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Bookshare comes to the UK

• By Paul Crichton
• 10 Oct 07, 04:32 PM

, who have made books available in accessible formats in the US for years, are bringing their service to the UK.

Bookshare is a not-for-profit organisation that relies upon an army of volunteers to scan books for conversion into either DAISY compatible audio files, or BRF format for Braille readers. Those books are then made available to their members via their website.

Americans have enjoyed Bookshare’s services for years, thanks to an exemption in US copyright law that makes it legal to reproduce books in accessible formats.

There is no equivalent exemption in UK copyright law, so Bookshare must seek permission from UK publishers and authors to reproduce their works in an accessible format.

Although the same range of titles are not yet available to UK users as for those in the US, several thousand books can still be downloaded, from fiction to technical manuals, and the database is only likely to grow with time.

To gain access to Bookshare’s collection of books, users must send them printed proof of their disability.

There is also a registration and annual membership fee of US $75 dollars combined, and with the current exchange rate, that works out at around a pretty modest £37.

Whilst Bookshare offers a great service, don’t think that this in any way lets publishers off the hook from their responsibilities. Scanning is an imperfect process. An ‘S’ might easily become a ‘5’, for example, so some texts can be rendered virtually impossible to follow.

The publishing industry must still make more titles available in accessible formats, and not just feel they are doing their bit by helping out organisations like Bookshare.

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