I’m proud to be on the IBPA DEI Committee and involved in the overall work IBPA is doing to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive — and that inclusivity includes accessibility to children’s books for blind, deaf, and learning challenged kids. 

Remember the stories you read as a child? Regardless of your age, you still probably remember the pictures in those books and certain words that matched them. If you could not see or hear, would you have that memory?

Children’s books are an essential part of shaping a child’s development and imagination. However, for over 8 million children with special needs, accessing these books can be challenging. Children who are visually or hearing impaired or have learning challenges may find children’s books limiting, especially those with illustrations that are crucial to the story. As independent book publishers and authors, you have the power to change this by making your books accessible to all children.

A child watches an Imagination Storybooks Video with American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.

The Children’s Book Famine

The World Health Organization says there is “a famine of books for blind children.” Shockingly, the National Federation of the Blind says “90% of blind children are no longer learning braille.” They are being mainstreamed into classrooms that don’t offer braille instruction. These children are now depending on audio, and very few picture books exist in audio that have audio descriptions (AD) of the pictures.

What Is Audio Description in Picture Books?

Here is a page from the book If I Were Your Angel by Dan Bright:

Now, here is that same page as an accessible storybook with additional audio description, captions, and sign language. It’s a unique experience.

AD: “Birds soar above pink-tinged clouds. Music staffs with notes on them flow like ribbons in the sky. Seated on a fluffy cloud, a girl reaches out to a bird as it flies past through the blue expanse chasing a stray note.”

I founded the nonprofit Imagination Storybooks (imaginationstorybooks.org) in 2021 to bridge these gaps and support blind and deaf children. My team of narrators and interpreters — over a dozen of whom are blind or low vision themselves — combine digital picture books with AD of the illustrations and a digital braille file, as well as captions and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.

A partially sighted little girl and her mother look at a video display of a children’s book.

Today, everything can be read in a robotic voice on a device, but we are giving children a performance and teaching them to love books even at 3, 4, and 5 years old.

Imagination Storybooks partners with the nationally recognized Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP.org), funded by the U.S. Department of Education, so tens of thousands of blind children, their parents, and their teachers have free access.

One of over 100 videos on Imagination Storybook’s free video channel.

The Winnie-the-Pooh Project

Now that the 1926 edition of Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne is in the public domain, Imagination Storybooks has produced video and audiobook adaptations of the classic for everyone.

We want all children to fall in love with Winnie-the-Pooh and the beloved characters of Hundred Acre Wood, including children who are blind, deaf, and learning challenged.

The Imagination Storybooks team is creating a video, audiobook, ebook, and paperback book that will include audio descriptions of the pictures by original illustrator E.H. Shepard.

A preview of the audio described Winnie-the-Pooh Project (vimeo.com/697955139/fc8369973d)

Imagination Storybooks also produces the weekly Illustrated Audiobooks podcast, winner of the 2022 Communicator Award for Excellence as “Best Storytelling Podcast” and the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences Gold Signal Award for “Most Innovative Audio Experience.”

The American Council of the Blind awarded Imagination Storybooks its Special Recognition Award in 2021 for dedicating its mission to fostering early literacy for children who are blind or have low vision.

Blind narrator Tanja Milojevic says, “I love narrating these children’s books with audio description. This is a life-changing experience in a blind or visually impaired child’s life.”

We also believe that audio description is best when produced by the people who use it. Our executive producer, Tristan Snyder, is a blind audio description quality expert and award-winning narrator and audio engineer. In addition, we hire blind and low-vision narrators and blind quality-control experts to involve and give back to the community of audio description patrons. Imagination Storybooks employs over 20 blind and low vision voice actors, AD writers, and audio engineers.

Tristan Snyder narrates a book on his Braille device with his guide dog Rocky at his feet.

Our Denver-based nonprofit has adapted more than 160 picture books, including Winnie-the-Pooh and other independently published books by authors who grant permission to distribute accessible versions.

Our vision is that all authors and publishers make their illustrated books accessible to all children. Imagination Storybooks can show them how.

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