Thorium Reader
Sasha Stolt
Introducing Thorium, a new free desktop EPUB reader for Windows and Mac, 24th Annual Accessing Higher Ground, November 2019, speakers Richard Orme (CEO) and George Kerscher (Chief Innovations Officer), DAISY Consortium.
Thorium is accessible for visually impaired and dyslexic people. It is fully usable with keyboard alone and supports navigation and reading with popular screen readers like JAWS, NVDA, Narrator and Voiceover. Other accessibility features include support for high-contrast, customizable font including dyslexia font), color themes, text size and Text To Speech (TTS) read aloud.
Thorium Reader is a free and open-source E-reader that was developed by EDRLab for PC. It is an EPUB reading program that allows users to open and read e-books in a .epub format. It supports all kinds of screen sizes and allows users to customize its layout to their preferences.
Similar to other EPUB readers like Adobe Digital Editions and Kobo, Thorium Reader is a program that was designed for users to open and read e-book using a sleek and modern user interface that is easy to use. It also has accessibility options like NVDA or JAWS for visually impaired readers.
When you select a book to read, the Reader view will appear and will provide various settings and tools that you can use. Change things like the layout, spacing, and theme with the Settings button. See the table of contents, bookmarks, and jump to pages via the Navigation button. You can create a separate window for the reader view with the Detach button.
Thorium has many features that AHG conference delegates will be interested in, such as screen reader support and great visual adjustments for specific learning differences. Because the app is free and does not require user accounts, it is an interesting option for installation on the computers of university libraries.
The reading app allows navigation with the keyboard alone, making it accessible to dyslexic and visually impaired users. Furthermore, it is compatible with screen readers, such as VoiceOver, Narrator, NVDA, Jaws.
Thorium Reader provides an easier way to add books to the built-in library. You can import e-books from various sources, including an OPDS feed or directory. The EPUB reader app works with any screen size.
The user interface provides access to the bookshelf and reader views. Visually impaired users can access the UI via the keystrokes and the tab key. The bookshelf view is the first screen that appears immediately after launching the application. It comes with a comprehensive variety of components, including the book list, search feature, catalogs, settings, keyboard shortcuts, and languages.
Use the arrow buttons/bar at the bottom or the right and left arrow keys to navigate between pages. The buttons toward the right edge of the toolbar are options you commonly find in most reader apps. The search icon is useful for finding content in the book page, that can come in handy if you want to jump to a specific section. Bookmark a page, and you can pick up where you left off.
You can think of an EPUB as a self-contained zipped-up mini-website containing a book arranged as a series of web pages. To read an EPUB e-book, you need a reading system or an EPUB reader to extract these files and present them in a user-friendly way. Some hardware platforms come with a built-in reading system, such as Apple Books for Mac and iPhone, but others may require you to download and install one.
Thorium Reader for Mac provides better accessibility than Apple Books. Dolphin EasyReader provides better accessibility on iPhones and Android devices. PCs do not come with an EPUB reader, but they support both Dolphin EasyReader and Thorium Reader.
1. IPhones and iPads come with Apple Books as their default EPUB reader. It works if you do not have a reading disability. Dolphin EasyReader provides more accessibility features. To install it, follow this link.
The proliferation of ebook reader apps has made it even easier for indie authors and publishers to reach new readers and widen their audiences. No longer are people beholden to ebooks that work only on a Kindle or a Nook. In fact, more and more people are able to skip purchasing those devices, which can cost $80-280, by using apps on their existing tablets and smartphones.
Bluefire Reader The Bluefire reader may be the most versatile. It works with both Adobe and Readium as well as a number of other ebook fulfillment systems. It supports Apple iOS, Android, and Windows PCs.
The ReadSpeaker webReader does not read Word documents, PDFs or the cells in Excel sheets. For these file types you can use the text-to-speech tools built into operating systems, web browsers, PDF readers and Office apps.Here are some ways to have these files read aloud.
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