Education

Online Books for Students with Disabilities

By Katie Ash — May 06, 2010 1 min read
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The Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization that is building an Internet library of resources available on the Web, announced that it has made about one million books easily accessible for people with disabilities such as blindness or dyslexia by converting the books to a new format called DAISY, which can be downloaded to devices that can read the books aloud.

“Every person deserves the opportunity to enhance their lives through access to the books that teach, entertain and inspire,” said Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive, in a press release. “Bringing access to huge libraries of books to the blind and print disabled is truly one of the benefits of the digital revolution.”

The books are available to anyone, but there are obviously major implications for educators. This format makes the library accessible for students with disabilities and can provide special education teachers with a new way to introduce material to students who are visually impaired.

To browse the available titles, click here.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Digital Education blog.