There are many options open to the blind to read books these days. Even as early as 15 years ago there were not so many. I remember desperately wanting to read something and having it read to me by somebody.

But now all has changed. There are quite a few options for the blind to read electronically.

I want to talk about the latter two — the ones I have linked to — because some folks may not know about them.

Bookshare is a non-profit run by a technology company in the USA. It offers an online library of accessible books. Though it does charge for access this is affordable for what one gets. At present if one lives outside the USA, one can only access some of the collection that bookshare holds but what one can access is great! I have learned about art, History, literature [things I didn’t know about these things before] and have kept myself updated on things in the world of psychology.

When I cannot find something on bookshare I go to the paid sources. I have been an audible user for a long time. The first book I read from there was Liam Clancy’s memoir, The Mountain of the Women. I love audible because one can get access to cutting edge, new material read by humans. [On bookshare a synthetic voice reads the books].

It is a thrill to go get books from amazon to read on kindle or from iBooks. As the ebook grows in popularity the blind can finally buy something at the same time as sighted counterparts. It’s a great thrill!