Accessibility: E-books

An e-book is usually a good option for a person having reading disabilities. The Tampere higher education community has access to an extensive collection of e-books from various fields. We always  order an e-book version of a course book, if one is available with terms of use suitable for organizational use.

• In most cases, e-book services offer a possibility to enlarge the size of the book text or change colors and contrasts to better match your needs.
• In many e-book services it is possible to download a book to a reader program (for example Adobe Digital Editions, Thorium Reader), which usually works well with screen readers. You will find a link and instructions for downloading the free reader in the E-resource guide's Reading and downloading -page.
• Some books have a separate accessibility mode or listening option (ReadALoud).
• E-book guide lists e-book services on downloading instructions pages (A-H and I-Ö). You will find a link to the service's accessibility information there, if available. The link can be found under the More information section.
• The e-book's DRM protection, or digital rights management, may prevent the use of screen readers.

Celia and four Finnish university libraries (DIAK, HAMK, Laurea, Metropolia) have tested accessibility of the most common e-book services. They have also produced the learning material Saavuta e-kirja (in Finnish)  which helps you to learn and practice accessibility functions. These e-book services have been introduced  in the learning material:

• Alma Talent Verkkokirjahylly
• Ellibs
• Terveysportti and Oppiportti
• Ebook Central
• Ebsco eBooks
• SpringerLink

More detailed information about accessibility you can find from the e-books services' own sites.