Accessing books in accessible formats for VI readers
If you love reading but aren’t sure where to access books in a format that works for you and your vision impairment. Check out our list below of organisations and websites which may be able to help.
Whether you are looking for braille, large print, audio or tactile books, here are some great options:
ClearVision
ClearVision is a postal lending library of children’s books designed to be shared by visually impaired and sighted children and adults. They lend books all across the UK and Ireland. All books have braille, print and pictures. This allows children with little or no sight to share books with their sighted friends and family, and adult braille readers to enjoy stories with sighted children.
Living Paintings
Living Paintings is a unique publishing house and library. They are a UK charity who design, create and publish tactile and audio books for blind and partially sighted people. They publish titles suitable for anyone from pre-school to adult. Books are distributed through a free postal lending library.
RNIB Bookshare
RNIB Bookshare is a free service providing accessible textbooks to support dyslexic, partially sighted or blind learners who have difficulty reading standard print. Although it predominantly serves those in education, a growing number of other titles are now available for leisure reading. The service offers a range of accessible formats that can be read electronically or adapted to suit the personal reading needs of learners.
Access2Books
This Community Interest Project produces and publishes high quality early years’ books in dual format – giant print (75pt) & braille – with illustrations. The design enables braille or large print readers to read without obscuring the text or illustrations; and therefore gives children and adults the opportunity to read together, forming both educational and social relationships – the biggest contributing factor to children’s early years’ learning of language, confidence and social interaction.
CustomEyes Books
This service, provided by Guide Dogs, produces custom-made large print books books to suit your specific requirements, by tailoring the font type, size, spacing, colour and binding.
RNIB Talking Books
www.rnib.org.uk/talking-books-service
The RNIB Talking Books service is absolutely free. It gives visually impaired people access to over 25,000 fiction and non fiction books for adults and children.
RNIB shop
The RNIB shop offers audiobooks and shared reading books for children, and a range of devices from DAISY players and USB and media players to braille displays.
Scruffy the Uffy
facebook.com/scruffytheuffybooks
After finding out that her son would be a braille user, mum Julie started to look for books and games for him. After realising that the provisions for children were limited, they decided to create their own books using her son’s favourite toy, Scruffy, as the star.
Listening Books
Listening Books is a UK charity providing audiobooks to thousands of people across the country who, for various reasons, cannot read print books.
Calibre Audio
Calibre Audio Library is a national charity providing a subscription-free service of unabridged audio books for adults and children with sight problems, dyslexia or other disabilities, who cannot read print.
Robobraille
This website allows people to convert files into other formats. For example, converting a word document into audio. This website is especially useful if you need to read a long document or for different methods of revising.
UK BOOKSHARE for VI children
This useful Facebook group exists to share children’s used or unwanted large print and/or braille books, and is a space for parents to connect.
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