What is a print disability?

Print disabilities, also known as perceptual disabilities, can be permanent or temporary. They include three broad categories of people who require accessible formats.

Individuals may have a:

  • Learning disability: An impairment relating to comprehension.
  • Physical disability: The inability to hold or manipulate a book.
  • Visual disability: Severe or total impairment of sight or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes.

Accessible Reading Services and Collections at the Squamish Public Library

The library has a variety of reading services and collections for people with a print disability. Select a topic below to learn more about each one.

NNELS

The National Network of Equitable Library Services (NNELS) is a repository of content owned and sustained by Canadian public libraries, working with international partners, libraries, readers, and publishers (particularly Canadian ones) to make copies of books in accessible formats available to readers in Canada who have print disabilities.

Available formats include: 

  • Audiobook 
  • DAISY 
  • PDF 
  • EPUB 
  • E-text 
  • Electronic Braille 
  • and more. 

If NNELS doesn’t have the book or format you’re looking for, let them know! They will create it for you if they can.  

For more information, visit: https://nnels.ca 

DAISY Readers & Discs
Example of a DAISY Reader

DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) players are used to play DAISY audiobooks and are designed to be used by people with print impairments. 

DAISY players tend to have large, clearly marked buttons that are easy to find through touch. They can also play multimedia books and music from CDs, SD cards and USB flash drives. 

DAISY audiobooks sound like other CD audiobooks, except that users can also search, place bookmarks, navigate line by line, and control the speaking speed without adding distortion. 

If you are interested in borrowing a DAISY reader and/or discs, please talk to library staff. 

Audiobooks

The library has a variety of audiobook formats: 

Large Print Books

The library has over 500 large print books

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, we can request additional titles from other libraries on your behalf.

Visiting Library Service

If you’re unable to visit the library due to mobility issues or other reasons, our Visiting Library Service provides free home delivery of library materials.  

Additionally, our volunteer library ambassadors offer personal assistance and connections to library resources.  


How to access our accessible reading materials?

To use any of our library services for people with print disabilities, you must first sign up as a patron with a print disability.  

This is self-reported by the patron, or their parent or guardian. 

To sign-up:

  1. Speak to a staff member and they will designate you as a patron with a print disability in our system.  
  2. This, along with your library card number and password, will give you access to all our accessible reading resources above. 

Get Started  

Ready to access books in a format that suits your needs? Explore our services and get started today. For more information or assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.