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Promoting digital reading for people with some level of disability is the reason for the creation of the First Inclusive Digital Reading Club in Chile.
The Chilean Digital Public Library (BPDigital), together with ODILO, inaugurates a book club with a special accessibility module.
The club will allow everyone to read equally thanks to the new features that ODILO has developed: Text to Speech and OpenDyslexic. The Text to Speech functionality converts written text into audio, allowing you to listen to any content. The development of this function is an effort of ODILO – the company responsible for the development of BP´s intelligent digital library – to give access to all people to the contents, regardless of their physical condition.
Text to Speech is a very useful feature for people with vision problems and those who are visually impaired.
The WHO estimates that around 285 million people in the world suffer some type of visual disability. At least 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision.
The number of people suffering from total blindness can triple by 2050 around the world, a study published by the medical journal Lancet Global Health states.
On the other hand, with OpenDyslexic technology, ODILO is committed to reducing the impact of dyslexia on reading performance. It is estimated that 2 out of 10 people in the world are dyslexic, according to this study. Around 700 million people worldwide.
Dyslexia is a difficulty, on the one hand, to learn to read fluently and understand the text well, and on the other, to write.
With thicker typographies and greater spacing, ODILO facilitates reading by emphasizing the words and guides the eyes, to provide a more effective and focused reading experience.
With the new ODILO update, it’s possible to change to OpenDyslexic font in a single click.
Thanks to this initiative, the Chilean Digital Public Library becomes the first Chilean public institution to have these tools in its digital library.
With its use and promotion, the institution is committed to the principles of non-discrimination, accessibility, and participation in full and effective inclusion of society as contemplated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Making this Digital Inclusive Book Club available to the entire population, it is possible to ensure the right to equal opportunities for people with disabilities, in order to obtain their full social inclusion, ensuring the enjoyment of their rights and eliminating any form of discrimination based on disability.
The Club
The inauguration of the First Inclusive Digital Reading Club will be held on Thursday, May 23 and it aims to generate a digital literary community that will exchange reading experiences through critical thinking and collective analysis.
In this digital club, people with disabilities are welcome to participate. The event aims to promote reading with the seal of inclusion. Participants can, through the ODILO platform, talk with the moderator to discuss the most interesting parts of each book that will be analyzed. Also, each transmission will have a sign language interpreter to include deaf people in the interaction.
In the first stage of the reading club, the books “Quiltras” and “Que explote todo” will be read and analyzed, both by the Chilean writer Arelis Uribe. Later on, opinions will be exchanged about “Matilde”, “Los Nudos Secretos”, among other titles of great interest to the citizens of Chile.
Each theme will last for a month and a half. The participants will be able to comment and interact with the other readers and with the mediator of the club once a week, while during the other days they will be able to enter the platform to leave their observations and/or comments on the reading.
Registry
The Chileans interested in participating in the Inclusive Book Club must register through this FORM. Once registered, they will receive, through an email, the instructions to enter the club’s platform. The quotas are limited.