Bookshare books can be downloaded in six accessible formats, as outlined below. Note: to read with the Bookshare Reader for web or mobile, you do not need to download any book files. Sponsors simply assign a book title to a student on the Bookshare website. Students log in with their username and password and select the “Read Now” button. Individual Members find the book they wish to read and select the “Read Now” button.
EPUB 3.0
EPUB books from Bookshare are EPUB 3.0 text files that work with many popular large scale reading applications including Bookshare Reader.
DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System)
DAISY books from Bookshare are files that work with many types of assistive technology that reads text-based books. These include mobile apps that read DAISY files, text-to-speech DAISY players, Braille notetakers, and portable self-voicing DAISY Players. The DAISY format can also be read in scan-and-read software such as Kurzweil K1000 and K3000, WYNN and OpenBook.
Braille Ready Format (BRF)
BRF is a digital Braille ready format used with refreshable Braille displays, Braille notetakers and Braille Embossers. Learn more about downloading BRF files.
MP3 (Mpeg audio layer 3)
this option uses MP3 files created with our text-to-speech engine and will work with onto any device that supports MP3 playback.
DAISY Audio
Similar to the DAISY option discussed above, this option uses MP3 files created with our text-to-speech engine and will work with Daisy Audio compatible players.
Microsoft Word
Bookshare books can be downloaded in the Microsoft Word format and read with any compatible editor or reading tool that reads this format. This is a common, easy-to-use format that allows members to customize the book’s text to meet their reading needs. Learn about how to access Bookshare books in Word.