DAISY OK Call for participation

Geneva, Wednesday, 25^th of January 2006

Dear DAISY members, friends and interested parties:

The DAISY OK logo has been available for more than six years. Plextor, VisuAide (now Humanware), Telex and others have asked the DAISY Board to use this logo associated with their products. This usage was granted on a "honour basis", with the understanding that they would strive to make their products work with the DAISY specifications.

More and more companies want to have their products carry the DAISY OK logo. These reputable companies want to have a process that will lead to DAISY OK certification. They want to be able to describe exactly the portions of the specifications they conform to.

Consumers also want to know about the products they are purchasing. With more than 15 hardware players and more than a dozen software players, consumers are confused about what exactly products can do. We need to develop a list of basic and advanced features that describe a conforming DAISY player.

We think it is important to initiate the concept that has been discussed for a half dozen years. This projects seeks to establish a "Self Certification Process that will lead to a license to use the DAISY OK logo and the "DAISY Certified" trademark.

In Scope

The DAISY Self Certification Development will establish a standing working group that oversees the process. It will develop the process which must be followed which leads to the granting of a license to use the DAISY OK logo and certification trademark.

In scope products and services:

• hardware players;
• software players;
• cell phone implementations;
• PDA implementations;
• tethered (USB cable connected to PC) solid state devices;
• Production tools;
• helper applications;
• validation tools;
• conversion services (their conversion to XML is DAISY OK);
• and any other devices or items the project members deem certifiable, including a lively debate if DAISY book specification should be in scope (there are a lot of produced DAISY books out there that carry the DAISYok logo; what does that mean, should mean).

Out of Scope

We will not establish a testing procedure to verify that the claims of the applicant are true. However, we will establish a mechanism to report bugs, misconceptions, and false claims.

Deliverables

• A standing committee who addresses issues that arise;
• A process for developing and revising the policy;
• A policy for obtaining the license.
• A Web page that explains the DAISY OK Certification process;
• A Web form for applicants to use;
• A Web page that lists the products that are DAISY OK, with a link to their self certification claim;
• A mechanism to select two products and compare them side-by-side

Schedule

Once launched, this is expected to be a six month project. Probably several months of conference calls, a face-to-face meeting probably associated with some event where people are already present, and conference calls to finalize the first launch of the web pages. The web design and feel will be scrutinized and commented by project members; design itself will be done by Olaf and perhaps with the help of other resources.

• George Kerscher will be the DAISY staff member of this group.
• Olaf Mittelstaedt will be the project lead.

If you would like to participate in this project and have time to devote to the work, please use the Contact Us form specifying the DAISY OK project.