Accessible comics for libraries and schools
Comics are one of the hardest formats to make accessible, so blind, low-vision and print-disabled readers mostly go without. We make editions they can follow by ear: every line voiced by a full cast of synthetic voices, the drawn sound effects performed, the art described aloud, and a reader that works by keyboard and screen reader. If you serve those readers, tell us what they need.
Why this exists
My best friend's daughter is blind. When I was showing him comics, she wanted to hear what was in the panels. It made me realize there is hardly a medium more locked away from blind and low-vision readers than comics.
So that is what I build for. The dialogue voiced, the sound effects played out loud, descriptions of what is drawn, and a reader that works by keyboard and screen reader. Libraries and schools are how it reaches the readers who need it most.
What we can do together
Accessible editions: name the comics your readers are asking for, we work out together which ones we can produce, then make them with every line voiced, the sound effects performed and the art described. A shelf that is already voiced: every title on the streaming shelf is voiced from the first panel, and any reader can stream it free, with no card. On the devices they have: phone, tablet or computer, in the building or at home, in the browser or the apps. And you can start small, with a few titles and a few readers, and decide from there.
From hello to headphones
Tell us who you serve and what they need. We reply, ask what we need to know, and put together a plan: which titles, for which readers, and when. Your readers open their comics on any phone, tablet or browser, by touch, keyboard or screen reader.
Straight answers
Are the voices human narrators?
No, the voices are synthetic. That is what lets every line of every comic be voiced, with its own voice for each character, which a small team could never record by hand. You hear exactly what your readers would hear before you commit to anything.
What does it cost?
It depends on what your readers need, so we quote each project once we understand it, before any work starts. Streaming the voiced shelf is free for every reader, with no card.
Can you make accessible copies of our comics?
Tell us the titles. Public-domain comics and books you hold the rights to are the simple case. For anything else we go through it with you, title by title, before anything is made.
Who is this for?
Readers who are blind, have low vision, or find print hard to read, and the libraries, schools and organizations that serve them. Plenty of other readers just like to listen, and it works for them too.
Does it work with screen readers?
Yes. The library, the store, the menus and the reader controls work from the keyboard and with a screen reader, and each panel's words sit in a hidden landmark for a screen reader or braille display. The accessibility page has the details, including what has not been tested yet.
Can you fill in our paperwork?
Send us what your process needs: accessibility, privacy, vendor forms. We answer plainly, and if a document does not exist yet, we say so rather than guess.