Andy: Hi, Andrew.
I'm Andy from RNIB.
I'm here to help with any of your technology questions.
Andrew: Can you just explain to me what e-books are
and what's useful about them?
I've only got central vision, so I'm relatively new to the whole concept.
Andy: Yes.
So, in simple terms, an e-book is an electronic book.
The great thing is that they come out at the same time as printed books.
So rather than having to wait for a large-print version or a version in Braille, you can get
the e-book version at the same time, which means you've got a much wider choice of books.
They're also a bit cheaper than printed books.
Andrew: Thanks, that’s really useful.
But where can I go out and get these products from?
And I keep hearing about e-readers.
Andy: You can get e-book readers from many high-street
stores, including supermarkets, or you can buy them online, of course.
You can download e-books from the internet or sometimes on the device themselves you
can purchase the books directly on the device.
There's also quite a lot of free e-books out there.
You can get those from the internet or on the device themselves.
Andrew: OK.
But what about buying e-book apps?
Andy: That's a good question.
If you already have a device like a computer, tablet or smartphone, you can actually get
an app for those devices that will allow you to read e-books.
They're all free of charge and you'll get them either from the internet or from the
app store on your device.
Andrew: Great.
So what should I consider before I go out and buy?
Andy: There's a couple of things to bear in mind
when you're looking to buy a device.
We've got some here.
We've got what's called a dedicated e-reading device.
This is the Amazon Kindle.
The only thing this device does is e-books.
So, it has a couple of benefits.
The screen is very high contrast.
The battery life will last upwards of a month.
It's also very small and light.
You can also get e-books on some other devices as well.
If you're looking for a device with a bit more flexibility, you can read e-books on
a smartphone, for example.
So, as we talked about before, you'll get an app onto the phone and then you can read
your e-books.
And also on a tablet computer as well.
These devices, as well as reading e-books, will also do many other things: e-mails, internet.
The screens are a little bit different.
So, the screens give off light.
For some eye conditions, the glare off the screen can be a problem.
The battery life as well; you will only get maybe a day or two out of these devices.
For the dedicated e-reading devices, the prices range from about £60 to £230.
As we mentioned before, the books themselves do cost money.
They're normally slightly cheaper than the print versions.
There are some free ones as well.
Andrew: Once I've bought the e-reader that's best
for me, have you got any hints and tips on setting it up?
Andy: Yes.
When you first turn the device on, you'll have to go through a setup process.
You have to create an account before you download e-books.
If you have one already, you can input those details.
If you don't, you'll have to create a new one.
It's important to note that the accessibility features on these devices often don't work
during the setup process.
You might need help from family or friends.
Andy: Right.
I'm all set up on my new device.
Is there anything that I should look out for?
Andrew: Yes.
Once you've got your device set up, you'll be taken to what's called your library screen.
This is a list of all the books that you'll have on the device.
If we go into one of them now...
What I want to do is show you how you can adjust the print size of the book.
If we tap at the top of the screen here, we have a menu item here.
We tap on that and then we have different options here about how we adjust the font
size for the book.
So very quickly and easily, we can adjust the size of the font to something suitable
for our eyesight.
The other great thing is, if you need them read out in synthetic speech or in Braille,
you can do that.
Andy: As I'm a beginner, can you explain more about
just downloading audio?
Andrew: Yeah.
So download audio is an electronic version of a book, but it's recorded in human speech.
Unlike e-books that are read out in synthetic speech, it can be nicer to listen to.
You can use download audio on a range of different devices.
You can play them on your computer, you can play them on your smartphone or you can play
them on an MP3 player.
To listen to the one you want, you just press on it.
The device will start reading that book out to you.
The great thing is that the device will remember where you left off.
It will basically bookmark when you finish reading the book, so the next time you go
to listen to it, it will remember where you last were.
To get the actual download audio books, you need to get a subscription.
One example of where you can get a subscription for download audio books is Audible.
That can cost around £10 a month, or you can borrow them from your local library as
well.
Andy: I just can't wait to get started on reading
my favourite books again.
But if it all goes wrong, where can I get help from?
Andrew: The first place I would go if you need some
help is the high-street store where you bought your device.
If they don't know about accessibility features, then RNIB has a lot of resources which will
be useful to you.
Also, our Technology Support Squad can help you set up your download audio device.