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iOS: Accessible Reading System and Apps

Last updated: June 14, 2023

The following sections will highlight accessible reading apps for the iOS operating system. Each app’s section will include which formats it supports, how to open and read a book using that app, and some advantages and disadvantages of each app.

The NNELS website features several tutorials for accessing and using other reading platforms. One of these may be used by your local library and could provide access to another collection of books.

Reading Systems and Apps

  1. Apple Books
  2. Voice Dream Reader
  3. Dolphin Easy Reader

Apple Books

Comes with iOS or download from the iOS App Store

Cost: Free

Supports: EPUB

Books is Apple’s ebook and audiobook reading app for various Apple devices, including iOS. As you might expect from an Apple app, it is designed to synchronize across all of your Apple devices. This makes all your books available on any device, and your current position is synced so you can resume reading where you left off no matter which device you are on. You can purchase books from Apple’s bookstore or import books you downloaded elsewhere, such as from NNELS.

Although Apple Books supports audiobooks, it does not recognize the audiobook formats NNELS produces. EPUB is the only format supported for books obtained from NNELS.

Transferring books to an iOS device isn’t as straightforward as opening them on a Windows or Mac computer, but there are a few ways to do it:

Transfer a book which was downloaded using a Windows computer:

  1. On your Windows computer, locate the book you want to transfer using Windows Explorer and press “CTRL + C” to copy it.
  2. Connect your iOS device to your computer.
  3. Open iTunes and select your device.
  4. Select “Books” in the sidebar.
  5. Tab to the tree view and press “CTRL + V” to paste.

Transfer a book which was downloaded using a Mac:

  1. On your Mac, open the Books app.
  2. Open the menu bar, navigate to the File menu, and select Import.
  3. A standard MacOS open file dialogue will appear. Locate your book and select it.
  4. If iCloud synchronizing is enabled, the book will be available in the Books app on your Mac and iOS devices.

Import a book from a cloud storage service:

  1. On another device, download a book from NNELS and save the book in the cloud using a service such as iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.
  2. On your iOS device, Locate the book you saved using the app for that cloud service.
  3. Double-tap on the book or swipe up or down to explore the available actions. Look for the option “Send copy of file” or “Open in another app.” The exact location and label of the option will vary depending on the cloud service you are using, and if you don’t see an option like this, select “Share.” The iOS share screen will open.
  4. Choose Books as the destination you want to share the file with, and the book will open in the Books app.

To read a book in Apple Books:

  1. Launch the Apple Books app.
  2. Select the “Library” tab.
  3. Locate the book you want to read in the list and double-tap it. The book will open, with the first page's contents on the screen.
  4. You can explore or swipe through the screen to read one paragraph or element at a time, or you can locate any part of the contents and then swipe up with two fingers to have VoiceOver read continuously.
  5. If reading one paragraph at a time, swipe up with three fingers to advance to the next page or down with three fingers for the previous page. The page will automatically advance when reading continuously.
  6. Double tap the “Menu” button in the bottom right corner of the screen to access the table of contents, searching, bookmarking, and settings.

Once imported, books will remain in Apple Books unless you delete them. When you resume reading a book you previously started, it will open to the page you were on when you last closed it.

Pros:

  • Free to download and use. It may even be on your device already without having to be downloaded.
  • Synchronizes via iCloud for a seamless experience across all your Apple devices.
  • Supports image descriptions and table of contents navigation.
  • Allows for continuous reading with VoiceOver without needing to turn the page manually.

Cons:

  • It cannot import directly from NNELS, requiring a couple of extra steps to open the book in the app.
  • Some elements, such as tables and footnote links, do not have proper accessibility support.

Voice Dream Reader

Download from the iOS App Store

Cost: $49.99 CAD per year

Supports: EPUB, MP3, DAISY, PDF, DOC

Voice Dream Reader is an ebook and audiobook reading app designed for blind and low-vision readers. Its compatibility with VoiceOver is excellent. It allows you to read ebooks directly with VoiceOver or by using a read-aloud function with a wide array of voices to choose from. It supports both MP3 and DAISY audiobooks from NNELS, and they do not need to be extracted from their zip files.

While Voice Dream Reader makes reading the text of books accessible, it does not support accessibility for images, skippable structures, or other non-text elements. It is, therefore, not recommended for books that rely on this content type.

If you already use Voice Dream Reader on a Mac and have enabled iCloud synchronization, any books you import using your Mac will be available in Voice Dream Reader for iOS. Otherwise, there are several ways to import books into Voice Dream Reader for iOS:

Import directly from NNELS:

  1. Double-tap the “Settings” button in the Voice Dream Reader app.
  2. Double-tap the “Content Sources” button, then locate and double-tap the “Add Web Content Source” button.
  3. Locate NNELS in the list and double-tap it, then return to the top of the screen and double-tap the “Save” button. Then double-tap the “Close” button to return to the main screen.
  4. Double-tap the “Add” button. In the list of sources, double-tap the “NNELS” button.
  5. The NNELS website will load right in the Voice Dream Reader app. You can navigate it the way you would in any other browser. “Log in,” locate a book you want, and double-tap the “Download” link. It will download right into your Voice Dream library!

Import from Dropbox or Google Drive:

  1. Download a book from NNELS on another device and save it in a Dropbox or Google Drive folder.
  2. On your iOS device, double-tap the “Settings” button in the Voice Dream Reader app.
  3. Double-tap the “Content Sources” button. Locate “Dropbox” or “Google Drive” in the list of sources and toggle its switch button on.
  4. If prompted, follow the on-screen instructions to sign into Dropbox or Google Drive.
  5. Return to the main screen of Voice Dream Reader and double-tap the “Add” button.
  6. Double-tap the button for the cloud service you just added.
  7. You can now browse the files and folders in your cloud service account. Locate the book you want to import and double-tap its “Download” button. Once the download is finished, the book will be ready to read.

Import from a different cloud service:

  1. On another device, download a book from NNELS and save the book in the cloud using a service such as iCloud Drive or OneDrive. You can also do this with Dropbox or Google Drive, but accessing those within Voice Dream Reader is easier.
  2. On your iOS device, locate the book you saved using the app for that cloud service.
  3. Double-tap on the book or swipe up or down to explore the available actions. Look for the option “Send copy of file” or “Open in another app.” The exact location and label of the option will vary depending on the cloud service you are using, and if you don’t see an option like this, select “Share.” The iOS share screen will open.
  4. Choose Voice Dream as the destination you want to share the file with, and the book will be added to your library.

To read a book in Voice Dream Reader:

  1. Launch Voice Dream Reader
  2. The main screen of the app displays the list of books in your library. Locate the book you want to open and double-tap it. The book will now be open, and you will be placed at the beginning.
  3. To read the text of a book using VoiceOver, swipe through the elements of the screen until you come to a text field where the current page’s contents are displayed. The entire page will be read. Swiping up with three fingers will move to the next page and cause VoiceOver to read that page. Swiping down with two fingers will begin continuous reading, turning the page automatically as it goes. You can use standard VoiceOver gestures to read by character, word, etc.
  4. To have the app read the text of a book using a separate voice or to play an audiobook, swipe through the elements on the screen until you locate the “Play” button and double-tap it. The book will begin to play.
  5. The buttons near the top of the screen will let you adjust various settings, such as setting a sleep timer, adjusting the voice and speech rate used for reading text, and adjusting the playback speed of an audiobook.
  6. The “Headings, Bookmarks and Highlights” button will open a screen allowing you to select and jump to various points of interest. When reading a book in a text format, “Headings” is functionally similar to a table of contents.
  7. When listening to an audiobook, the files which make up the book will be listed on the main reading screen without having to tap a button. Double-tapping any of these will jump to that part. However, this is not as precise as a table of contents navigation for a book in a text format because audiobooks are split into roughly equal parts instead of having one file per chapter.
  8. To rewind or fast forward while playing audio, swipe up or down while on the “Play” button, or use the playback controls on your device’s lock screen or control centre. Swiping up or down on the “Navigation unit” adjustable control will change how far playback will be rewound or fast-forwarded.

Once imported, books will remain in Voice Dream Reader unless you delete them. When you resume reading a book you previously started, it will open to where you were when you last closed the book. Pressing “Play” will resume reading where you left off.

Pros:

  • Supports importing books directly from NNELS.
  • Supports reading books with VoiceOver as well as audio via self-voicing. The latter offers a large variety of voices to use.
  • Supports both NNELS formats for audiobooks.
  • Allows for continuous reading with VoiceOver without needing to turn the page manually.
  • Supports iCloud synchronization across all of your devices.

Cons:

  • Expensive if you did not purchase the app before it adopted a yearly subscription price.
  • Does not support image descriptions, skippable structures, or other content accessibility features.
  • Many of the higher-quality voices must be purchased for an additional fee.

Dolphin Easy Reader

Download from iOS App Store

Cost: Free, additional features available with an optional £30 per year subscription.

Supports: EPUB, DAISY, PDF (requires premium subscription), DOC

EasyReader by Dolphin Computer Access is an ebook reader designed to be accessible to blind and low-vision readers and works well, although not perfectly, with VoiceOver. It supports image descriptions, table of contents navigation, heading navigation, and activating external links when reading books in text formats which support those features. It supports navigating via the table of contents, bookmarks, skippable structures, and adjusting playback speed when playing DAISY audiobooks. Text contents of books can be read directly with VoiceOver or by using a read-aloud function which has a wide array of voices for you to choose from.

Dolphin EasyReader can connect to many library systems to import books directly, but NNELS is unfortunately not supported. You will need to use iOS’s sharing feature to add a book to your library. Here’s how to do that:

  1. On another device, download a book from NNELS and save the book in the cloud using a service such as iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. If it is in a zip file, leave it that way and do not extract it.
  2. On your iOS device, locate the book you saved using the app for that cloud service.
  3. Double-tap on the book or “swipe up or down” to explore the available actions. Look for the option “Send copy of file” or “Open in another app.” The exact location and label of the option will vary depending on the cloud service you are using, and if you don’t see an option like this, select “Share.” The iOS share screen will open.
  4. Choose EasyReader as the destination you want to share the file with, and the book will be added to your library.

To read a book in Dolphin EasyReader:

  1. Launch Dolphin EasyReader.
  2. If prompted, follow the on-screen instructions to “Log in.”
  3. The list of the books in your library will be shown on the app’s main screen. Locate the book you want to open and double-tap it. The book will open, and you will be placed at the beginning of its contents.
  4. To read the text of a book using VoiceOver, explore the screen or swipe through its elements until you locate the contents. If swiping right, they begin after the “Book options” button. You can continue swiping or moving your finger on the screen to read manually or swipe down with two fingers to continuously read from your current position to the end of the chapter or section. Double-tap the text “Load next” to load the next chapter or section.
  5. To have the app read the text of a book using a separate voice or to play an audiobook, double tap the text “Play” near the bottom of the screen. The book will begin to play.
  6. The buttons near the top of the screen will let you access features such as bookmarks and searching. You can also adjust various settings, including whether to read skippable structures, adjust the voice and speech rate used for reading text, and adjust an audiobook's playback speed.
  7. To rewind or fast forward while playing audio, double tap the “Previous” and “Next” buttons or use the playback controls on your device’s lock screen or control centre.
  8. The “Book navigation” button will open a screen where you can select and jump to points of interest within the book. “Headings” on this screen function like a table of contents.

Once imported, books will remain in Dolphin EasyReader unless you delete them. When you resume reading a book you previously started, the book will open, and your focus will be placed where you left off. Pressing “Play” will resume reading where you left off.

Pros:

  • Free to download and use.
  • Supports accessibility features such as image descriptions and skippable content.
  • Supports reading books with VoiceOver as well as audio via self-voicing.

Cons:

  • Requires being logged into an account to use.
  • Importing books is somewhat complicated.
  • It does not offer the higher quality voices Voice Dream Reader does.
  • It does not automatically advance to the next chapter when reading a book with VoiceOver. You must do this manually, then resume reading.
  • VoiceOver accessibility is not perfect. For example, “Play” and “Load next” are not recognized as buttons.

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