Links to accessible reading material
- Purchase commercial downloadable audio books.Many titles are abridged, but there are a lot of unabridged selections as well.
- Science fiction and fantasy books.Persons with disabilities can apply to receive Bean's webscriptions for free. (see also Read Assist).
- This site has volunteers who record public domain books. They post these recordings as free downloadable audiobooks. They also have a books podcast where they take a book from their collection and send down 3 chapters a week plus a weekly poetry selection. The url for the podcast directory is http://librivox.org/podcast.xml.
- This is a web site where individuals with print impairments can share scanned books. Because it is member driven, there is a good variety of material. There is a $50 per year subscription fee plus a one time $25 set-up fee. If you are affiliated with the Philadelphia library for the blind, you can get bookshare books for free for the next three years. Call the library (1-800-221-1794) for more information.
- Free public domain books in electronic format.
- This site contains a pretty comprehensive list of reading sites accessible to people with visual impairments.
- Books on CD in a specialized format that makes them easy to navigate. They have mostly textbooks, but they also have a variety of other technical books on many subjects such as cookbooks, history, biographies, business, health, science, the arts, etc. A membership and a special player are required. If you would like to try the books before you apply for and pay the fee for a membership, you can borrow a book and a player from the Tri-County Association for the Blind. You must live in the Harrisburg area and have a print disability in order to participate in this program.
- This site contains books in digital Braille format. Contact your cooperating library to sign up. If you don't know who they are, you can find it on the web site.
- In order to participate in this program, you must be a member in good standing with your cooperating library, and you must have a Vidtor Reader Stream. You can purchase the Stream from Humanware or from The Sendero Group. NLS will begin distributing their free digital book player sometime this year. Also, it is likely that other third party players will become available. When they do, NLS will add them to the program. For more information and to apply go to The NLS talking books website
