Digital Library for the Blind – Access Points to Reading for Persons with Visual Disabilities
Pablo Lecuona
Global Member
Start Date: November 2014
Tiflolibros is the first digital library for Spanish-speaking visually impaired people, accessible worldwide for free over the Internet using computers or mobile devices adapted with screen reader programs. Despite the significant progress Tiflolibros has made to date, now reaching over 8,000 people across 5 continents, there is still much more work to be done to reach more people – particularly those in disadvantaged or remote areas – who do not have Internet access and therefore cannot use these resources. Similarly, more work must be done to expand the contents of the library, including materials of local interest in Latin America.
The project aims to address both of these challenges by expanding 1) the library resources to include new local content, particularly from Argentinian and Latin American authors and 2) access to those resources by creating four pilot facilities – or Access Points – in libraries, telecenters or other organizations in the northern Argentine provinces to benefit people with visual disabilities. Lastly, the team will document these experiences in a toolkit that can facilitate and encourage other organizations throughout Latin America to form their own access points.
Tiflolibros – Buenos Aires
Today it is run by a team of 15 and the library has grown to 52.200 digital books in Spanish available for more than 8.000 members with severe disabilities all over the world. The Organization contributed to a favourable reform of Argentina’s copyright law in 2007, which was followed by other Latin American countries. On December 2016, they received the UNESCO Prize for Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
Read the Final Report
Tiflolibros Web Site
Project Status:
Complete