Using Audiobook Apps

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated November 2, 2024
By employing the following strategies, the student can maximize their experience with audiobook apps, making listening enjoyable and accessible.
  1. Choose Accessible Apps. Select apps that are known for their accessibility features such as Voice Dream Reader and Bookshare.
  2. Familiarize with Navigation. Spend time learning the layout and navigation of the app. Use gestures or keyboard shortcuts to move through menus, search for books, and play audio.
  3. Use Screen Reading Software. Enable screen reader functions to get verbal feedback on what is displayed on the screen. This helps in reading titles, descriptions, and controls.
  4. Bookmarking. Use the bookmarking feature to save specific sections of the audiobook for easy reference later.
  5. Adjust Playback Speed. Experiment with different playback speeds to find the pace that works best for you. While slower speeds may be easier to follow, faster speeds can help read and a faster pace, helping the student complete assignments faster.
  6. Create Playlists or Libraries. Organize your audiobooks into playlists or libraries by genre, author, or personal preference for easier access.
  7. Explore Accessibility Settings. Check the app’s settings for additional accessibility features, such as high contrast mode and font sizes.
  8. Connect with Bluetooth Devices. Pair the device used with the audiobook app with Bluetooth refreshable braille display to allow you to follow along with the book.
  9. Seek Help and Resources. Many audiobook apps have support communities or help sections. Don’t hesitate to reach out for assistance or tips from other users.

Audiobook Apps

Audible app
Free The Audible an Amazon Smart Phone app, that works on the iPhone and Android devices, provides instant access to its entire store of audio books and podcasts recorded and narrated by actors.
BARD Mobile app
Free. The BARD Mobile app is a service of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). It provides access to braille and talking books directly from the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD). It contains nearly 50,000 (and growing) books, magazines and music scores in audio and braille formats. Connect your Bluetooth ready device and instantly access braille materials. In order to use the app, you must be registered with a braille and talking-book library in the NLS network of cooperating libraries. 
Kindle app
Free Download books fro Amazon.com with the Kindle app. Reading options include large print, computer generated speech and human narrators.
Learning Ally app
Free Learning Ally provides access to a library of ore than 65,000 audiobooks is considered the best source for K-12 and college-level textbooks. Users can download and play on all iOS devices. ​Learning Ally is a national nonprofit provider of books in accessible format for people who cannot read standard print due to visual, perceptual or physical disabilities. Provides thousands of titles available on digitally recorded audio books, DC, and computer disk, including textbooks.
Read2Go app
$19.99 Read2Go, by Bookshare is the most accessible DAISY ebook reader for iOS. From within Read2Go you can browse, search, download, and read books directly from Bookshare using your Bookshare membership, as well as read DAISY books from other sources. ​Bookshare provides access to books that are legally scanned for people who are visually impaired or print disabled. The books can be read with adaptive technology or in embossed braille.
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​$14.99 Voice Dream Reader is an accessible reading tool with advanced text-to-speech and a highly configurable screen layout that can be tailored to auditory readers and visual readers. Voice Dream Reader supports reading PDF and Word documents, DRM-free EPUB and DAISY eBooks, Web pages and more. It's directly integrated with Bookshare, Dropbox, G-Drive, Evernote, Pocket, Instapaper, and Gutenberg. 
vBookz
$4.99 The only ePub book reader for the iPhone, iPad and iPod that reads out loud. vBookz has a magnifying glass interface indicating your current reading location, the magnifying glass follows the text as the book is being read, making the reading experience much more enjoyable and fun.
vBookz PDF Voice Reader app
Free. vBookz PDF Voice Reader. This version of the ePub book reader for the iPhone, iPad and iPod reads out loud as the basic vBookz app, but this app can also read pdf files!
ZoomReader app
$19.99 ​ZoomReader lets you magnify and read text by first taking a picture of an object like a book or menu, then converting the image into text using state of the art Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. ZoomReader will then read the text back to you using a natural sounding voice.

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