Different methods of reading

I am often asked by sighted persons to describe how blind persons read. Do they do this only in Braille? By having someone read to them? Or how?

In response, this is what I say:

There are a number of ways that a blind person can read.
First, if they have enough vision to read large print, they can do this either with a magnifier or by using a close circuit TV device.
They can do it through Braille.
They can do it by using access technology on their computers. In this way, they can hear what they read.
They can do it through their IPads, IPhones, IPods, and other mobile devices.
They can do it by scanning their documents and downloading them to their computers and then using their access technology to hear what has been downloaded.
They can also download books and documents from the Internet to their computer and read it as described above.
They can use CD players that are equipped to read documents on CD.

So you see, there are several ways for us to read books and documents. In short, we can hear what you see on a page or screen.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.