Audio Books for the Blind: Enriching Lessons with Spoken Word
If you want to talk about technology creating a feel good humanitarian story, then look no further than audio books for the blind.
Our society has always been visual and is becoming increasingly so: from newspapers and books to computer screens, blind people have faced the struggle of accessing information that is readily available to most other people. The ability to read a book or newspaper is taken for granted by many of us, but it is a pleasure that is often denied the blind.
In today’s society, we obtain a great deal of information and entertainment using computers and the internet. Because they are very image-based, blind and visually impaired people struggle much more to access comparable information. Nor is Braille that much more convenient. While it does allow people to enjoy written language, it can be expensive and out of reach for many blind people.
When audio books for blind people were developed, it opened many doors for the blind, allowing them to easily get information, hear a story, and stay updated on current events.
Mass production of audio books for the blind meant that for the first time, visually impaired individuals could go online and download a book. While it may seem simple, this allowed the first opportunity to enjoy books in an expensive or even free way.
Technology really can help improve and enhance people’s lives: in the case of audio books, it has helped blind and visually impaired individuals obtain knowledge in a way that they couldn’t just five or ten years previous.
No subject is off limits where audio books for the blind are concerned, so visually impaired people today are able to educate themselves in subjects like art, music, drama, economics, history, geography and literature to a point that was unattainable for the average blind person just a few years ago.
Great advances that have been made in blind education through audio books in the core areas of reading, writing, mathematics and science, and as a result, blind people are able to easily access educational audio books.
Audio books for the blind also provide an opportunity for entertainment. Now, blind and visually impaired people can simply hear a story for pleasure, and the choices are diverse. Thousands of books - all different forms of fiction and nonfiction, contemporary or classic, popular, and more obscure - are available for the enjoyment of blind people.
Audio books are a great example of how technology can benefit and enhance people’s lives, especially those with disabilities.
