Apple Dabble ... KatiePlayer for DAISY

The reason for this series of posts is to learn about and achieve DAISY access on a Mac running OS X. The machine being used for this trial is a 2005 15" PowerBook G4 with 1GB of RAM running OS X 10.4 Tiger. At present there is only one DAISY playback software product for the Mac - KatiePlayer which is produced by the oddly named KafkasDaytime. Much to my consternation, a search for reviews, articles, user feedback, etc. on this prodect did not turn up much - and what I did find was not very helpful.

• 2004 NFB Review of DTB Players [.doc format - see document pages 38-40]. Bearing in mind this review is of an earlier version of KatiePlayer and by association, an earlier version of MAC OS which did not include VoiceOver, thus making installation and usage quite difficult.
• 2005 conversation from the European Accessible Information Network forum. Much of the thread is written by the Joseph Woodill [head of KafkasDaytime?] and provides the development history of the product as well as recognition that the current version is not as complete as the company envisions - including a link to limitations of the current version. The company is well aware of these [and other] issues and made a conscious business decision to release the product in its current state.
• 2006 post from the KatieBlog detailing what they are developing for the next release.
• The company is very cognizant of the need for more trials and is actively seeking feedback and field testers.

The on-line manual for KatiePlayer is difficult to navigate as it is broken up into small and somewhat disjointed sections. The index page leads to what appears to be a dead link - but that is the case only in IE and Maxthon on Windows. The index page opens fine in Safari [Mac] and Firefox [Mac and PC]. The FAQ Page is quite useful and informative.

Installing the software is not as easy as I expected - but that could also be due to my lack of experience with Macs. The programs are only available on-line through the company website and involve downloading the product, registering after installation, and awaiting eMail confirmation of payment for a code to unlock the program. I opted for the Basic License as that is what my students will most likely be using. The install process is not too different than that used by RFB&D to unlock their software for accessing AudioPlus content. Speaking of which, installing the RFB&D overlay involves a twenty-two (22) step process that is quite easy to screw-up [as I learned firsthand]. Fortunately the Mac is a very forgiving machine and I have ample experience with the RFB&D installation process for various Windows software products.

Post-installation and pre-use I explored the KatiePlayer Help on-line. I recommend taking the time to view the series of QuickTime movies provided on the site - keeping in mind that they are in need of updating. What you will find in both the videos and in actual use is that the Speech Guide [audio-navigation] controls - which appear to be VoiceOver integrated - are far more developed than the rest of the program. You can control the volume, rate, and pitch of the navigation controls but NOT the actual DTB playback thus making things a bit backwards. I installed a typical RFB&D book with 350+ pages. Loading the book was pretty straightforward and anyone with experience using other RFB&D DAISY players should have little difficulty in getting the hang of the basic program functions. Reviewing the manual and watching the videos before attempting any of this is recommended.

Here are my notes on player operation using an RFB&D Digital book:

• The current version lacks the ability to control playback speed and thus is only slightly better than simply listening to well labeled and organized mp3 files - except for the fact that this [or another software] is necessary to access RFB&D titles.
• Page navigation is frustrating at best. I followed the instructions to the letter in an attempt to jump around the book and sometimes it work and sometimes it didn't. Unfortunately, the headers and pages numbers do not appear in what one would assume is the navigation window. Basic visual navigation is inexplicably missing.
  It could be the software, computer, RFB&D disc or some combination of the three but the time delay while searching/navigating was much longer than what I have become accustomed to with a Windows PC running a comparable program.
• The bookmarking features seems to work pretty well and provides a visual list of what has been saved but - in an unusual twist on the norm - pointing and clicking with the mouse does not allow navigation to saved bookmarks and users have to use keyboard commands.
• The fast-forward and reverse buttons seem to be random in operation - sometimes skipping three pages and sometimes one. This could be a result of the RFB&D indexing. Regardless, the time spent waiting for the navigation to finish could be better spent if the ability to adjust the audio speed is included in the next release.
• Aside from the expected controls [play, pause, header level, location slider, etc.] there is one called page spanner which [according to the manual] "provides a visual reference - showing (with vertical white markers) where pages occur in the currently selected audio file". Though a nice idea - the spanner visual element is simply too small to be of any practical use.
• The "where am I?" function seems to be the most user-friendly feature in the program.

The next trial was to get KatiePlayer to play a DTB 2.02 created in-house using Dolphin EasePublisher. This was a very short trial as the program did not [and apparently will not] recognize any DTB other than those produced by RFB&D and Bookshare. I did attempt every configuration of saving a DTB file to disc and flashdrive and nothing worked. I could not find any information on the company website regarding access to or proper configuration for in-house production. I was able to use both iTunes and the Mac version of Windows Media Player to access the mp3 files within the DTB book folder. However, as I noted in a previous post, Windows Media Player has the ability to adjust the speed on MP3 tracks - but not on the Mac version. I do not find iTunes to be nearly as user friendly or flexible as WMP.

In it present configuration, KatiePlayer is not a program for the blind - and extreme low vision users would have difficulty using it even with VoiceOver and the Macintosh Accessibility Features. Like most of what I have learned about the Mac, users need to be able to see what they are doing. It's inability to play DTB files created in-house severely limits its appeal. Until the company releases the next version, I am simply going to loan Mac users a portable player such as Victor Vibe or Telex Scholar. At least that way I will know they can access any DTB's they are provided.