Accessible reader for vision impaired person?

pikelet · 11-14-2009, 05:40 AM

I'm looking for recommendations for a reader for my husband who has recently developed vision problems. I showed him my Sony Pocket Reader with the text size at the largest setting and he was able to read on it if he held it very close.

I figure if I can get him a 6" or bigger device with even larger text size, good contrast and easy to locate buttons he might be able to enjoy reading comfortably again.

Thanks

Ea · 11-15-2009, 04:02 AM

I remember there were a thread about tips for visually impaired. I searched for 'visually impaired' in the forums and couldn't find what I remembered, but I did find these three threads that might be of interest:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42923
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39757
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8742

The largest size on Kindle 20 pt - I don't know if that is big enough. You also have to consider which books he is going to read - what format(s) and are you prepared to convert (and perhaps de-DRM).

For a Sony, if you can convert, you can use calibre and set the base font size to a very large one - that way you can get around the size issue.

Then there's the Hanlin V3 clones, among them the Australian ECO Reader. You could ask here about specific issues:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=101

pikelet · 11-15-2009, 05:02 AM

Thanks very much for the advice. Those threads have a lot of useful information in them.

I think that most of the content that he would like to read is non-DRM (technical documents, web content, free books), so converting them for any device shouldn't be a problem.

Ea · 11-15-2009, 05:19 AM

You could try to download calibre (if you don't already have it) and convert a couple of books and see how it works.

Here's another good thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39165

As for button layout, it's easy to feel the buttons on the Sony 505, and the Kindle aren't too bad either. The Hanlin V3 would be a little worse, but one could glue on small bit of something in a distinct shape, such as 2 or 3 layers of sticky vinyl.

BTW, except for text-to-speech on the Kindle, (which is surprisingly good), I don't think it has any other extra features that he could take advantage of in comparison with the others, as dictionary lookup and manu items are smaller size text.

pikelet · 11-15-2009, 06:10 AM

Thanks Ea!

I've been leaning towards either a CyBook Gen3 or Sony 505, so now I know that either one of them should be suitable. The ability to customise the fonts is an added feature that I didn't realise the Cybook had.

JSWolf · 11-15-2009, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikelet

I'm looking for recommendations for a reader for my husband who has recently developed vision problems. I showed him my Sony Pocket Reader with the text size at the largest setting and he was able to read on it if he held it very close.

I figure if I can get him a 6" or bigger device with even larger text size, good contrast and easy to locate buttons he might be able to enjoy reading comfortably again.

Thanks

If being heavy is not an issue, you could try a Kindle DX since it has a nice large screen which is a lot better for LARGE text then a 6" screen.

sian · 11-15-2009, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If being heavy is not an issue, you could try a Kindle DX since it has a nice large screen which is a lot better for LARGE text then a 6" screen.

amd it has tts (text to speech) which is nice to listen to. ez reader pro 5" does it to but ours is to painful to listen .

i search for the followin in a e reader

sd card
tts
font size
and how many different ebook formats it can do

i discover these
nuut
and eDge

wallcraft · 11-15-2009, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikelet

I've been leaning towards either a CyBook Gen3 or Sony 505, so now I know that either one of them should be suitable.

I see that one of the threads Ea referenced points out that the Sony can use larger fonts with RTF files. On the other hand, the Cybook allows a larger native font than the Sony for all formats, and has a 5 ebooks per page library view. So it may be the best current 6" device for someone with vision problems.

pikelet · 11-18-2009, 07:49 AM

Thanks very much for all of the advice. We'll give the Cybook a try.

sian · 05-05-2013, 08:00 PM

well having tried the ez reader pro 5 . have to say it wasnt for us the speach was annoying to hear, and after the upgrade it was to slow to read anything with.

so sold it now have 2 kindle fire one an hd with 16 gb . been trying out the accessability addition to the kindle app and we cant get the hang of it

once turned on it changes how my parners phone works using a different swipe combination and thats not helpful so we are removing the app from the phone.

some people could use it but its not for us

11-14-2009, 05:40 AM	#1
pikelet girl from oz Posts: 67 Karma: 834 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: iPad, Sony PRS-650, Sony PRS-300, Cybook Gen3	Accessible reader for vision impaired person? I'm looking for recommendations for a reader for my husband who has recently developed vision problems. I showed him my Sony Pocket Reader with the text size at the largest setting and he was able to read on it if he held it very close. I figure if I can get him a 6" or bigger device with even larger text size, good contrast and easy to locate buttons he might be able to enjoy reading comfortably again. Thanks

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11-15-2009, 04:02 AM	#2
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	I remember there were a thread about tips for visually impaired. I searched for 'visually impaired' in the forums and couldn't find what I remembered, but I did find these three threads that might be of interest: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42923 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39757 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8742 The largest size on Kindle 20 pt - I don't know if that is big enough. You also have to consider which books he is going to read - what format(s) and are you prepared to convert (and perhaps de-DRM). For a Sony, if you can convert, you can use calibre and set the base font size to a very large one - that way you can get around the size issue. Then there's the Hanlin V3 clones, among them the Australian ECO Reader. You could ask here about specific issues: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=101

11-15-2009, 05:02 AM	#3
pikelet girl from oz Posts: 67 Karma: 834 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: iPad, Sony PRS-650, Sony PRS-300, Cybook Gen3	Thanks very much for the advice. Those threads have a lot of useful information in them. I think that most of the content that he would like to read is non-DRM (technical documents, web content, free books), so converting them for any device shouldn't be a problem.

11-15-2009, 05:19 AM	#4
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	You could try to download calibre (if you don't already have it) and convert a couple of books and see how it works. Here's another good thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39165 As for button layout, it's easy to feel the buttons on the Sony 505, and the Kindle aren't too bad either. The Hanlin V3 would be a little worse, but one could glue on small bit of something in a distinct shape, such as 2 or 3 layers of sticky vinyl. BTW, except for text-to-speech on the Kindle, (which is surprisingly good), I don't think it has any other extra features that he could take advantage of in comparison with the others, as dictionary lookup and manu items are smaller size text.

11-15-2009, 06:10 AM	#5
pikelet girl from oz Posts: 67 Karma: 834 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: iPad, Sony PRS-650, Sony PRS-300, Cybook Gen3	Thanks Ea! I've been leaning towards either a CyBook Gen3 or Sony 505, so now I know that either one of them should be suitable. The ability to customise the fonts is an added feature that I didn't realise the Cybook had.

11-18-2009, 07:49 AM	#9
pikelet girl from oz Posts: 67 Karma: 834 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: iPad, Sony PRS-650, Sony PRS-300, Cybook Gen3	Thanks very much for all of the advice. We'll give the Cybook a try.

05-05-2013, 08:00 PM	#10
sian Addict Posts: 258 Karma: 55958 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: UK Device: kindle oasis ( 2018) kindle Fire hd 10 ( 2017)	well having tried the ez reader pro 5 . have to say it wasnt for us the speach was annoying to hear, and after the upgrade it was to slow to read anything with. so sold it now have 2 kindle fire one an hd with 16 gb . been trying out the accessability addition to the kindle app and we cant get the hang of it once turned on it changes how my parners phone works using a different swipe combination and thats not helpful so we are removing the app from the phone. some people could use it but its not for us

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