Does the library have screen readers for students to use to read PDFs?
Answer
Kurzweil 3000 is a screen reading software that works pretty well with PDFs. The company has made it freely available to everyone at this time. Here's their website.
Here are some tips for reducing eye strain when reading text on a screen:
- Where possible, use serif fonts. Adjust your screen to be zoomed in, or adjust the font size to 14pt or more.
- Consider strong task lighting, even/especially if your screen is backlit.
- Most operating systems have a "night mode" with some/all blue light filtered out. The "warmth" of these screens is supposed to be easier to handle, especially long term.
- Where possible, read on e-readers rather than backlit screens.
- As always, take frequent breaks--try to focus on medium-to-long-range views for ~5 minutes out of every ~30 minutes spent in close-range reading.
Alternatively, if you require a screen reader for accessibility reasons, contact the ARC for more information about their screen reading options.