Reading Bookshare Books Downloaded in Word

Bookshare books can now be downloaded in Word and read with any compatible editor or reading tool. This is a common, easy-to-use format that allows members to customize the book’s text to meet their reading needs. Members can do the following with Word:

  • See the text
  • Hear the text read outloud
  • Customize the font size, colors, styles, and more
  • Annotate text
  • And additional features depending on the tool

How to Access Books in Word

Here are the steps for accessing Bookshare books in Word:

  1. Log in to Bookshare
  2. Select a desired book
  3. Select "Word" from the drop-down menu next to "Download" and follow the steps to complete the download process
  4. Find the zipped file in your "Downloads" folder
  5. Extract the zipped file

Once the file has been extracted, you can open it with a compatible editor or reading tool. If you have Microsoft Word on your device, depending on the version, you may have access to Microsoft's Immersive Reader, which offers an excellent reading experience. If your version of Word doesn't have Immersive Reader, you can access this feature in the online version of Word. For more information, as well as screen shots to illustrate this process, review the how-to guide on Reading Bookshare books downloaded as Microsoft Word documents.

Note: if your version of Word does not have the Immersive Reader, you can also use Microsoft's "Speak" feature to read text out loud (though this feature doesn't offer accompanying word highlighting. For more information, search Word's Help menu for "Speak."

Submit Feedback on Word Format

Do you have suggestions on how we can make Bookshare’s Word option better? Share some feedback!

Read Aloud with Latest Version of Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word 2016 has a Read Aloud feature that lets you hear your document and see each word highlighted simultaneously. (Learn more about Microsoft Word's Read Aloud feature.)