Education resources: Books for the
classroom
A guide to publications available for education professionals to
teach and support blind and partially sighted learners. Many are
available from our online shop.
Electronic textbooks
Large print books
Accessible image books
Tactile illustration development
Oxford Reading Tree
Livewire series (low reading age, high interest)
Dictionaries and thesauruses
Braille reading schemes
Braille notation guides
Magazines and books for professionals
Ways of Reading leaflet
RNIB National Library Service
Electronic textbooks
Load2Learn is a free service providing accessible textbooks and
images to support dyslexic, partially sighted or blind learners who
have difficulty reading standard print. Allowing them to read the
same books, at the same time as their classmates, giving them the
same educational opportunities.
Publisher Lookup aims to help educationalists working with
disabled learners to get an electronic version of published texts as
quickly as possible. It provides key contacts for publishers of
academic texts and a guide for obtaining texts in alternative
formats.
Large print books
Our National Library Service provides giant print leisure titles in 24
point type for loan.
National Blind Children's Society (NBCS) produces customised
large print fiction, revision guides and children's classics for home
RNIB – supporting blind and partially sighted people
Registered charity number 226227
and school. Contact NBCS on 01278 76 47 64 or email
customeyes@nbcs.org.uk
Accessible image books
Our range of curriculum accessible image books are designed to
support pupils studying subjects at Key Stage 4 of the National
Curriculum. The images in these books have been designed to
convey the information as easily as possible, although the subject
matter may be complex. Each coloured clear print and tactile black
and white image has accompanying supportive descriptions in 24point print and contracted braille (grade two). These descriptions
encourage the user to read the image in a structured and logical
way, additional support from a teacher may be required.
Tactile illustration development
Drawing with your Perkins brailler offers step-by-step instructions
for creating 36 different drawings using a Perkins brailler, including
simple shapes, elephants, trains, rabbits and designs for greetings
cards. Both the braille and the print versions of the book include
the actual dotty pictures, to show what the drawings will look like
when completed.
The Fat Man, Flat Man pack is designed to help young children
understand the relationship between real objects and tactile 2D
representations of those objects on swell paper. Highly raised and
less highly raised (fat and flat) thermoform images of the same
objects provide the stepping stones between.
Oxford Reading Tree
Stages 1 to 9 (Biff, Chip and Kipper stories) of the Oxford Reading
Tree are available in the shared reading format - braille on
interleaved clear plastic sheets, so the pictures and print story can
be read underneath. The 2007 editions onwards have been
produced in both uncontracted braille (grade one) and contracted
braille (grade two) and they include the capital letter sign and the
2004 braille code changes.
The older editions of Stages 1 to 9 are available while stocks last
and have been reduced in price. These are only available in
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contracted braille (grade two) and they do not include the capital
letter sign or the 2004 braille code changes.
Stages 10 and 11 are available in single sided contracted braille
(grade 2). Stages 12 to 16 are available in interlined uncontracted
braille (grade 1) or contracted braille (grade 2). The books are
available on A4 sized paper with non-capitalised braille only. They
are not produced as shared reading books like stages 1 to 9.
ClearVision Library also has some of the books available for loan.
For further information contact ClearVision on 020 8789 9575 or
email info@clearvisionproject.org
Livewire series (low reading age, high interest)
"Stimulating and accessible, the titles in the Livewire series have
been produced in association with The Basic Skills Agency to
ensure a non-patronising approach towards the requirements of
readers with special needs. They provide teenagers/adult interest
level fiction and non-fiction for those with reading ages below 10,
or adult students learning English as a second language. Each
book is graded at one of the following reading ages: 6-7, 7-8, 8-9
or 9-10. All Livewire books are written by qualified Special Needs
teachers, and are expertly assessed." Hodder Headline.
The Livewire books are available to purchase in uncontracted and
contracted braille (grade 1 and 2) and include the capital letter
sign. They are produced in A4 format with single sided, double line
spaced braille.
ClearVision Library have some titles available for loan in braille.
They are also available in customised large print from National
Blind Children's Society.
Dictionaries and thesauruses
Collins Easy Learning bilingual dictionaries are ideal for anyone of
any age who is starting to learn German or Spanish. The font size
in the large print edition is 18 point and are available while stocks
last from RNIB. They are also available in contracted braille (grade
2) and are printed on demand. The PDF files can be downloaded
free of charge from Load2Learn.
Oxford large print dictionaries are designed to be clear and easyto-use, with exceptionally clear print to make reading easier. The
main font sizes range from 12 to 14 point.
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The Franklin language master is an electronic talking dictionary,
thesaurus and spell checker especially designed for people with
sight loss and people with learning difficulties or dyslexia.
Our Spelling dictionary for beginner writers is designed for new
braille writers studying at Key Stage 1 and early Key Stage 2. Each
word is shown in 18 point print, uncontracted braille (grade 1) and
if applicable, contracted braille (grade 2).
Braille reading schemes
RNIB has a range of reading schemes available to teach children
and young people braille; from developing early pre-braille skills
with Feeling Ready to Read through to the end of contracted braille
(grade two) with the Abi books.
Braille notation guides
Our Using the braille code publications (Maths, Science, French,
German, Spanish) are intended for use by all those who are
involved with the teaching of primary or secondary school children
who use braille as their main medium for communication. Based
on the braille code used in the UK for transcribing from print text
into braille, it includes advice about transcription issues and covers
the code required up to GCSE level. See our Downloadable
resources document for more information.
Magazines and books for professionals
RNIB offers magazines for professionals containing original
material, not published anywhere else, which focus on aspects of
sight loss: NB magazine is for all sight loss and eye health
professionals; Insight is for parents and teachers; Access is the
UK's leading magazine on inclusive design for professionals,
campaigners and businesses interested in best practice and
Vision is our exclusive membership magazine for people with sight
problems.
Ways of Reading leaflet
The Ways of Reading leaflet is designed to help you find reading
materials in accessible formats for children of all ages who are
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blind or partially sighted - for pleasure, information or school work.
The leaflet is free of charge and is a joint venture by Calibre Audio
Library, ClearVision Library, National Blind Children's Society and
RNIB.
RNIB National Library Service
Library catalogue
The RNIB Library Catalogue contains all titles available from our
National Library Service including Talking Books, braille, giant print
and braille music.
The catalogue can also be found on UnityUK, which is used by
public libraries across the UK. This means that your local library
may have access to UnityUK and can check what's available in
accessible formats on their usual computer system.
Children's librarians
Our children's librarians are available to assist young people,
parents and teachers with enquiries about books and reading.
There are over 4000 titles in braille, giant print (24 point) and
unabridged audio on CD for children and young people. From
contemporary novels to older favourites we have books by authors
such as Stephenie Meyer, Roald Dahl, Jacqueline Wilson, and
Michael Morpurgo to name just a few! We also stock non-fiction,
and although we don't loan text books, many of our titles do
indirectly support the Curriculum. Books can be sent to home or
school.
Contact our children's librarians on 0161 355 2061 or email
childrenslibrarian@rnib.org.uk
Reader services
Our team of professional librarians can offer access to, and advice
and information about, books and other reading matter available in
alternative formats such as: braille, DAISY, cassette and large
print. We cover a range of subject matter, for both study and
leisure reading. The team is able to help with the majority of book
enquiries or, if not, point you to an organisation that can. If
appropriate, we may also be able to provide a catalogue of
available listings.
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Contact our reader services team on 01733 37 53 33 or email
LibraryInfo@rnib.org.uk
rnib.org.uk