Veronica With Four Eyes

Accessible Picture Books For Low Vision

While talking with one of my best friends who also has low vision, I realized that I have probably read more accessible picture books as an adult than I did when I was a kid. I have always loved reading and visiting the library, but many of the physical books featured hard-to-see illustrations or slightly-too-small text that was difficult or impossible to read independently with low vision. Now that I have access to digital books that I can read with assistive technology, I can revisit old favorites and find new favorite titles that I can recommend to others!

Here is a list of free and low-cost sources that offer accessible picture books for low vision and blind readers, as well as accessible children’s books available in a variety of alternate formats including braille and audio. I also include a few resources for reading with CVI, including digital books that can be read on a screen and resources for adapted books; children and adults with CVI may also qualify for the accessible reading programs listed below if they are Braille learners.

Print/Braille picture books: Accessible picture books

Print-Braille picture books (sometimes called dual media picture books or dual format picture books) add a transparent braille overlay over printed text, providing more options for accessing print materials. This can be helpful for dual media learners who use both print and braille to read, as well as braille readers who are reading with a sighted companion; this could be a visually impaired student reading with their classmates, or a visually impaired adult reading accessible picture books to children.

Examples of online stores that sell Print-Braille books include:

  • National Braille Press
  • Seedlings
  • Braille Bookstore

One print-braille book series I really like is the DK Braille Books series. The Farm book incorporates photos of Lego Duplo animals, which could be added to a storybox or shown in real life!

Related links

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: Braille Tales and audiobooks

Braille Tales is a free program that provides six braille/print books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library each year to blind and low vision children until the child’s sixth birthday; blind and low vision parents to children under six years old also qualify to receive accessible picture books, and titles are mailed bimonthly. Braille Tales is administered entirely by American Printing House for the Blind (APH) and participants are not required to live within an active Imagination Library affiliate area.

In addition to Braille Tales, APH partners with the Imagination Library to provide free access to unabridged audio versions of select Imagination Library titles each month. In order to access the titles, families will need to be registered with the National Library Service (NLS) Talking Book program, a free service from the Library of Congress that provides a specialized playback device for listening to titles.

To learn more about these programs and more, check out my post on Dolly Parton’s Literacy Legacy posted on the Paths to Literacy website linked below!

Related links

American Action Fund: Free Braille Book Library

The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults provides a free Braille book every month from a popular children’s book series that has not previously been produced in Braille, including beginner chapter books. They also make the corresponding BRF (electronic braille) file available online for free download so participants can use a refreshable braille display to access titles. Note that these are not dual media titles; only braille is provided. Interested participants can sign up on the American Action Fund website linked below.

Related links

Dots For Tots: Free Print/Braille books from Braille Institute

Another source for free accessible picture books is Dots For Tots, a program from the Braille Institute that mails two picture books each month, targeted at readers under six years old. Each book features both print and an uncontracted Braille overlay, as well as a learning tool that represents the characters and/or concepts of a story. My friend who uses the program submits an order every month on the Braille Institute website; the story kits are not automatically delivered and are only available while supplies last.

Related links

Bookshare: Accessible online library with picture books

Bookshare is an accessible digital library for people with print disabilities that has over one million titles and counting. Bookshare’s library is filled with a large variety of books, including textbooks, novels, New York Times bestsellers, cookbooks, children’s books, career resources, and so much more. New books are added frequently, and users can even request titles to be added to the library.

Bookshare books can be downloaded in multiple file formats, including:

  • EPUB
  • DOCX (Word documents)
  • MP3 (including a selection of human-read audiobooks)
  • Refreshable Braille
  • DAISY
  • DAISY Audio
  • Bookshare web reader for reading in web browsers

Bookshare is free for students enrolled in US schools, whether they are in kindergarten or getting their PhD. Bookshare books can be read in a variety of different applications, though I prefer to read picture books on my iPad so I can adjust the viewing angle more easily. Note that some picture books may not include illustrations; check the title listing on Bookshare to verify if images are included.

Learning Ally: Audiobooks for students

Another source for human-read audiobooks for students with print disabilities is Learning Ally, which costs $135 per year for families and is only available in the United States. Some school districts also offer free access to Learning Ally for qualifying students with an IEP or 504 plan.

Related links

Sora and Libby: Audiobooks and picture books from local library

Interested in checking out digital picture books and audiobooks from the local library? OverDrive offers both the Libby app and Sora app for borrowing eBooks and eAudiobooks from libraries; some libraries offer both Libby and Sora access. There are no subscription fees, no in-app purchases, and no late fees, as borrowed titles are returned automatically at the end of the loan period. This has been one of my favorite ways to check out accessible picture books that I can read with pinch-to-zoom or with screen magnification on a tablet.

Libby is a free app developed by OverDrive that allows library cardholders to borrow digital ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines at no cost, with titles for readers of all ages. Libby is available for free on iOS, Android, and through the Libby web application with no download required.

Sora is a free digital reading app developed by OverDrive for K-12 students that is available through participating libraries as well as through school libraries, enabling readers to access books in digital formats on their own devices. Sora primarily focuses on picture books and titles for young readers, and also offers read-along titles that pair audio narration with text. Sora is available for free on iOS, Android, and through the Sora web application with no download required.

One awesome book that I found on Libby is “Wanda Hears The Stars” by Amy S. Hansen and Wanda Díaz Merced, which tells the story of Wanda’s experiences using sonification as a blind astronomer!

Related links

NLS and BARD: Accessible picture books for low vision and blind kids

The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled is a free braille and talking book library service administered by the Library of Congress, providing eligible readers with access to books and magazines in audio and braille formats. NLS services are available to individuals of all ages, including students with visual impairments. NLS also includes several children’s books and accessible picture books with human narrators.

To access NLS titles, readers will need to have a NLS talking book player/digital playback device, which is provided through NLS at no cost. Through a national network of cooperating libraries, users can receive accessible titles by mail or via local libraries for playback on specialized devices. In addition, users can instantly access content through BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service. BARD works on computers, smartphones, tablets, and refreshable braille displays.

Applications can be started online or by contacting the local network library that serves the state or region. After approval, readers can request a BARD account for immediate digital access.

Related links

Novel Effect: Add sound effects to books

Novel Effect is a free app that uses voice recognition technology to add music, voices, and sound effects as books are read out loud in real time. There are soundscapes (audio tracks) for over 1,000 different books and poems for children of all ages (including Spanish titles), with new stories added frequently. Users do not have to read at a specific pace or in a specific order to use Novel Effect, as the soundtrack goes at the reader’s pace and can pause automatically if needed. Novel Effect can be a fun way to make reading out loud more exciting or add sound cues for illustrations.

Related links

Watching animated books and listening to storytimes

Many authors, libraries, and even celebrities post videos online of themselves reading different children’s and picture books, and many of these story time events include descriptions of various illustrations within the book. Since searching the phrase “story time” alone may not provide a lot of relevant results, I recommend using the following terms when searching for books:

  • Library story time/Library storytime
  • Kids book read aloud
  • (title of book) read aloud/storytime
  • Kids story time/kids storytime
  • Read aloud books for (age/grade level)

I have also added links to several story time and read-along videos below. Inclusion of a resource on this list is not an endorsement of a particular service.

Related links

Listening to audiobooks and accessible picture books

Audiobooks count as reading too! Some readers may prefer to listen to audiobooks while also reading print/Braille, while others enjoy listening to audiobooks for a non-visual experience. One of my favorite strategies for finding interesting audiobooks for kids is to search for full-cast audiobooks that have multiple narrators. For visually impaired audiences, a great audiobook to start with is A.A Milne’s Winnie the Pooh: The Accessible Version. This audiobook is a full cast version of the original 1926 adventures of Winnie the Pooh with rich audio description and includes blind and low vision voice actors in the cast; I accessed it through the Libby app.

Examples of sources for human-narrated audiobooks and accessible picture books include:

  • Libro.fm
  • LibriVox
  • Audible, which can be accessed on a smart speaker for a screen-free option. Some Kindle books are also available with paired Audible narration
  • Yoto audiobook players; use the app or add braille/textured labels to cards (there are a ton of resources online for free and discounted Yoto cards, and the app itself has free options)
  • Hoopla for libraries
  • Book sales, “book nooks,” and thrift stores for audiobooks on CD. Some libraries also offer audiobooks on CD for checkout.

Another strategy for finding screen-free accessible picture books is to search for reading podcasts that incorporate read-aloud elements. Some examples of children’s reading podcasts include:

  • Bedtime.FM
  • Circle Round
  • Stories Podcast

Related links

More resources on accessible picture books for low vision

Free and low cost resources that offer accessible picture books for low vision and blind readers, including eBooks, Braille/Print, audiobooks, and more!

Published January 19, 2023. Updated August 2026

APA Citation

Lewis, V. (2023, January 19). Accessible Picture Books For Low Vision. Veroniiiica. Retrieved October 6, 2026, from https://veroniiiica.com/accessible-picture-books-for-low-vision/

Filed Under: Blind and Nonvisual Access, Compensatory Skills, Expanded Core Curriculum, Low Vision, Reading and Writing, Sensory Efficiency
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