Learning Ally
Learning Ally name and logo
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| Founded | 1948 |
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| Founders | Anne T. Macdonald |
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
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Area served
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United States |
| Slogan | Together It's Possible |
| Website | http://www.LearningAlly.org |
Learning Ally, which was previously named Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic or RFB&D, is a non-profit volunteer organization operating nationwide in the United States. It produces and maintains a library of educational accessible audiobooks for people who cannot effectively read standard print because of visual impairment, dyslexia or other disabilities.
Contents
Services
Learning Ally provides a wide range of services for individuals with print disabilities such as dyslexia and visual impairments, as well as the people who support them. This includes services for parents such as phone consultations, webinars, support networks and information on specialists and tutors; and services for teachers such as classroom management tools (Teacher Ally), professional development workshops and lesson plans.
Learning Ally also offers a robust digital audiobook library that includes the world’s largest collection of audio textbooks. The library, which in 2015 contained over 80,000 titles, includes a broad variety of specialty and academic subjects, from kindergarten through post-graduate and professional.
Borrowers must provide a certification of their disability, and may borrow titles through an individual membership, through their association with a member institution such as a school, or both. In recent years, approved borrowers had paid no charges or fees for this service thanks to funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Since the federal appropriation was eliminated in 2011, Learning Ally began requiring an annual membership fee for individuals, currently $119, with hardship waivers available for those who qualify. Learning Ally Audio software for mainstream mobile devices and Learning Ally's Link software for Mac and PC are available to members free of charge. Institutional memberships are also provided at various fee levels to public and private schools, colleges and universities.
Audiobooks
Textbook and literature titles are digitally recorded by human narrators and produced in downloadable audio files in a specialized format, which allows Learning Ally to respect copyright and allows users to navigate their audiobooks by chapter or page number, set bookmarks, speed up playback, etc. Downloadable audio textbooks can be played using mainstream devices like the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, as well as Android smartphones and tablets, Mac-OS or Microsoft Windows-compatible computers running Learning Ally’s Link software. The audiobooks can also be played back on assistive technology devices like the Plextalk, Humanware Stream, and Intel Reader, to name a few.
Several thousand of the most popular titles in Learning Ally's library are available in VOICEtext format, which features on-screen text-highlighting that is synced with the human audio playback—an advantage for many readers who benefit from a multisensory experience (ear reading and eye reading).
More than 65% of Learning Ally’s digital library includes core-curriculum textbooks for K-12 and college, with extensive collections in science, technology, engineering, and math. Of critical importance for blind readers, Learning Ally audiobooks include descriptions of charts, graphs, and illustrations. It is the largest human-narrated audiobook library in the world for students with disabilities.
Volunteers
A volunteer force of approximately 2,500 people records several thousand titles annually into Learning Ally's digital audiobook library. Volunteers primarily assist by narrating books in one of Learning Ally’s studios or by recording books remotely on a home computer; and they are also needed for directing, editing, writing image descriptions, fundraising, and many other volunteer activities. Specialty readers with backgrounds in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) are particularly in demand for their ability to explain complex concepts and describe graphs, diagrams, and other textbook images.
History
Learning Ally was founded in 1948 by Anne T. Macdonald, a member of the New York Public Library's Women's Auxiliary, in response to an influx of inquiries from soldiers who had lost their sight in combat during World War II. The newly passed GI Bill of Rights guaranteed a college education to all veterans, but texts were mostly inaccessible to the recently blinded veterans, who did not read Braille and had little access to live readers. Macdonald mobilized the women of the Auxiliary under the motto "Education is a right, not a privilege".
Members of the Auxiliary formed Recording for the Blind and transformed the attic of the New York Public Library into a studio, recording textbooks using then state-of-the-art six-inch vinyl SoundScriber phonograph discs that played approximately 12 minutes of material per side. In 1952, Macdonald established recording studios in seven additional cities across the United States.
By 1970, the organization found itself serving an increasing number of people who had learning disabilities, including dyslexia. To acknowledge this growing member population, the organization’s name was changed on June 1, 1995 to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D). On April 11, 2011, the organization's name was again changed to Learning Ally. More than 70 percent of Learning Ally's membership, including children and adults, are certified as having learning disabilities.
The SoundScriber discs were eventually replaced by four-track cassettes; in 2007, all titles were distributed on CD in a specialized format (DAISY) which facilitates accessing the audio recording by chapter or by a given page number from the printed material.
In recent years, CDs were gradually phased out, and as of July 2015, all titles have been converted into downloadable audio files and are exclusively distributed to Learning Ally members online.
National and Local Award Opportunities
Each year, Learning Ally awards four types of scholarship prizes to students who are recognized for their academic excellence, extraordinary leadership, and service to others; and who have thrived on their education paths thanks in part to their extensive use of accessible educational content and assistive technology provided by Learning Ally. Each award winner has a long list of honors and accomplishments, and has graduated with a GPA above 3.0, with most near the 4.0 mark.
- Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Awards (SAA)- Since 1959, Learning Ally has honored exceptional students through the privately endowed Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Awards (SAA) for college seniors and beyond who are blind or visually impaired. Hundreds of students apply for these prestigious awards each year and are selected by committees of Learning Ally volunteers, board members, parents, educators, donors and staff.
- Marion Huber Learning Through Listening (LTL) Awards- Each year, Learning Ally honors exceptional students through the Marion Huber Learning Through Listening® Awards, which were instituted in 1991 for high school seniors with learning differences such as dyslexia. Hundreds of students apply for these prestigious awards each year and are selected by committees of Learning Ally volunteers, board members, parents, educators, donors and staff.
- William L. Ritchie Learning Through Listening (LTL) Award- Given to high school students in the metropolitan DC area.
- Winslow Coyne Reitnouer Scholastic Achievement Awards (SAA)- Given to high school juniors or seniors and college undergraduates in southern California.
Explore 1in5
In 2015 Learning Ally launched the www.Explore1in5.org site, a student-driven community hub to drive public awareness of dyslexia.
The site offers resources and information on dyslexia, including:
- Video statements and stories by children and teens describing their dyslexia experiences
- Common misconceptions and myths about dyslexia
- Opportunities for site visitors to contribute their own stories by uploading a video or writing a blog entry
- Ideas and materials to help raise awareness of dyslexia
