For users with reading challenges or visual impairments, the process of learning to read can be particularly daunting. Thankfully, there are many apps available that have been designed for struggling readers, and many of them are even available for free.
Dolphin Easy Reader(new window) is a text-to-speech book reader that is compatible with DAISY, Epub, and other digital text formats. The app is highly customizable, and users can adjust text size, font, margins, line and letter spacing, colours and themes, and even voice speed and style. In addition to these adjustments, users can also use the standard 2 finger pinch zoom method and get even closer, and the displayed text will stay clear. A built-in search function allows users to easily locate words or phrases, and text or audio-based bookmarks can be easily added and later returned to.
But what makes this app really stand out is the way in which it organizes and gives users access to hundreds of thousands of free, accessible titles from around the world. Users need only navigate to a particular library and either sign in or access the content for free. When we tested the app, we were initially given access to Bookshare, CELA library, epubBooks, and Project Gutenberg, and the two latter options did not require a sign in. Many more libraries are available (including French options) but, these libraries were turned off by default, most likely due to our current location and language. To access the complete list of libraries, users can tap on “Manage Libraries” and manually toggle alternative options from there.
The app does require a bit of exploring, and potentially lots of signing in, but with so many free, accessible libraries to choose from, this should be expected. Despite that, the app is still fairly straightforward (especially when accessing free content), and we went from a blank dashboard to finding and reading an age-appropriate book in under a minute via epubBooks.
Dolphin Easy Reader is free (with the option to purchase extra voices) and is compatible with iOS and Android. *Books that are protected by DRM (including those purchased via Kindle and iBooks) are not compatible with EasyReader.
