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3. Introduction to DAISY.
This chapter gives an overview of the DAISY format and some of the
terminology used. If you are new to the DAISY format, you should
read this chapter thoroughly. If you are an experienced DAISY user,
you may wish to skim read the chapter or bypass it altogether.
3.1. What is DAISY?
DAISY is an acronym, which stands for Digital Accessible Information
System. It is the format, which is being developed as the
international standard for digital talking books. DAISY books can be
played on a dedicated hardware player or on a computer equipped
with the appropriate software.
3.2. Main features of DAISY.
The main features of the DAISY format are as follows:
•
Compression of information - with high levels of compression
available, it is possible to store up to 90 hours of digital audio
on a single CD (700MB).
•
Flexible Navigation - the DAISY format includes a range of
features, which enable the reader to quickly access the parts
of the book they wish to read. These features include
navigation on 6 levels, by pages, by groups and phrases.
These items will be discussed in more detail later in this
chapter.
•
Multi-media capability - in addition to digital audio, the DAISY
format is able to incorporate text, graphics and even video to
provide the reader with a fully synchronized, multi-media
reading experience.
