About Alternative Formats

If you have a disability that interfers with independent reading, Alternative Formats are for you! These formats include digital talking books, e-text (electronic text), and Braille.

Digital Talking Books (software): After scanning, this software displays and reads a copy of your textbook. Features bookmarks, zoom, human-sounding voices. "Kurzweil 3000" and "TextHelp Read & Write Gold, 9" are available at UMD.

Daisy Digital Talking Books (hardware): Audio files of your textbook on CD that require a specialized CD player to navigate through the text. RFB&D book CDs are this type.

e-text: Books in digital files that can be accessed on your computer media player, ipod, or mp3 player. File types include .wmp (windows media player) .pdf (portable digital format), .doc (word), and .rtf (rich text format). Newer RFB&D files and some files from the publishers are this type. Kurzweil files (.kes files) can be converted to this format for portability.

Braille: Braille text, used by blind readers, is displayed in cells of six raised dots.

Kurzweil 1000 and 3000 scanning/reading stations on campus are located in Library rooms 122, 124, and 126, and in the Disability Resources testing areas. You may scan textbooks and other course materials at these computers and save the digital files on your portable devices. (The Disability Resources computers are available when not used for testing and must be reserved in advance.)

Our primary source of alternative format textbooks is Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D). You must first check to see if the reading material is available from Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic book catalog. If your book is available, talk to you DR specialist about getting your own RFB&D membership so you can order the book files you need and directly download them to your computer.

If your books are not available from RFB&D, complete and submit the on-line e-book request form.

Kurweil 1000, 3000 and Read and Write Gold are available in Library during regular library hours. Kurzweil is available in the DR testing area by appointment only. For a more information and/or training on the above, contact Mark Paulson (mpaulso2@d.umn.edu).