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Centre for Equitable Library Access
Public library service for Canadians with print disabilities

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Quick user’s guide to Dolphin EasyReader

Overview

This guide provides a quick tutorial to get you started using EasyReader with your CELA account. 

Choose a topic:

  • Key features
  • Download the EasyReader app
  • Create a Dolphin account
  • Sign in to EasyReader with your Apple or Google account
  • Sign in to your CELA account in EasyReader
  • Choosing books and magazines
  • Download a Direct to Player book in EasyReader
  • Read a book
  • Stream a book
  • Navigate through a book
  • Delete a book
  • FAQs

You can also watch our video on using EasyReader (Word transcript also available).

CELA and EasyReader cheat sheet

Webinar recording on Accessing CELA Using VoiceOver with the Dolphin EasyReader App (Word transcript also available)

Webinar recording on using Dolphin's EasyReader app to listen to CELA books 

 

A young black woman wearing white headphones and holding an iPhone she is using to listen to audiobooks

Key features

EasyReader by Dolphin Inc. is an easy-to-use, free, accessible reading app for people with print disabilities including dyslexia, low vision and blindness. EasyReader is available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Chromebook (launched after 2019) and Windows computers.

With Dolphin EasyReader, you can do the following:

  • Play audio books
  • Receive books daily through automatic selection
  • Search for Direct to Player books and magazines in the app
  • Add a human sounding voice to text only titles with synchronized text and audio
  • Easily navigate through the book
  • Search within the text
  • Add bookmarks
  • Set a sleep timer
  • Adjust colours, text size and highlights, and speed to your preferences
Dolphin EasyReader application open on an iPad

Download the EasyReader app

The EasyReader app is available on mobile devices (phones and tablets) and on computers (laptop and desktop). The app is free on most devices. However, a paid EasyReader Premium subscription is required for Mac computers.

Visit the App store, Google Play, or Dolphin’s website, and download the EasyReader app on the device or devices you'll be using.

Dolphin EasyReader (for iPhone, iPad or Android; free)

  • Download in the App store
  • Download on Google Play

Dolphin EasyReader for Windows (free)

  • Download EasyReader for Windows

Dolphin EasyReader for Mac (available with paid subscription)

  • Download EasyReader for Mac
Dolphin EasyReader logo.

Create a Dolphin account

Because EasyReader isn't a CELA product, you’ll need to create a free account with Dolphin before you can use the app to read your CELA books. Or you can log in with your Apple or Google account.

To create a Dolphin account:

  1. Open Dolphin Easy Reader.
  2. Select Sign up for a new Dolphin account. 
  3. Enter your email address and select Next.
  4. Choose a secure password, at least 6 characters long.
    Note the email address and password you use to create your Dolphin account for future reference.
  5. Select I agree to the Terms & Conditions and then select Sign Up.
    A pop-up will appear telling you that your account has been successfully created and that have been sent an email to confirm your account.
  6. Select OK.

After creating your Dolphin account, you can log in to EasyReader with your Dolphin account username and password.

Sign in to EasyReader with your Apple or Google account

If you have an Apple or Google account, you have the option of logging in with your Apple or Google account. If you sign in with Apple or Google, you don't need to create a Dolphin account.

Note: Signing in with your Apple account is only available on iPhone and iPad.

To log in using your Apple or Google account:

  1. Open Dolphin Easy Reader.
  2. Select Sign in with Apple or the Google option.
  3. Depending on the option you select, you may be asked to continue with your Touch ID, or select your Google account. Follow the prompts.
  4. Select I agree to the Terms & Conditions and then select Sign Up.
    A pop-up will appear telling you that you're now logged in to EasyReader.
  5. Select OK.

Sign in to your CELA account in EasyReader

The first time you use EasyReader, you need to sign in to your CELA account. Once you sign in to your CELA account, you can download and read books from CELA Library in EasyReader. 

Note: After you complete these steps, EasyReader saves your CELA account username and password, allowing you quick access for subsequent use.

  1. Open the EasyReader app on your device.
  2. Select the Dolphin account button to log in to your Dolphin account.
  3. Log in using the email address and password you used to set up your Dolphin EasyReader app account.
    If you forgot the email address or password you used to create your Dolphin account, please ask Dolphin for help. 
    Please note: There is a Forgot Password option on the app sign in screen.
    You have successfully logged in to EasyReader.
  4. On mobile:
    1. Open the Side menu (Side menu icon) and select Manage Libraries.
    2. In the list of libraries, enable CELA Library. The CELA login page appears.
    On a Windows computer:
    1. From the side menu, select Manage libraries. The Manage libraries page appears.
    2. Select the Add button. Select CELA Library from the list of libraries and select Add.
      CELA Library will appear in the list of libraries on the side menu. The CELA login page appears.
  5. At the CELA login page, enter your six-digit CELA account username. (Note: adding CELA_ is not required for version 1.3 of EasyReader and later).
  6. Enter the same password you use to log in to your CELA account on the CELA website. Note this password may be different than the password you selected for the EasyReader app.

You've successfully signed in to CELA with EasyReader. Any DAISY Direct to Player books issued to you will appear on your Direct to Player bookshelf in EasyReader but may take a few moments to load.

Note: Your CELA number and password are stored on your device until you log out of CELA. Logging out of EasyReader will not automatically log you out of CELA. If you're using the EasyReader app to read CELA books on a borrowed device, you need to log out of CELA before shutting down the app to keep your CELA account secure.

Choosing books and magazines

Now that you've added EasyReader to your phone, tablet or computer, you're ready to add some books. You can choose your own titles or let us do this for you through our automated selection service. 

To choose your own books or individual magazine issues to read on the EasyReader app, go to celalibrary.ca and log in to your account. You also have the option for search or browse for Direct to Player books and magazines directly within the EasyReader app.

You can also receive books through automatic selection by contacting our Contact Centre so they can add your favourite reading genres to your account. You'll receive 3 books daily up to a maximum of 12 book titles. Once you're ready to read more books, you'll need to delete some titles so our system can issue new reading materials to you. If you like a mixture of choosing your own as well as receiving titles automatically, you'll be able to add as many books as the storage on your device allows, but automatic selection will only add more books if you have less than 12 Direct to Player books on your bookshelf. 

Searching for a Direct to Player book or magazine in EasyReader

  1. Under Manage Libraries in the side menu, select CELA Library.
  2. Select Search or browse.
  3. Select Keyword search.
  4. Enter your author or title keywords.
    A list of search results appears.
  5. Select the title you would like in the list.
    The title details page will open.
  6. To request the book on mobile: 
    1. Select Borrow. The Download and Open options will appear.
    2. Select Download to download the book to your device.
    To request the book on a Windows computer:
    • Select the Download icon on the book or double-click the book.

It'll take a few minutes for the title you selected to be added to your Direct to Player bookshelf and be ready for you to read.

Download a Direct to Player book in EasyReader

In the EasyReader app, the Direct to Player bookshelf on the CELA Library page shows a list of DAISY Direct to Player books you've already placed (or the system already placed through automatic selection) on loan and can immediately listen to. To learn how to download a DAISY .zip book to EasyReader, see Download and read a DAISY .zip book in EasyReader instead.

  1. From the Direct to Player bookshelf page (under CELA Library), choose the Book information button (Book Information icon) that immediately follows the book description of the book you would like to read.
  2. On mobile:
    1. To request the book, select Borrow. The Download and Open options will appear.
    2. Select Download to download the book to your device.
      The book will begin to download and a progress bar will show the progress of download. You may experience a slight pause at the end of the download process before the book is ready to play.
    3. The book has downloaded. To open your book, select Open. 
    On a Windows computer:
    1. To request the book, select the Download icon on the book or double-click the book.
      The book will begin to download and a progress bar will show the progress of download. You may experience a slight pause at the end of the download process before the book is ready to play.
    2. The book has downloaded. To open your book, press the Play icon on the book or click the book.

You'll also be able to access the book from Direct to Player bookshelf after it has downloaded.

Read a book

After you've completed the previous step and downloaded a book in EasyReader, the book is available to read from the CELA Library Direct to player bookshelf page. 

To read a book:

  1. Under Manage Libraries in the Side Menu (EasyReader side menu icon.), select CELA Library.
  2. Select the book you would like to read from the Direct to Player bookshelf page.
    The book opens.
  3. Select the Play arrow.
    If you haven't started the book yet, EasyReader will read the beginning of the book. If you've already begun the book, EasyReader will take you to the last word/phrase/paragraph that was read. If you selected a chapter, EasyReader will begin reading that chapter.
    If you're using the VoiceOver screen reader, it'll follow the same pattern with VoiceOver reading the highlighted text. To continue to read, select the Play button.

For more information on using the skip forward and backward controls in the EasyReader, read the Skip forward and backward topic.

Stream a book

Streaming allows you to play a book immediately without downloading the whole book whereas, if you download a book, you can read it even when you don't have an internet connection. If you're not sure you'll read the whole book, streaming will be faster and likely use less of your mobile data plan. The ability to stream a book is only available on the mobile version of EasyReader.

To stream a book:

  1. From the Direct to Player bookshelf (under CELA Library), select the Book Information button (Book information icon) that immediately follows the book description of the book you'd like to read.
  2. Select the Borrow option.
    Two options appear on screen: Download and Open.
  3. Select Open.

The book will begin to stream. Select the Play button to begin playing. You may experience a short pause before it begins.

Navigate through a book

You can navigate through books by heading or chapter, by page number, or by bookmark, depending on how the book is structured. The default navigation is by heading. The book navigation button is in the bottom left corner of the screen near the Play/Pause button.

To navigate through the book:

  1. Select the Book Navigation button (Book navigation icon) to take you to a list of headings within the book.
  2. On the Headings tab, select specific chapters or pages to which you you wish to navigate.
  3. Push Play to move to the selected position in the book.

Note: Selecting the Back button returns the reader to the start of the book. Dolphin is aware of this issue and will correct it in future versions.

For more information on book navigation, read EasyReader's navigation help.

Delete a book

  1. From the Side menu (Side menu icon), select CELA Library. The select Direct to Player bookshelf.
  2. Select the Book information button (Book Information icon) that comes after the description of the book you want to delete.
  3. Select the Trash can icon (Trash can icon).
    If you're using VoiceOver on mobile, the Trash can is one swipe back after arriving on the Book information page, and the Trash can is reported as "Return book."
    Note: If the Trash can doesn't appear, the book can't be deleted because it hasn't been borrowed or downloaded. Borrow or download the book first to delete it from EasyReader.
  4. EasyReader will ask if you want to remove the book from your device. Select Yes.

You've successfully deleted the book.

FAQs

How do I read a book that’s not currently on my bookshelf?

To add a book to EasyReader, log on to the CELA website, find your book, select the DAISY Direct to Player format in the Get it! options menu, and then select the Get it! button.

How can I tell if a book has been downloaded to my device?

On mobile, downloaded books appear on the Direct to Player bookshelf (under CELA Library). On a Windows computer, downloaded books appear with a Play button on the book icon when you select the book. If viewed with the VoiceOver screen reader, the book details will be read with "on device" reported at the end of the description. Streamed books appear with a cloud over the top left corner of the book cover image. VoiceOver shows these books as “Online.”

What is the difference between downloading and streaming a book?

If you download a book, it's available to read, even if you have no internet connection. If you choose to stream a book, the book is played immediately without downloading the whole book. If you're not sure you will read the whole book, streaming will be faster and likely use less of your mobile data plan. The quality of the book experience is the same for both the download and streaming options.

I requested a Direct to Player book on CELA’s website. Why hasn’t it shown up in EasyReader yet?

First, make sure you're logged in to your CELA account within EasyReader. (The steps can be found in the Sign in to CELA with EasyReader section.) If you've logged in to CELA Library and aren’t seeing the book: please keep in mind it can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours for a book to show up. Whenever a patron requests a book on CELA's website, the system generates a unique file for the patron, which usually takes less than 5 minutes. Two factors can make it take longer: longer book length and synthetic audio, as compared to books with human narration. Synthetic audio books may take several hours before they are available to download. If a book doesn't appear in EasyReader after 24 hours, please let the Contact Centre know by calling 1-855-655-2273 or emailing help@celalibrary.ca.

How much battery power does EasyReader require?

EasyReader is designed to stay active on the book reading page. Unless you close the app, the screen will not dim, and the phone will not go into sleep mode. This feature ensures you don't have to constantly wake up the phone to keep listening to your book, but it also means that your battery can run down. It is important when you finish reading to pause your book, and navigate back out of the book reading page to preserve your battery.

I have EasyReader installed on two devices. If I remove a book from EasyReader on one device, will the book be removed from EasyReader on the other device too?

Books in your Direct to Player bookshelf will show in your list in the EasyReader app, and on the CELA website until they are “returned” on any device, at which point it will no longer show on any device’s Direct to Player bookshelf. In some cases, you may also need to manually remove the book from your device storage. For example, on some devices, such as Humanware Victor machines, downloaded items are stored until they are removed manually. Additionally, if your downloads sync to multiple devices through the cloud (for example, through DropBox or iCloud), you will also need to manually remove books from there.

Will EasyReader work on a data plan rather than Wi-Fi?

Yes. If you have a data plan, it will automatically work with EasyReader. If you specifically prefer to use data instead of Wi-Fi, you can enable the data option on your device.

My book didn’t appear in EasyReader but I see it on my bookshelf in My Account. What should I do?

Refresh your bookshelf by doing the following:

  • Select the Side menu (Side menu icon).
  • Select CELA Library.
  • Select Direct to Player bookshelf. The book should appear.

If you still don’t see the book, please update EasyReader. For information on updating apps on iPhone or iPad, see the Update apps or use automatic downloads. For information on updating apps on Android, see Update your Android apps. In the Windows EasyReader app, select the Help menu and then select Search for updates.

On my Android device, why does sentence highlighting work in EasyReader but word highlighting isn’t available?

See Dolphin’s FAQs (the “Usage” section) for more information.

How do I get more help or information on EasyReader?

The EasyReader app provides online help, including a full manual for mobile and for Windows computer users. For help with reading books and magazines from CELA on EasyReader, call our Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273 or email help@celalibrary.ca.

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Read about our COVID plan.

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