Which formats are books available in?
Our titles are available as as either an accessible PDF, and/or downloadable from an EPUb file as Epub, DAISY, audio, MP3, BRF or Word formats. It depends upon individual publishers as to which formats are provided. If we don't have your preferred format, it may be that the file available can be used as an electronic file.
MS Word
You can directly download books as structured Word documents. Our site takes an uploaded RTF or EPUB file and automatically converts it into a structured Word file that you can easily modify to meet your learners individual reading requirements. Guidance_on_modifying_structured_word_files is available.
Please download the books you need and contact us with any feedback, our Development Team are keen to hear from you and learn if any adjustments are required. Please note the structure of the downloaded document will only be as good as the original file in the collection, therefore if a publisher has not tagged all of the book headings, they will not pull through as styled headings into the Word document.
If you would like to be able to add your resources to the collection, please apply for Volunteer status and we’ll get you set up.
PDF (Portable Document Format)
These files can only be downloaded in PDF format and can be used on devices with access technology. Or they may be used as a starting point to create a structured Word file or braille edition where an EPUB file for the title is not available on the site.
EPUB (Electronic Publication)
Where we host an EPUB edition as the source file for a title, it can automatically be downloaded from the site as a Word, DAISY, BRF, MP3 or EPUB file. It can also be accessed through the built-in reading tool, Bookshare Web Reader, and other apps and software that link to UK education collection using our API (Application Program Interface) including Dolphin Computer Access products.
DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System)
A digital book file format. DAISY books from UK education collection are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of accessible technology that reads text, such as screen readers, self-voicing synthetic-voice DAISY players, braille notetakers, portable self-voicing DAISY players, and scan-and-read software such as Read:OutLoud - UK education collection Edition, Kurzweil K1000 and K3000, and WYNN and OpenBook. Learn more about DAISY format.
DAISY audio
Similar to the Daisy 3.0 option above; however, this option uses mp3 files created with our text-to-speech engine that utilizes Ivona's Kendra voice. This will work with Daisy audio compatible players such as VictorReader Stream and Read2Go.
MP3 (Mpeg audio layer 3)
Provides audio only with no text. These books are created with a text-to-speech engine and spoken by Kendra, a high quality synthetic voice from Ivona. Any device that supports MP3 playback is compatible.
BRF (Braille Ready Format)
Digital braille for use with refreshable braille devices and braille embossers. Learn more about using our braille files.