When I was growing up, visually impaired readers had very few sources 

for obtaining accessible books. For most of us, our primary source was 

likely the National Library Service. Books were sent to us either in 

Braille or in recorded format. The recorded books, known as talking 

books, were played using cassette tapes or phonograph records. Records 

were played on a rather large record player with, at least on the one 

which I had, a detachable speaker. Tapes were played on very rugged but 

still large tape players, equipment which was also issued by NLS, 

meaning that it wasn’t yours to keep. Braille books often consisted of 

several volumes, with the average novel taking up 2 to 3 thick volumes, 

being shipped in large containers. I’m sure many of us have memories of 

having stacks of books, and the containers they shipped with, taking 

over not only our bedroom but perhaps even the entire house, driving our 

other family members a bit bonkers. Magazines, while available through 

NLS, were few in number. There were a few other specialized libraries 

but most of us probably started with and resorted back to NLS for the 

majority of our reading needs, even though the amount of material was a 

drop in the bucket compared to what was available for sighted consumers. 

Also, once a book was published in print we would likely have to wait 

for nearly a year before we could get our hands on that book through 

NLS, assuming that NLS chose to make it accessible in the first place. 

Once we knew that our local NLS affiliate had the book, we would order 

it, usually by calling a librarian over the phone, and we would then 

wait for the book to arrive in the mail, with free matter shipping 

meaning we’d have to wait even longer for the book to arrive.



I’ll bet that most blind readers never even thought to set foot in a 

public library, unless it was a time when they began offering books on 

tape for patrons to borrow. Beyond that, most libraries and bookstores 

were pretty much inaccessible to most of us. When I was a kid, acquiring 

a scanner for converting printed material into an accessible format was 

possible but the technology cost around thirty thousand dollars, putting 

the capability out of reach for most of us, myself included.



Fast forward to 2017. While NLS may still be the go-to source for books 

for many of us, books no longer need to be delivered to our door in big, 

bulky containers. Instead, we have the capability to download a book in 

minutes and play it on a variety of players we can actually own for 

ourselves such as a Booksense, Bookport or Victor Stream. We can even 

download them and read them on our phones, tablets or iPods. For those 

who use electronic Braille, a Braille book can be downloaded in less 

than a minute to be read on a Braille display, without needing to worry 

about flipping over the address card and putting the boxes in the mail. 

Our public libraries offer not only books on CD but downloadable books 

as well, which can be read on our computers, tablets or smartphones. Not 

to mention that many libraries also offer free access to online digital 

content, such as various journals, magazines and encyclopedias.



While brick and mortar bookstores may still be inaccessible to us, we 

are now able to independently browse the virtual bookshelves of online 

stores such as Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Blio, Bookshare and Learning 

Ally, without needing to ask for the assistance of a family member or 

salesperson. Once we find the book that we want, we can download it, 

usually in less than a minute, and instantly have it available to read 

on our device of choice. Many of these online stores can also provide us 

with access to magazines as well as books. Today, if a book is published 

in print, chances are that we can get it in an accessible format the 

same day our sighted counterparts can get it in print, considering that 

more and more sighted readers are reading books on Kindles, Fire Tablets 

and iPads just as we are. Thanks to the built-in accessibility of these 

devices, we can buy a reading device such as a Kindle e-reader or a Fire 

tablet at a very reasonable price, such as the new $49.99 Fire 7 tablet 

from Amazon. If the book or magazine we want isn’t available in an 

accessible format, the prices of scanning options have come down 

significantly since the days of the clunky thirty thousand dollar 

Kurzweil Reading Machine. In addition to software such as OpenBook and 

the Kurzweil 1000, there are options which are even more inexpensive, 

such as the KNFB Reader app, available on iOS, Android and, as of 

recently, Windows 10.



During the next phone meeting of the Philadelphia Computer Users Group 

for the Blind and Visually Impaired I’d like to discuss this topic, in 

depth, with any of you who are interested in discussing it. Questions 

for possible discussion might be:



1.What are your favorite sources for books?



2.Are there sources which you use for books which I have not mentioned 

and which you feel we should know about?



3.How do you prefer reading books? On an iPad? A Victor Stream? An iPhone?



4.Do you have questions about using these or other services?



If you have something to share about this topic, I’d love to hear from 

you. All are welcome to call in and participate or just to listen. Even 

if you’re outside of the Philly area, you’re more than welcome to join us.



When: Friday, May 26



Time: 8:00 PM Eastern time



To join us, the number to call is



(712) 432-3900



When asked to enter an access code, enter



391477



Followed by the pound key.



Looking forward to our next phone meeting.



-- 

David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist Feel free to visit my 

Web site WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info





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