In which formats are the books available?

Books from Bookshare are available in six formats that make them accessible to people with various reading barriers. Note that reading books using an app on mobile devices do not require users to download a file.

  • Bookshare Reader - A customized reading tool for Bookshare members offering all the features of DAISY with a single click of the "Read Now" link.
  • EPUB - a digital book file format.  EPUB books from Bookshare are EPUB 3.0 text files that work with many popular large scale reading applications including iBooks.
  • DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) - a digital book file format. DAISY books from Bookshare are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of accessible technology that reads text, such as screen readers, self-voicing synthetic-voice DAISY players, Braille notetakers, portable self-voicing DAISY Players, and scan-and-read software such as Kurzweil K1000 and K3000, and WYNN and OpenBook. Learn more about DAISY format here.
  • BRF (Braille Ready Format) - digital Braille for use with refreshable Braille devices and Braille embossers.
  • MP3 (Mpeg audio layer 3) - Provides audio only with no text. These books are created with a text-to-speech engine and spoken by Kendra, a high quality synthetic voice from Ivona. Any device that supports MP3 playback is compatible. 
  • DAISY Audio - Similar to the Daisy 3.0 option above; however, this option uses mp3 files created with our text-to-speech engine that utilizes Ivona's Kendra voice. This will work with Daisy Audio compatible players.
  • Word - Bookshare books can be downloaded in Word and read with any compatible editor or reading tool. This is a common, easy-to-use format that allows members to customize the book’s text to meet their reading needs. Learn how you can convert books downloaded in Word into PDFs, if this is your preferred format.

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