Services for visually-impaired people

Hampshire libraries have a wide range of stock available for customers who have difficulty using traditional formats including

• Large Print
• Audio Books
• Audio Described Videos and DVDs
• ClearVision' books
  Standard children's picture books rebound with brailled text on clear plastic sheets so that the pictures and print are still visible.

Anyone who has difficulty reading print is entitled to an Access Card. This allows the holder to borrow two audiovisual items, such as DVDs, music CDs and video games. free of charge.

If you enjoy talking about books with other people, why not join one of our reading groups? Some of them have been set up specifically for visually impaired people.

We offer a request service for most library stock, including large print and audio books. Requests for large print books are free and if you are unable to read print you can request any audio book free of charge, too.

You may also be eligible to use the Bee Aware Scheme, a national lending service for borrowing books and newspapers in alternative formats through the public library. To use the service, ask for a Declaration Form at your local library and get it signed by a health or care professional, confirming an inability to read ordinary print. Registration for the scheme can start as soon as the form is handed back to the library.

Many libraries have an electronic magnifier (CCTV) which enlarges print or images onto a screen. You can alter size, contrast and, on some models, adjust the colour. It can be used for viewing anything from books, maps and photographs to handwritten letters and objects. You can also use it for writing and drawing. Anyone is welcome to use this equipment, check your local library for availability.

Winchester Discovery Centre has the latest generation CCTV device called a MyReader which photographs the page and reorganises the layout of the print on the screen to make it much easier to read continuous text

Gosport Discovery Centre has a text reader which reads aloud printed documents in an electronically-produced voice.

All our libraries provide free use of computers linked to the Internet. You can surf the web, send e-mails or use standard office programs like word processing. Each computer has 'Supernova' software designed to help visually impaired people. It will enlarge anything on the screen as well as read aloud in an electronic voice.