Accessibility for the Reading Disabled

New technology has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of those with reading disabilities -- including the blind and profoundly dyslexic, and those with spinal injuries. Information in electronic formats can be made accessible using technologies like text-to-speech and refreshable Braille, opening up whole new worlds to people who have previously been unable to access information.

EFF believes that individuals in the disabled community, as those best placed to determine their own needs, should be free to transform copyrighted works into a form most suitable for their use, as well as to innovate new presentation forms which they can share with other members of the community.

Unfortunately, companies are now using copyright law and DRM to prohibit the use of helpful assistive technologies and stamp out innovative new technologies that could make copyrighted works universally accessible.

This page catalogs the ongoing efforts of EFF and many others to ensure that those with reading disabilities can take full advantage of these emerging technologies.