD with our new username and password. Please join me for the second part of this workshop. Where we'll cover the rest of the application process. We'll be ready to login and start using our BARD account in no time.

Today we took our first steps in applying for a BARD account. I'm Vikki Vaughan and I thank you for joining me.