January 9, 2006 (Princeton, NJ) – Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D®) has been given The Communicator Awards' highest accolade – the Award of Excellence – for its Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince campaign. The latest installment in the wildly popular book series was put into the hands of students with print disabilities at nearly the same time as the print version's worldwide release. RFB&D, a nonprofit organization, is the nation's educational library of recorded textbooks for students with visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disabilities that make reading standard textbooks difficult or impossible.
The Communicator Awards is an international competition that recognizes outstanding work in the communication field. Entries are judged by industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. In a field of nearly 1,400 entries in the audio competition, RFB&D was among only a handful of winners whose ability to communicate, according to the judges, "makes them the best in their field."
On July 16, 2005, nearly 100 volunteers at RFB&D's National Headquarters and New Jersey Unit ensured that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was recorded within eight hours of the midnight release of the print version. Following four hours of post-production, RFB&D's accessible audiobook was made available on RFB&D's AudioPlus® CDs and RFB&D's Classic Cassettes™ so that members were able to read the bestseller at virtually the same time as their friends and peers. At the time of recording, 700 pre-orders of the book had already been placed. RFB&D's efforts were highlighted in stories by The Associated Press and other local and national media outlets.
In addition to working with the book's publisher, Scholastic, to ensure the book's prompt availability for recording, RFB&D and longtime partner Telex Communications collaborated on the project by offering the compact and portable DAISY-compatible Telex Scholar CD player at a reduced nonprofit price. The partnership allowed RFB&D members who ordered Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on RFB&D's AudioPlus CDs to take advantage of lower pricing for the duration of the special offer.
"The work that RFB&D does every day to assist students with print disabilities is incredibly inspiring," said RFB&D President & CEO John Kelly. "By honoring the quality of RFB&D's audiobooks, the Communicator Awards also honors the hard work and passion of our dedicated staff and the more than 7,000 volunteers who produce not only leisure reading such as Harry Potter, but the recorded textbooks that ensure students have equal access to the printed word and the education they deserve."
RFB&D serves more than 141,000 students from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond with its one-of-a-kind collection of more than 109,000 educational titles on CD or four-track cassette. RFB&D's AudioPlus® digitally recorded textbooks on CD provide unprecedented navigation, ease of use and proven effectiveness as learning tools for students with print disabilities. Students rely on RFB&D's unique accommodation to access the printed page and to achieve educational success. All of RFB&D's accessible titles are recorded by volunteers working in 29 RFB&D recording studios nationwide.
Links to more articles about RFB&D's recording of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
"Muggles work magic with words"
Star-Ledger, July 17, 2005
"Disabled get a chance to follow Harry Potter"
Home News Tribune, July 17, 2005
RFB&D Press Release about Harry Potter Recording