The Amazon Kindle as Reading Device for the Disabled

Most people take it for granted: holding open and reading a book. But for those without full use of their hands or another similar physical disability, this can be a much more difficult process than for an able-bodied person. Holding open a small paperback book and turning a single page at a time can be difficult for a quadriplegic. That’s why new ebook readers such as the Amazon Kindle have the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of those who otherwise would have a difficult time reading.

Now, we can’t speak for other ebook readers and how well they work, but we do have experience with the Amazon Kindle (both the 1st and 2nd generations) and have found the device to be very easy to use, fairly light, and extremely convenient. As a reading device for a disabled person, it has a few very distinct benefits.

First, because it is one flat screen, there is no need to turn pages or hold anything open. Pages are turned with the click buttons on either side of the screen making reading from a flat surface, such as a table, very convenient.

The device also always remembers where you are in all books you are reading. There is no need to worry about a bookmark because whenever you power on the device, you are always on whatever page you left off at. Personally, I love this feature because I have the terrible habit of reading a half-dozen books at once, and I always run out of bookmarks and then have to spend time searching to figure out where I had read to.

Another wonderful feature of the Kindle is the ability to adjust the size of the font on the device. For those with vision impairments, the ability to greatly increase the size of the text is a really nice feature. And if you’re vision is very poor (or if you are feeling lazy) you can even activate text-to-speech and the Kindle will read to you! Now, keep in mind this isn’t a professional voice actor reading to you – it is a computerized voice that doesn’t sound completely natural – but there are plenty of great possibilities in this. Just to on text-to-speech and be read to while you close your eyes and relax.

But really, the most significant aspect of the Kindle I think is the ability to carry several books on one small device that is easy to get out of a bag, easy to use, and requires very little manual dexterity to operate. Personally, I love mine and the conveniences it brings and definitely recommend it to others.

Here also is a video review of the Kindle we put together demonstrating some of it’s useful features:

To find out more about the Kindle or purchase one visit Amazon.com

Happy reading!