CourseSmart is rolling out an update this week to their browser based textbook app. This app, which was originally launched last July, is based in HTML5 and works in many different browsers, including on the iPad, Android, and in most Windows and OSX web browsers. It supports note taking as well as an offline reading mode.

The update adds a new reading mode called Accessible View, which lets the student see the original print layout of the textbook. The update also features several improvements to the user experience, including faster page turns, more accessible annotations via a new index, stream-lined navigation, and other subtle improvements under the hood.

Jill Ambrose, chief marketing officer at CourseSmart “We’re a hub that offers services to students, that allow them to purchase or rent textbooks at about 60% discount on print prices; we offer faculty free access to the CourseSmart cataglog for choice control and sampling—88% of all U.S. higher education faculty have CourseSmart accounts; we distribute textbooks through stores in physical form or with download codes.”

This release also marks an expansion of the CourseSmart digital textbook platform which enables its catalog to be integrated with a school’s LMS. This extra functionality is going to enable better interaction between students and teachers.

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