Alternative Textbooks

All students eligible to receive alternative texts or books on tape are so notified in the confirmation letter mailed to them upon becoming a client of the Office of Learning Services.

These alternative textbooks are ordered through Access Text Network, Bookshare and Learning Ally formerly known as Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D). The books are provided free of charge to the student through a membership maintained by the Office of Learning Services. Students may obtain a free individual membership from Bookshare at http://www.bookshare.org.

Please note: not all textbooks are available in an alternative format. Students may research Braille materials through the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. - Louis Database http://www.aph.org website. Students may also obtain books through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at http://www.loc.gov/nls/. Students may use computer readers in the Assistive Technology Lab at 338 Lyle Hall to use regular textbooks. When books are not available, the Office of Learning Services will make every attempt to obtain a digital copy from the publisher. In some cases, publishers will give the Office of Learning Services permission to make a copy of the book through a scanning process. In order to receive this permission, students must provide the Office of Learning Services with the following:

     Book title and Edition
     ISBN
     Author
     Publisher and year published
     Course name and number for which the book is used
     Professor's name
     The purchase price of the book
     Student's name, birthdate, M#, mailing and e-mail address
     Format for the digital copy (PC or MAC)

You may also download, print and submit the Alternative Text form and submit it to the Office of Learning Services. Publisher Information for Alternative Textbooks

Textbooks will be requested from Access Text Network, Bookshare, from Learning Ally or directly from publishers. Some textbooks are available immediately and some are in a queue to be taped when personnel are available. Please provide book information prior to the start of each semester or as soon as your books are available due to the time it takes some publishers to send books. When books are not available in an alternative format, the Office of Learning Services will obtain permission from publishers to scan and make a digital copy of your book. Alternative textbooks will be sent to your Millersville University e-mail and you will be notified if your book is unavailable and must be scanned.

Students with qualifying disabilities who need alternative textbooks will be added to the Office of Learning Services' Bookshare and Learning Ally organization accounts and assigned books that can be read directly from www.bookshare.org and www.learningally.org.

Bookshare: Students whose books are available on Bookshare will be certified as eligible by the Office of Learning Services and sent an e-mail directly from Bookshare.org that contains an Activation ID and request to obtain an individual membership that is free of charge. Students should complete their membership in a timely manner to avoid any delay in their ability to download and read books. Students will be required to download the reader "Read Out Loud" from Bookshare to read books on their computer. A smartphone option is also available.

Learning Ally: Students whose books are available on Learningally.org will be certified as eligible by the Office of Learning Services and will be required to use their name as their ID and M# as their password to log in to obtain their books. To read books on Learning Ally, students must download Learning Ally Link at https://learningally.org/link. Choose either PC or MAC and follow instructions. Books can also be read on Apple, Android, or Daisy Devices.  

Have your computer read your PDF: Books sent in .pdf can be read using the Read Out Loud feature in Adobe Acrobat. Simply open the .pdf, click on View and scroll down to Read Out Loud, then activate Read Out Loud to read a page or the entire document.

If there is no voice, click Edit, Preferences, and go to Read Out Loud Options.
Unclick "Use default voice" and choose voice - American English Samantha. Click OK and return to PDF.

E-books in McNairy Library:
There are available in e-books in McNairy Library. Please follow the instructions below to search for an e-book.

To find the database:

  1. Go to the McNairy Library website
  2. At the bottom left  it says “Finding Information” with links below to follow
  3. Under “Finding Information” click on “Books, eBooks, and Video”
  4. This will take you to a new page “Books, eBooks, and Video: Home”
  5. Under the “Finding Books” tab there is a catalog option to search for what the library has, or “EBSCOHost eBooks” to search for a PDF version of a book
  6. Click “EBSCOHost eBooks” to search for a book title
  7. In the search bar, type the title of the book and author's name