As celebrities and authors prepare for 'super book week' (11-18 Oct when autobiographies and celebrity tomes are released for the Christmas rush), the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is calling for all UK publishers to ensure their books and eBooks are available for everyone to enjoy including the 2 million people with sight loss.
Research found that only seven per cent of all books are accessible to almost 2 million blind and partially sighted people in the UK (1). This is something RNIB is set on changing.
As the charity launches its annual Read for RNIB Day (19 October) appeal to raise funds for braille, giant print and talking books, it is calling on all publishers to make sure that the text to speech function is enabled on eBooks, as recommended by the Publishers Association, so that everyone can enjoy these new titles. The charity also asks publishers to provide book files to RNIB to enable books to be converted into alternative formats such as audio, braille and giant print so that they can be released at the same time as the printed version.
"Angry"
Lisa Charlton lost her sight through diabetic retinopathy (2). She explains: "Before I lost my sight I always had a book in my handbag because reading gave me so much pleasure. For me one of the worst things about losing your sight is not being able to buy the book you want to read. My choice is limited and I get so angry about the fact it's up to publishers what I can and can't read."
Lesley-Anne Alexander CBE, Chief Executive of RNIB, says: "Many of the people who we support are going through a traumatic stage in their lives, adjusting to living without sight. Often it's our reading services such as Talking Books, giant print books or telephone book groups that these people describe as a lifeline.
"We want publishers to work with us so that blind and partially sighted people can read the same books at the same time as everyone else including all of the new exciting titles that are just hitting the shelves. Reading is a basic right, and people with sight loss should not be excluded."
ENDS
For more information contact Stacey Kerr on 020 7391 2290, stacey.kerr@rnib.org.uk
Notes to editors
1 RNIB (2011b) Lost for words. Full report
2 Diabetic retinopathy The most serious complication of diabetes for the eye is the development of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes affects the tiny blood vessels of the eye and if they become blocked or leak then the retina and possibly your vision will be affected. The extent of these changes determines what type of diabetic retinopathy you have. Forty per cent of people with type 1 diabetes and twenty per cent with type 2 diabetes will develop some sort of diabetic retinopathy.