Living Made Easy – Floor games

Reading

This section includes a range of equipment that may help when reading including:

• line finders and page markers
• bookrests and tables for positioning reading materials
• page turners
• magnifiers
• text-to-speech equipment
• talking books.

Adapting reading or learning material
If you require written words to be modified, such as making text bigger, modifying the font colour, or altering line spacing and paragraphs, the RNIB have provided information on how to do this for computerised documents. 

Line finders and page markers
Line finders are small plastic reading aids that are designed to assist you if text ‘jumps’ around on a page when you try to read it. This condition may be the result of a visual perceptual difficulty or a learning disability such as dyslexia.

The line-finder is simply placed upon the page to be read to mask out unwanted text. Some styles have an aperture to form a ‘reading window’, other models are placed beneath the text to be read to act as an underline. All line-finders help you to keep your eyes focused on a single row and an indicator arrow is often featured to help you with left to right orientation. This is particularly useful if you have dyslexia.

Page markers
These are small clips that are inserted into the spine of a book; they are designed as bookmarks and to keep the pages in an open position when pressing on the centre of the clip using your thumb. The product allows for one-handed reading.

Book rests and lighting
If you find it difficult to hold a newspaper, book, or magazine because you experience pain or have limited dexterity or motor skills, you may find it beneficial to place the

 reading material on a book rest, music stand or copyholder.

If you are blind or partially sighted using a book rest and additional lighting may enable you to bring reading material physically closer to you and have the effect of enlarging it and making it easier to read. Alternatively, if you also need to use a hand-held magnifier, a book rest will make it unnecessary to hold both the book, newspaper, or magazine and the magnifier at the same time.

In some circumstances, using a cantilever table with a bed or with a chair can be a suitable alternative to book rests, music stands or newspaper holders, as long as the table has a lip to prevent the book from sliding off.

Book holders and reading stands
Book holders and reading stands can be free standing (placed on a table or bedding) or floor standing. Models that can clamp to a convenient support such as a chair are also available. The free standing book holders can often be adjusted at different angles, can accommodate different thicknesses of book and may fold away for storage. As book holders are available from high street stores, we only include those with non-standard features.

Free-standing book rests
These are often portable and rest on a flat surface such as a table top.

They are sometimes designed to be angle adjustable, enabling you to achieve a more comfortable reading position. If you need a method of holding pages open, some models are fitted with securing cords, other designs may use metal clips. Some holders may be large enough to take magazines and broadsheet newspapers.

Some book rests are designed to be used on your lap. These may be also fitted with a neck cord to provide extra support. 

Some designs may also be used as writing slopes. Other useful features may include: a carrying handle, a carousel for holding more than one book and holders for pens and writing materials.

If you need a book rest to be clamped to a table-top, bed-head or to clip over the upper edge of an angled work surface, it is possible to buy a bookstand, mounted on a support arm; however, with the advent of digital technology and tablet readers, these are becoming increasingly harder to find. Therefore, a floor standing book rest may be easier to find and purchase.

There is a wide variety of reading lights and lights on clamps that are readily available for purchase and all have varying features that also affect the cost, which generally speaking, ranges from £5 upwards. These include variable light modes, different power sources and type of bulb. It is also worth noting that some magnifiers have built-in lamps to offer increased illumination over the subject to be read.

When considering a reading light it is advisable to think about the following:

• where will you want to position the light?
• how much brightness will you require?
• what will you be clamping it to? (i.e will it take the weight of the light (e.g. newspaper, magazine or book))
• what type of power source do you have access to?

Floor standing book rests, newspaper holders and music stands
If you do not have a convenient tabletop or clamping surface suitable for a freestanding model or book rest on a clamp, it is possible to buy a stand-alone floor standing book 

rest. These allow the individual to choose an appropriate and comfortable reading height and angle for maximum comfort. They can be used when the individual is sitting in a chair, or in bed.

Other options may include a fixed round base, or cantilever base on casters for use alongside chairs and beds.

Some models may be large enough to accommodate music scores, magazines or newspapers, or tablet readers.

Manual page turners
Manual page turners are simply a stick that is held in the hands or mouth and used to turn pages by sliding them to the next side. Head pointers may also be used to turn pages.

Electric page turners
If you are physically unable to turn pages yourself, it is possible to get electric page turners that can do it for you. Some help may be necessary to fit the book into the machine but, once this has been done, turning the page is achieved by a simple switch operation.

They may be either mains operated or battery powered to turn pages of books, magazines and/or newspapers. Some models may be table-top mounted, others may be floor-standing and stand-alone. They may also be push-button operated or, in some cases, voice activated.

One of the drawbacks of electric page turners is that they are expensive items to buy, most costing over £2,000. Some suppliers offer reconditioned models at a reduced cost, and others offer them for hire.

In addition to electric paper page turners, if the individual prefers to read from a tablet reader but struggles to turn the pages on these devices, for example, due to limited arm, hand or finger movements, foot switch page turners are now available that connect to the tablet reader via Bluetooth and USB. They enable the individual to turn pages by tapping the turner with their foot.

Magnifiers
If you find it difficult to read letters, newspapers, books, recipes, or labels easily, consider using a magnifier to enlarge the print. Magnifiers come in a variety of forms and the RNIB (2017) advise that before buying one, it is helpful to identify the strength of the magnifier required, as well as the reading task you require it for.

Generally, a larger magnifier will have lower magnification and a high-powered magnifier will have a small lens. Magnifiers with higher magnification tend to show you less of what you are looking at, perhaps only a word or few letters at a time.

Handheld magnifiers
Handheld magnifiers may be round, square or rectangular and some have a battery operated light. If you have reduced grip or shaky hands then handheld magnifiers may not be appropriate as they need to be held steady.

If possible try the magnifier before purchase.

When using a magnifier, if it is held too close or too far away from the book or item, the text will look blurred. It can help to hold the magnifier like a spoon and rest the edge of the hand on the table to steady the magnifier to the page distance (Johnston 2003).

To limit light reflecting on the lens, and to maximise the magnified area, place your eye closer to the lens whilst still keeping the magnifier the appropriate distance from the page.

Magnifiers for use directly over a subject
These have a small stand and maintain a fixed distance from the book or object. The stands may make them ideal if you have reduced grip or shaky hands.

Magnifiers with a cord 
Magnifiers with a cord can be worn round the neck, and magnifiers which attach to spectacles or a headband, will free your hands to hold a book, do crafts or other tasks. Some spectacle-mounted lenses are designed so they can flip away from the eyes when not in use.

Video magnifiers
Video magnifiers consist of a camera which magnifies an image onto a display screen which may be part of the video magnifier or an attached television or computer screen.

Pocket handheld video magnifiers
These provide a magnified image on an integrated screen.

Most offer a choice of contrast modes and may also enable image capture so you can view the magnified image without having to keep the magnifier on the original image. Some models have the option of attachment to a monitor or television screen.

Video magnifiers requiring connection to TV or PC
These provide you with a magnified image when connected to a television or PC screen. They usually consist of a handheld camera, similar in shape to a computer mouse, that rests on the original image and can be moved across the paper or object, or may resemble a desktop lamp – the head of which contains the camera and can be angled to sit above the document.

Video magnifiers can be an expensive investment. If you have not used them before we recommend you try similar models first before purchase. You can obtain further advice from the RNIB and may wish to visit their resource centre in London to try this equipment. Information about the resource centre can be found here: https://www.rnib.org.uk/action-for-blind-people

Text-to-speech scanning machines
Also known as stand-alone reading machines, these units combine a scanner, optical character recognition (OCR) software and speech output.

A printed document or book can be scanned and read by the machine.

For users who have a PC with speech output software, it may be a cheaper alternative to buy a scanner and some optical character recognition software. 

For more information read the RNIB’s advice about reading machines in their Beginner’s Guide to Assistive Technology.

DAISY players
Daisy players play DAISY audible books and replace the old audio books on cassette format. DAISY is an acronym standing for ‘Digital Accessible Information System’. This is a 

digital reading system that can play/show audio, text and pictures. It makes them accessible to individuals with visual difficulties that affect their ability to read printed material. DAISY material can be played on a stand-alone DAISY player, or by using DAISY software on a computer. Approximately 25 hours of audio can be recorded on a Daisy CD.

Users of DAISY players can navigate through the recording/book by sections, sub-sections, chapter or pages. Bookmarks can be inserted at any point, and there is a resume option which continues playback from the point the reader last reached (rather than going back to the beginning which is what happens with conventional CDs).