Services for the Print Disabled

Love to read but have difficulty reading print?

If you or someone you know has trouble reading print because of a visual, physical or learning disability, a partnership between The Blue Mountains Public Library and Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) offers lots of other ways to read.

A print disability is a learning, physical or visual disability that prevents a person from reading conventional print.

More specifically, a print disability can be a:

Learning disability: An impairment relating to comprehension
Physical disability: The inability to hold or manipulate a book
Visual disability: Severe or total impairment of sight or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes

This definition of print disability is from the Canadian Copyright Act because it is this Act that lets CELA reproduce published materials in alternative formats for its collection. The term used in the Act is “perceptual disability”.

“What Is a Print Disability?” CELA, celalibrary.ca/about-us/what-is-a-print-disability.

The library's collection includes:

  • Large print books
  • eBooks that can be magnified on eReaders and tablets
  • Audio books on CD and Playaway
  • DAISY audio books
  • Victor DAISY player available for loan

We can also order print accessible materials for all interests and ages from the CELA Library.

The CELA collection includes:

  • audiobooks in DAISY CD and digital formats
  • books in digital formats and braille
  • magazines and newspapers in DAISY and digital formats

Search CELA's catalogue.

DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) allows you to read an audio book the same ways you would read a print book. You can read a book from start to finish by just pressing play, or you also can skip from section to section, use bookmarks and look things up in the index. To play a DAISY audio book, you need a special player or free software. The Library has a DAISY player available for loan.

If you have a print disability and a valid library card, you are eligible to access CELA collections.

Self-register for CELA services, or contact us at the Library for help with the registration process.