iPad iPad 3 & the visually impaired

[s1mp13m4n]

Hello everyone. I was given an iPad 3 64GB as a gift. I want to use its ability to read ebooks. What is a good native ebook format for the iPad? I am also in online college and I get my books through the disability dept. and they are always a .pdf file. What app reads a pdf file well and will flow the text so when I enlarge it I will not have to scroll to read my textbook? I also find reverse contrast to be a help to me, so what apps do that as well? Thank you for the help.

[kyteflyer]

The epub format is pretty much ubiquitous, and many readers (including iBooks) support it. As far as I know all reader apps allow you to choose your own font size but I think not with PDFs, because the fonts are defined inside the pdf. An aspect of the ipad that you might find useful, then, is Zoom, which, with a triple finger double tap will let you zoom the page and use two fingers to scroll around it.

for things like messaging, calendar, notes and so on, you can set your own font size inside Settings --> Accessibility. This is where you'll find Zoom as well.

Good luck

[sapphiresilver]

Epub and iBooks are probably your best option. iBooks supports pdf, but I have not tried it with VoiceOver so do not know how it works, but zooming works well. iBooks also has a night mode, but I prefer to use the "white on black" option in the settings menu because the night mode text is too dark for me.

[s1mp13m4n]

I have iBooks installed now and will try it out. I go for a low vision exam today so maybe they also have tools that can help me out.

[supermighty]

Use GoodReader for your PDFs. It's nice, has a lot of options and is fast.

You can even set non-destructive crops to get rid of annoying margins.

[zhanzr]

I have both iPAD3 and Kindle Touch. I also have a myopic diopter of -7.0.

From my experience, the iPAD3 don't fit for reading, especially for those verbose academic textbooks and papers. Because I find the vaulted retina screen has strong reflection rate. Both under sunlight or indoor environment, the screen generates confusing reflection. I have never managed to read more than 10 minutes on iPAD3. The strength of iPAD3 is video playing and casual game. The map application is my favorite.

For the kindle Touch, I usually feel comfortably to read continuously for 1 hour. With brief interval rests, I could read for several hours. The only obvious weak point is the picture displaying is terrible. And the contrast is not sharp enough. In general, Kindle is very suit for reading those largely consists of text. I heard of that Nook series would release a reader with glowing back light. As an amazon fan, I am sure I will buy one if there is a glowing Kindle.

If I need to read academic materials which is not suit for Kindle for a relatively long time, I choose to read it on my ThinkPad, which has a non-reflection screen.

I hope my experience would serve as your reference.

[lostmymarbles]

Originally Posted by s1mp13m4n

Hello everyone. I was given an iPad 3 64GB as a gift. I want to use its ability to read ebooks. What is a good native ebook format for the iPad? I am also in online college and I get my books through the disability dept. and they are always a .pdf file. What app reads a pdf file well and will flow the text so when I enlarge it I will not have to scroll to read my textbook? I also find reverse contrast to be a help to me, so what apps do that as well? Thank you for the help.

You're looking at the epub format.
And the ebook app is what you're looking at.
Pretty handy.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by lostmymarbles

You're looking at the epub format.
And the ebook app is what you're looking at.
Pretty handy.

Which "ebook" app are you referring to? I've searched the App Store and I can't find an App by that name. Do you mean "iBooks"?