RNIB’s free online resource for pupils and teachers gets a brand-new web platform
Thousands of children and young people across the UK with vision impairment and/or difficulty reading standard print due to conditions like dyslexia, can now access more than a million books and images more quickly and easily after RNIB’s Bookshare service website has been given a major upgrade.
The hugely popular RNIB Bookshare website provides books, worksheets and resources free of charge to UK teachers, supporting staff, and students which can be downloaded in accessible formats including electronic braille and audio. The service received its millionth title in December 2023.
The overhaul of the web platform has been carried out by digital design and technology agency Studio 24 in partnership with RNIB, made possible by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Customers will notice a fresh new look but, much of the functionality will remain the same. RNIB Bookshare also hosts the Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CFVI) Resource Hub, a free online hub containing resources and worksheets to support delivery of the core outcome areas identified within the CFVI.
All the titles have been generously donated by over 1,000 publishers, these have been downloaded over 1.2 million times since 2016. The service supports 59,000 students across 14.5K schools, colleges, and universities.
Rochelle Pretsell, RNIB’s Bookshare Team Leader said: “We know Bookshare is a vital resource for many students and teachers. Bookshare enables students with reading difficulties and vision impairments to access educational materials just like their peers, promoting equal opportunities in education. The new and improved RNIB Bookshare makes the platform much easier to use and we are confident it will benefit thousands of students and teachers on their educational journeys, be it at school, college, or university, for many years to come.”
RNIB’s chair of trustees, Anna Tylor who is registered blind and played a key role in setting up Bookshare in 2012 - which was previously named Load2Learn - said: “A hunger for learning is a horrible thing to have starved. As a bright child going through the education system in the 1970s, it felt as though so many barriers were placed in my way because I was registered blind. I can’t overstate the impact that having no access to the curriculum had on my life. Bookshare gives children and young people access to materials at the same time as their sighted peers and means they don’t have to face the unfair barriers to their education. It gives them every chance to learn, grow and flourish in society. This renewal of the service will enhance their chances even more.”
Cambridge based digital agency, Studio 24, has developed the platform to meet high accessibility standards at WCAG 2.1 level AA, some of the principles for this have been drawn from the RNIB’s own website. Studio 24 has improved the structure of the Bookshare site so that users can find and access content more easily. RNIB Bookshare has been moved from a legacy system to a new, modern web platform built in Laravel which provides a solid foundation where the service can continue to evolve.
The new site has navigation structures which helps the RNIB team to manage content and ensure users have a clear pathway to find what they need. The new website navigation ensures users have a clear pathway to find what they need. The RNIB team can manage page content using Craft CMS – Bookshare’s new content management system. Craft CMS is accessible both in the front end for website visitors and the back end for RNIB admin staff.
The new RNIB Bookshare website can be used with assistive technologies and users can adjust their browser settings to make changes, including colour contrast. Careful attention has been paid to word spacing, font style and size, use of colour, and limiting line length.
The website uses responsive design, so users with print impairments can adjust the presentation for example by removing images or zooming in on text. Design of all clickable buttons on the site has been adjusted to make them more easily visible.
Simon Jones, Founder and Managing Director at Studio 24, said: “I'm delighted to see the new RNIB Bookshare website launch. It's been a pleasure working with the RNIB team on this complex and important project. We've focussed on making the website simple to use and accessible, including the back-end admin tools, and we've tried to make the transition from the old website as smooth as possible. At Studio 24 we believe in building a web for all, the whole team really values working on projects that have a positive impact in the world.”
Despite the growth of Bookshare in the past ten years there is still much more that can be done. The service has supported around 14.5K of schools, colleges and organisations across the UK and needs to be more widely utilised. RNIB would welcome additional backing from the Department for Education and equivalent departments in devolved nations to help the service reach more children and young people with print disabilities across the UK.
RNIB Bookshare:
Teachers, parents and pupils can join RNIB Bookshare here:
Also on RNIB Bookshare is the CFVI Resource Hub, a free online hub containing resources developed by individual organisations, Vision Impairment (VI) services, schools and individuals working with children and young people with a VI across the UK. It helps to support delivery of the core outcome areas identified within the Curriculum Framework for Children and Young people with a Vision Impairment (CFVI).
