Reading Systems Accessibility Support Roundup
Note: this article was last updated in August 2023.
Introduction
Digital books are accessed using an app, device, or online service to open, read and navigate the content. We refer to these are Reading Systems.
There are many different reading apps available with some great accessibility benefits. Typical features include:
- flexible ways to move around publications: via the table of contents, jumping to a print page number, returning to bookmarks and using search.
- the ability to change the visual presentation of the contents to suit your needs: personalizing text size, fonts, colors, line-length and spacing.
- a built-in read-aloud feature: with play and pause, changing the voice and speed, and providing visual highlighting, karaoke style.
- great screen reader support for speech and braille output: including the ability to login in, browse a bookshelf, read the publication perceiving the different elements in the content.
But with so much choice, how do you discover which app will be best for you?
Here we present a roundup of popular reading apps that can be used with EPUB titles. The summary reviews are based on the detailed accessibility evaluations conducted by and with people with print disabilities. More information on our structured evaluation protocol is given at the end of [...]