As a student with low vision that can’t read standard print, I rely on accessible textbooks in digital formats to access required readings and other information that I need for class. In some cases, I can read eTextbooks purchased from a mainstream publisher or platform and adjust the font size so I can read it, while in other instances I have to go through the process of requesting accessible formats for textbooks from my university or from other sources. Here is my advice on how to request accessible textbooks in college, from a student with low vision who graduated with degrees in data science and assistive technology (and is now working on her PhD!).
What to expect when buying and/or requesting accessible textbooks in college
As a student with a print disability that cannot read standard sized print from a book or page, I can’t walk into the bookstore and buy a textbook that I can immediately read with no other modifications. The first thing I do when preparing for a new semester is track down textbooks, and here are some things that students can expect when requesting accessible textbooks or buying textbooks with a print disability:
- Students can find information about textbooks on the course syllabus or by asking the professor for the course. The student’s advisor or department can also provide assistance with finding information about what textbooks are required.
- In order to get an accessible textbook, a student will generally have to buy or rent an inaccessible textbook. Students are required to provide a proof-of-purchase (or proof-of-rental) in order to request accessible textbooks because of copyright restrictions— there is a specific amendment for making content accessible to those with print disabilities.
- If the textbook is available as an eBook or eTextbook, that’s usually a good sign that it can be converted into an accessible format because that means the digital files exist already.
- When the textbook does not exist in a digital format, that usually means that someone will have to create one. In these situations, students will have to provide a physical copy of the textbook, which will then be converted into a digital format by chopping off the spine of the book and scanning everything in (more on that later).
- Once the student has the accessible textbook in a digital copy, it is theirs to keep forever. However, they cannot share the file with others.
- It can take anywhere from six seconds to six weeks to get an accessible textbook, depending on whether it is available as an eTextbook or if an accessible copy has to be created.
- Unlike in K-12, college students are required to initiate the accessible textbook process, it is not something their professors or parents can do for them.
A common question I get asked is whether students can rent textbooks that they plan to receive in accessible formats. If the book is available in a digital format, I would say that it is okay to rent a book and submit the proof-of-rental. However, if there is no digital file available, the student will likely have to purchase a copy of the book so that it can be remediated as an accessible format. Students are not charged extra for requesting an accessible format, but are required to purchase or rent the book in some capacity.
Related links
- Ten Templates For Emailing Professors
- How I Find Research Sources In Accessible Formats
- Receiving Accessible Educational Materials With NIMAC and AIM-VA
Examples of accessible textbooks for college students
The basic definition of an accessible textbook is that it is a textbook that can be read by a student with a disability using their preferred access method and/or assistive technologies. In this context, accessibility is rather subjective and is something that is defined by the student— a book that supports large print sizes is accessible to me, but would not necessarily be accessible to someone who reads braille. Most accessible textbooks are provided in digital formats that students can read on their own devices or applications, and they are not restricted to specific reading tools or applications.
When requesting accessible textbooks, students will often have to specify a specific format they need for reading. Reflowable formats like EPUB and Word allow for display customizations like increasing line spacing or adjusting the font size, while fixed formats like PDF mimic the appearance of a physical page and do not allow users to change the appearance of text.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Common Classroom Accommodations For Low Vision
- File Formats For Low Vision and Print Disabilities
- Low Vision Accommodations For Print Materials From My Low Vision IEP
Determine if an eTextbook or eBook is available
Many textbook publishers and platforms offer an eTextbook or eBook version of textbooks online, which often offer display customizations and other accessibility features like large text sizes, text-to-speech, and options for enlarging images with magnification or pinch-to-zoom. While the exact accessibility features will vary between publishers and platforms, this can be useful for students that want to configure how text is displayed or use tools like full-text search to locate information.
In many cases, the publisher/platform will have an accessible version of the textbook available upon request, which can be helpful for students who can’t access the provided eTextbook. However, the files are generally only available to disability services or accessible materials specialists, who will provide them to the student— the student cannot request the files directly. Instead, the student would submit their proof-of-purchase or proof-of-rental of the eTextbook to the appropriate staff member so that they can request the accessible textbooks.
Related links
- Ten Questions To Ask When Buying Digital Textbooks
- Mainstream eReader Apps and Low Vision Accessibility
- How I Find Research Sources In Accessible Formats
Search accessible libraries such as Bookshare for available texts
Bookshare is an online accessible library for individuals with print disabilities that provides books in accessible formats like EPUB, Word, DAISY, audio, and refreshable braille. Bookshare is free for K-12 and college/university students in the United States, and is a helpful place to start when searching for accessible textbooks in college. When downloading content from Bookshare, students do not need to purchase or rent a textbook from the bookstore or another source, they can just download the file for free from Bookshare.
That said, not all Bookshare textbooks offer the same features! Bookshare files are sometimes missing images, tables, text formatting details, and access codes that may be required for accessing text. There are also some publishers such as Pearson that do not have their recent titles available on the platform because of another partnership for providing accessible materials. That said, I recommend that students check out Bookshare first to see if a textbook is available in an accessible format— I have found a lot of books for classes on their website.
Related links
- Fast Facts About Bookshare
- Reading Bookshare Titles With Microsoft Word
- Ten Cool Things You Didn’t Know About Bookshare
Requesting an accessible textbook from Disability Services
For students that cannot locate an accessible copy of a textbook for their classes or when an eTextbook does not fit their accessibility needs, many colleges and universities have an access specialist, assistive technology specialist, or accessible media specialist that can provide copies of accessible textbooks to approved students. This is typically offered by the Disability Services office or a similar department— here at George Mason University, I get my accessible textbooks through the Assistive Technology Initiative (ATI).
Requesting accessible textbooks from college/university
In order to request an accessible textbook, students will have to submit information about the textbook they are requesting, such as the title, author(s), edition number, ISBN, or similar information. They will also be required to submit a copy of the receipt or order confirmation as a proof-of-purchase/proof-of-rental to confirm that they purchased the book already.
I recommend doing this as soon as students know what class(es) they will be taking or when they learn they will be using a particular book, though requests for accessible textbooks can be accommodated at any time.
How colleges/universities fulfill accessible textbook requests
Once this information is submitted, the appropriate staff member can request an accessible version of the textbook from the publisher, eBook platform, or another source like the AccessText Network that provides accessible materials for students with print disabilities. If no accessible file is available, one will be created by removing the spine of the physical book and feeding the pages into a high-speed scanner, followed by using OCR to extract/recognize text. I share more about this process in my post on how Bookshare creates accessible books linked below.
How long does it take to get accessible textbooks?
Students will typically receive their accessible textbook files within two weeks, though this will depend on whether digital files are available or if a book has to be remediated. In my personal experience, I have received books as quickly as 24 hours after submitting an accessible textbook request or up to a month later when the university had to create a digital copy of the text.
Related links
- What To Know About College Assistive Technology Specialists
- How To Get Disability Accommodations In Community College
- Behind The Scenes: How Bookshare Books Come To Life
- Ten Questions to Ask When Choosing a College
- Ten More Questions to Ask When Choosing A College
Asking professors for accessible self-published textbooks
In my undergraduate classes, I had a few professors who had written textbooks for our classes and provided them in PDF for everyone to read. This would require me to use pinch-to-zoom and horizontal scrolling to enlarge text in large print, which could become tiring quickly. Some of these books did not have an ISBN and were not publicly distributed, which left me with a few options:
- Ask the professor if they have the content available in another format that is easier for me to enlarge, like a Word document.
- Submit the file to Disability Services to convert it into a different format.
- Try to convert the content myself and have no idea if there were any errors.
When possible, I would start with the first option of asking the professor if they have the content available in another format. One of my professors created a large print PDF copy that also had higher contrast graphics embedded, while other professors would send me a copy of the textbook as a Word, EPUB, HTML, or LaTeX file that I could enlarge on my own, with a separate folder for images.
Related links
- Using Anthology Ally With Low Vision
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- How To Create High Resolution Images For Low Vision
- My Favorite Free Fonts For Print Disabilities
- How I Receive Accessible Quizzes and Tests in the Classroom
- How To Write Alt Text For Educational Content
- Purposes of Media Descriptions for Visual Impairment
Finding digital textbooks through the campus library
This is more common in general education classes and in my graduate school classes, but I have found many of the required textbooks for my classes available for online access through the campus library. While the accessibility features for reading tools will vary across platforms, this is another helpful strategy for finding textbooks in digital formats. If a book is listed on multiple platforms, I recommend checking each one to compare accessibility features or options for large print and text-to-speech/screen readers.
When textbooks are available as HTML webpages, I frequently use simplified reading displays like Immersive Reader to enlarge text and provide a consistent font style and background color. This was what I used for one of my assistive technology class textbooks that was available through Elsevier.
Related links
- How I Read Research Sources With Assistive Technology
- Online College Library Resources For Digital Access
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- Customize Microsoft Edge Accessibility For Low Vision
If all else fails— reading physical textbooks with assistive technology
In some instances, I haven’t been able to find a digital copy of a textbook or request an accessible one before I need it for class— that was the case for a graphic novel for a literature class and a textbook I had to read an excerpt from for a homework assignment. This is where knowing how to use assistive technology tools for low vision access can be helpful, as well as where assistive technology can be found on campus. Some examples of assistive technology for reading text from a page can include:
- Video magnifiers, either handheld video magnifiers or desktop magnifiers. Desktop magnifiers can often be found in campus libraries.
- Magnifying glasses.
- Scanning pens that can be used with OCR, such as the Scanmarker.
- For short reading tasks, a cell phone or tablet camera can be used to magnify text (e.g. Magnifier for iPhone/iPad).
- Visual assistance applications such as Aira, Envision, and Seeing AI.
When it comes to reading standard textbooks, it can be useful to have a typoscope or line guide to block out surrounding lines, which can be helpful for students that have trouble with line tracking or that have double vision. I find this strategy useful when working with video magnifiers.
Disclaimer: I previously received free Aira service through a now-defunct program for college students in 2018/2019 and spoke at an Aira-sponsored event in 2018.
Related links
- Awesome On-Campus College Library Resources
- All About The Eschenbach SmartLux Digital Video Magnifier
- iOS Magnifier and Low Vision Accessibility
- Magnifying Glasses For Low Vision
- ScanMarker Air: OCR Scanner Pen for Low Vision
- All About Visual Assistance Apps For Visually Impaired
More tips for how to request accessible textbooks in college
- My math classes often had textbooks built-in to the programs we used for homework. Learn more at ALEKS Accessibility For Visual Impairment, How I Use WebAssign With Low Vision, and MyLab Math Accessibility and Low Vision
- During my first few semesters, I used the Kindle app a lot for reading textbooks I purchased from Amazon— I share more at Amazon Kindle App and Low Vision Accessibility
- Another service I have used for getting digital textbooks is VitalSource, which I write about in Reading VitalSource eTextbooks With Low Vision
Published October 10, 2019. Updated June 2025