Alternative Format Textbooks

Free Resources

• National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (Part of the Library of Congress) – Provides “free braille and talking book library services for people with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or a physical, perceptual, or reading disability”. Users must apply on their own to receive these services.
• Project Gutenberg – “Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related content today.” Provides texts in ePUB, Kindle & plain-text formats.
• The APH Louis Database – A free database that can help find what vendors are selling your required texts in braille, tactile graphic, large print, e-file and/or audio formats.
• Microsoft Read Aloud – Free text-to-speech program built into Microsoft Edge that can read websites & PDF files.

Paid Resources

• Adelphi University Bookstore: Offers some required texts in eBook format. Also lets you look up your required texts by course.
• Amazon: Sells books in Kindle-eBook format.
• Bookshare: Subscription service that gives qualifying members access to millions of texts in ePUB, DAISY, BRF (Braille Ready Format), Audio & Word formats.
• Learning Ally: Subscription service that gives access to books in audio-format.
• RedShelf: Provides textbooks for purchase/rental in eBook format with text-to-speech compatibility.
• Vital Source: Provides textbooks for purchase/rental in eBook format with built-in text-to-speech.
• Cengage: Provides e-textbooks for purchase/rental.
• Chegg: Sells e-textbooks.
• Textbooks.com: Sells e-textbooks.
• Kurzweil 3000: Subscription service for text-to-speech program that works with PDF, ePUB, & text files as well as websites.