DAISY books
Daisy - Digital Accessible Information System - is the recognised worldwide standard for audio developed by the DAISY Consortium. This Consortium, formed in May 1996, includes worldwide representation from a wide cross section of organisations including charities such as RNIB and commercial organisations like Microsoft.
Daisy is a digital reading format that can combine audio, text and graphical information in one production, making it accessible to a wide range of people with print disabilities. Daisy can be played on a standalone Daisy player, or by using Daisy software player on a computer.
Navigation
Daisy text can be recorded on up to six heading levels which enables the reader to navigate through the recording by section, sub-section, chapter and pages, depending on how the book has been structured. For instance, RNIB’s Daisy TV listings allows the reader to jump by day, channel, time of day and finally to each programme. Bookmarks can also be inserted at any point, and the “resume” function means that playback continues from the point the reader left off, rather than at the beginning as with conventional CDs.
Compression
Large amounts of content can be compressed onto one Daisy CD. As a general rule, around 25 hours of audio can be recorded on a Daisy CD with no noticeable deterioration in the sound quality.
How to get Daisy books
- DAISY books are available for loan through the RNIB Talking Book Service subscription service.
- DAISY books can be streamed over the internet from the RNIB BookStream book club. This is also a subscription service.