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Oxford University Press (OUP) has signed a new agreement with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to make its academic frontlist collection available to the charity’s Bookshare service.
RNIB Bookshare instantly provides a wide variety of accessible and adaptive file types for learners who have difficulty using print. OUP’s backlist collection will be uploaded to the platform, which has more than 900,000 books, at a later date.
By integrating OUP’s academic content through reading devices or applications, users of RNIB Bookshare will have access to more academic materials, “contributing to a more inclusive educational environment”, OUP said. The service is available for UK users, with plans for further regions to be included in the near future.
The agreement is the second major integration of OUP’s content on RNIB Bookshare. It follows the addition of OUP’s educational content which has been available on the service since 2016 and continues to be regularly updated.
Julia Mielish, discovery working group manager at OUP, said: “All learners regardless of disability should be able to access key academic and education materials. Increasing the range of OUP content on RNIB Bookshare is an important step in helping fulfil this important objective and is aligned with our mission to create world-class academic and educational resources and make them available as widely as possible.”
RNIB Bookshare team leader Rochelle Davis-Pretsell said: “We are delighted that OUP’s collection is now part of RNIB Bookshare. It is so important that all print-disabled students, including those with a vision impairment, are supported. RNIB Bookshare opens up the world of reading in education for millions of people by giving them access to materials that allow for an entirely independent learning experience.”