eBook accessibility

Alistair McNaught, Senior Advisor at JISC TechDis leads the Right to Read Alliance working group on eBooks and his latest report to the Alliance identifies several very promising developments in the area of accessible eBooks.

JISC RSC commissioned research by Shaw Trust into the accessibility of eBooks and the report is available from http://www.techdis.ac.uk/getebookplatforms. The investigation was carried out by testers with print disabilities using their personal assistive technologies and looks at the whole process of acquiring, downloading and reading an eBook. The report gives some really helpful insights for publishers or indeed anyone involved in creating or authoring eBooks and other types of accessible digital resources.

RNIB have created a concise online guide to eBooks which summarises the different formats available, the types of readers available, and lists the main sources of eBooks. You can find this at: www.rnib.org.uk/ebooks.