Books are available in three traditional accessible formats:
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braille - a system of raised dots that allows you to read with your fingers and sense of touch. Find out about learning braille.
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audio - audio books are available to listen to on CD, cassette tape, and in digital formats like MP3.
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large or giant print - if you have some vision but you struggle to read regular print, large or giant print may be for you.
New technology, like
eBooks, is opening up a whole new world of books for blind and partially sighted people:
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you can usually change the font size and background colour of eBooks to make them easier to read
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you can often listen to eBooks as text-to-speech
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you can connect some eBook readers to your computer, letting you read the eBooks with a refreshable braille display.
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unlike the traditional accessible formats, eBooks are generally published at the same time as the standard print versions.
You can buy and borrow books in your preferred reading format, although not all books are available in traditional accessible formats.