Vision impairment: need e-ink reader for Libby, PDFs, Pocket, & Kurzweil/ClaroRead?

[annieellie]

Hi! I’m new here and also brand new to ereaders. I was recently diagnosed with a new vision impairment (accommodative insufficiency), and my doctors recommended using an e-ink device for reading. Up until now, my reading materials consist of print books, Libby books on my iphone, PDFs on my laptop, news on my iPhone (Pocket + NYT app + browser), and the occasional library ePub in Adobe Digital Editions on my laptop. From the cursory research I’ve done so far, I can tell that PDFs are going to be the sticking point.

I’m hoping to get some general advice on brands and models that would work best for me. I’d also love to hear from other people who use ereaders as a form of assistive tech for vision impairments, if you’re out there! (For example, can you Kurzweil or ClaroRead on an ereader? Or do you not need to because ereaders have their own ways of adjusting text appearance? If it’s the latter, which ereaders are best for that?)

My requirements:

• e-ink
• ability to use Libby
• ability to read PDFs

My strong preferences:

• ability to annotate PDFs and access the annotations on other devices (I have access to the Adobe Pro suite, but I don’t know if that can be used on ereaders or if it’s functional.)
• ability to read news (Pocket, NYT app or site, other news sites accessed by browser using library proxy)

Price isn’t a big concern for me. I’m open to suggestions about size. My understanding is that larger screens are necessary for PDFs. That should be okay, as long as it’s lightweight and easy to grasp (my disability affects all of my joints, including my hands).

Is there anything else I should be thinking about?

Thank you!
Annie

[downeaster59]

I suggest that you look at the Onyx Nova 2, the Onyx Note 2 or the Onyx Max. The Max is the largest and most expensive. You may find a 13 inch display a bit too cumbersome. The Note has a 10.3 inch display which is ideal for pdfs.

I have the Nova 2. It has a 7.8 inch display. That is a good compromise for me. It's large enough for the pdfs I read - especially when I use the crop function to reduce margins and make the text as large as possible. The Nova 2 is also a comfortable size for reading eBooks. I found the Note a bit too big for extended reading, though it is not at all heavy for its size.

These Onyx devices all run Android 9.0. You can install Libby on any of them. All use the stock Onyx browser, which is fine for me, but you can install other browsers if you like. You can install Pocket or Instapaper or the NYT app. All work well.

I can't tell you how any of these devices accommodate people with vision impairments, as I'm not sure what accommodations you would need. You can adjust the system font size, for one, by making it larger. Hopefully, others with experience can help you with this question!

Kobo devices have a browser and Pocket. I don't know about Libby, though.

Likebook offers a line of readers similar to Onyx. Likebook devices are good, but I'd rate Onyx a bit better across the board.

Edit: I was just playing around with the pdf settings on the Onyx native reader. There are a number of ways you can make the text larger. It has reflow mode, which works well enough but could use a little more refinement!

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

Likebook offers a line of readers similar to Onyx. Likebook devices are good, but I'd rate Onyx a bit better across the board.

Not if you need large storage capacities for 7.8-inch and 10.3-inch devices - and that's very important to me.
Likebook devices have SD card expansion (I use 512 GB) - this is not possible with Onyx.
With the Likebook USB-OTG I was able to use a 4 TB NTFS hard disk, with the Onyx only Fat32 sticks worked.
That is why I mainly only use my Likebook devices and my Boox Nova2 when I want to insert handwritten comments in books other than PDF - so almost never.

Only Boox has Android 6 inch and 13.3 inch devices, so you have to rely on them in this size range

[Elektron]

Personally I prefer Kobo. It has built in Pocket support and font modifications. Not sure what Libby is. It has OverDrive though. Also no Pdf annotations, sorry.

[ps67]

IMHO Your needs are better satisfied by a Android reader like Onyx or Boyue at least with 10.3" screen for PDF. So Likebook Alita (Boyue) or Onyx Boox Note 2 could be the device for You. They have also the light. A Android device will allow You to install the app You need. For example it should be easy to find a TTS for Android, I don't know about Libby but I imagine that there is for Android and surely there is Pocket because I have it on my phone.

You could also see the Onyx Boox Max 3 with its 13.3" screen that is optimal for PDF but it has no light.

Outside Android there is the Pocketbook Inkpad X with a 10.3 screen. It has Text to Speech and RSS (I think, my PB633 Color has it) but there is no possibility of installing Android app so it doesn't seem to fit all Your needs.