A system for the collaborative reading of digital books with the partially sighted: project proposal

Abstract

We propose a collaborative reading environment for digital books for use by and with individuals with failing vision. The system would record the audio of the person reading aloud and synchronize it with the text. The proposal includes two major components; the design of a tablet-based recording and reading system that feels like reading a book rather than using a complex application, and an environment for the intuitive re-reading of these digital books that has few to no visual requirements for the partially sighted individual. The DAISY standard would allow these audio-enhanced books to be interoperable with a variety of existing digital book systems.