Accessible course materials

Audio recordings

Printed study texts may also be available in the DAISY Talking Book audio format, and if you've asked for this service you'll automatically receive recorded study materials from the Disability Resources Team.

DAISY Digital Talking Books are audio representations of print publications with built-in additional features such as a navigational structure that makes it easy to move or skip to different parts of the book. They are produced to the internationally recognised DAISY recording standard; if you would like to know more about how the OU has developed its materials in this format please see our Digital Audio Project webpage. Digital Talking Books may be audio-only recordings with a navigation structure, or an audio recording synchronised with electronic text plus a navigation structure. The audio can be a human or a synthesised voice.

The DAISY Digital Talking Books we send are provided with software for use with a computer but they can also be played on a DAISY hardware player, a PDA, MP3 player or mobile phone. DAISY hardware players could be paid for by your Disabled Students' Allowance award if you are eligible (try our eligibility quiz), or you may be able to borrow one from the OU equipment loan scheme.

You can download the DAISY software and see some samples of OU DTBs on Digital Audio Project.

Some students may also receive audio versions of set books from the Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB), supplied in the DAISY Digital Talking Book format.

Adobe PDF

Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) files, provided on CD-ROM together with a copy of the latest Adobe Reader, allow you to adjust the text size and background colours.

You can also use software known as a 'screen reader' to convert text into speech in some study materials, although not all PDF files are as accessible to screen readers as we would like them to be. This is mainly because of requirements of the subject, for example showing mathematical or scientific symbols. Additionally the files that we do have are not all equally accessible, due to some documents being produced when accessibility in printing technologies was still evolving.

If you want to check which documents are available in PDF, contact the Student Registration & Enquiry Service or your regional or national centre.

We have three levels of accessibility for PDFs.

Level 1: alter text display (magnification and colour). The document may not be searchable or selectable.

Level 2: alter text display (magnification and colour). The document is fully searchable or selectable but may not work with screen readers.

Level 3: alter text display (magnification and colour). The document is fully searchable and selectable and is screen readable by most screen reading software.

Find out more about PDF accessibility from the Adobe Accessibility Resource Centre.

Comb-bound

Comb-bound books have a spiral binding to make them easier to handle and able to lie flat on a table or other surface. This makes the material easier to use with a scanner, or other equipment such as a magnifier.

Many printed study materials are also available in comb-bound versions, but there may be instances when a book is not available because it is too thin for this kind of binding.

Transcripts

Printed transcripts are available for material that is not usually produced in printed form, such as television programmes or audio-visual material on study DVDs. Transcripts may be provided via the course (module) website or on a DVD.