Making reading accessible

Making reading accessible

How can you read if you can't see the text or turn a page, or if you see a jumble of letters? Many ways! It's a matter of adapting the format of the content so you can use it, with a little help from technology.

A matter of choice - one size does not fit all

Format and reading technology are a personal choice. One size does not fit all, or even one - the same person might choose different ways to read depending on the situation.

Close-up of a woman's hands holding an iPhone with a blue screen

Choice can depend on the:

  • Specific nature of a person's print disability. For example: degree of vision loss, range of motion, multiple disabilities.
  • Purpose of reading. For example - leisure or study.
  • Person’s skills. For example - comfort level with technology.
  • Individual preferences. For example - human or synthetic voice.

A public library's CELA service offers access to a range of alternative formats to meet these needs.

Learn about all our accessible formats or read on to learn more about how you can accommodate various print disabilities and some of the adaptive reading technologies that are used by people who have print disabilities.

Adapting reading for different types of print disability

Visual disability

Areas of difficulty:

  • Seeing text or images (all or partial)
  • Focusing or moving the eyes

Adaptations:

  • Magnify print materials
  • Scan print materials and convert to e-text
  • Manipulate e-text using adaptive software (for example - zoom, highlight, convert to speech or braille)
  • Listen to an audio version
  • Read by touch (braille, tactile images)
  • Watch video with an audio description of on-screen action (descriptive video)
A black and white illustration of an eye

Physical disability

Areas of difficulty:

  • Holding print materials
  • Manipulating print materials (turning pages, for example)

Adaptations:

  • Use assistive device to turn pages of print materials
  • Read e-text or listen to audio using adaptive software or a device that requires limited motion and strength to operate (for example - switch access or voice-activated devices like smart speakers.)
An illustration of a person in a wheelchair

Learning disability

Areas of difficulty:

  • Comprehending text - for example:
    • Dyslexia - decoding letter combinations, recognizing common words
    • Interpreting visual information - distinguishing between letters like 'h' and 'n', for example

Adaptations:

  • Manipulate e-text using adaptive software (for example - use text to speech; use Open Dyslexic Font; highlight phonemes, words or sentences as you read)
  • Listen to an audio version
An illustration of a person's head with three ellipsis on top

Adaptive reading technology

Adaptive reading technology ranges from handheld magnifiers to highly customizable software. One technology often incorporates others. For example - text to speech is often built in to DAISY readers, magnifiers and braille displays.

What works with our books? Check our Compatible devices and formats page or read on to learn more about adaptive reading technology.

DAISY readers

Description:

A DAISY reader is a device or software that plays books in DAISY format. DAISY is a format for audio or text books offering advanced navigation options.

A DAISY reader can play audio and convert text to speech.

Using the buttons on a DAISY reader device, you can navigate by heading, phrase, index and more. (Just think of trying to look up a recipe in a cookbook without it!)

DAISY reader devices, like Victor Reader Stream, are specially designed for people with disabilities and have features such as large high-contrast buttons, sound cues, tone and speed adjustment, and a sleep timer. Many DAISY reader devices, like Victor Reader Stratus, also work with mainstream media such as regular audio CDs and MP3 files. Conversely, other specialised audio players, such as Envoy Connect and other mainstream MP3 players, can read DAISY audiobooks and offer basic functionality.

Some popular examples:

Victor Reader Stratus

Text to speech

Description:

Text to speech (TTS) is technology that converts digital text into audio.

A "screen reader" uses TTS to read the information on a  screen aloud. It announces the text in a linear way, from left to right and top to bottom of the screen.

A screen reader also lets you navigate by headings, links and other markers.

On mobile devices with a touch screen, it announces the text in the area you're touching.

Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android devices come with screen readers. You can also purchase standalone software that supports a higher degree of customization.

Some popular examples:

The text of the book Agnes Grey highlighted in the EasyReader application on a mobile device

Magnifiers

Description:

High-power magnifiers such as Closed Caption TVs (CCTVs) let you enlarge print text to many times the size of the original.

On a computer or mobile device, screen magnification software lets you increase the size of the text, change font and customize colours to help you see better. Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android devices offer built-in screen magnification options.

It can also highlight the words as you go and may include a screen reader.

Some popular examples:

CCTV - Print Magnifier showing white enlarged text on a black screen

Literacy support software

Description:

Literacy support software can help you focus and decode text.

For example, it can bring an area of text to the foreground, read the text aloud, and highlight phonemes or words as you go.

The software may also have support for reading comprehension, writing and studying. CELA materials can be downloaded to Chromebooks or other laptops or tablets where the student uses the literacy support software.

VoiceDream and EasyReader apps also offer many of these features.

Some popular examples:

Literacy support software on screen highlighting the text in a document

Braille displays

Description:

A refreshable braille display is a device with 'pins' that move up and down through holes to replicate the six dots in a series of braille 'cells'. Displays vary in size from 20 to 80 cells.

The device 'refreshes' to display the next cells as you go. It can interpret braille in a digital format 'Braille Ready Format (BRF)' or convert e-text to braille.

A braille display can stand alone or connect to a computer or mobile device.

Some popular examples:

Brailliant device connected to a laptop