Balanced on a Proverbial Cliffhanger: The Methods, Pros, and Current
Tribulations of How Blind Readers Obtain Books for Leisure Reading
By Nicole White, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
There is nothing quite like the torment of knowing that you will have to wait an
entire year to learn how the large or small cliffhanger an author has masterfully woven
into the last third of a story will be resolved. Though we try not to dwell on it, bibliophiles
can't entirely ignore the agony of such suspense, partly due to living in a time where
suspense lasts a week at worst. In an age where entertainment is obtained by the push
of a button, we tend to gnash our teeth when our computer buffers in the middle of
binge-watching on Netflix, sigh when we can't fast-forward through the commercials, or
inwardly groan at the prospect of sitting through previews at the theater.
Fortunately, while one author may have consigned us to resting on the proverbial
cliff, new books are just as easy to acquire as visual fun: Amazon will bring them to your
door, $2.99 or less eBook sales happen every day, audible.com allows you to listen or
read-while-you-listen to your purchase after waiting less than five minutes for it to
download, some libraries have digital checkouts, and there's always the guarantee that
if you go to a brick and mortar book provider it will either have what you want or be able
to order it in for you. It's the blessing and curse of the digital age, as authors craft higher
stakes and more stomach-churning cliffhangers to keep up with a public that is
consuming entertainment as quickly as it wants; yet the only thing standing in the way of
a reader's yearning to know what the next story will bring are finances and the days
between publication dates. If you're sighted, that is.
The blind community--specifically those that do not have enough vision to read
print--only have three ways to indulge their love of literature: bookshare.org,
audible.com, and bard.com. If you're unfamiliar with the first and last providers,
Bookshare is the world's largest accessible non-profit online library for people with print
disabilities, and BARD is the national library service that provides braille and volunteernarrated audio downloads. If you think a second resource that provides audiobooks
excessive with Audible in the lineup, the frank truth is that if you're a blind person who
just doesn't comprehend/enjoy audiobooks, between BARD's severely limited braille
collection and the substantial difference between the likelihood of acquiring a braille
book versus an audiobook, you cut off over half of your providers by forgoing narration.
Even with the above resources, we blind book lovers have far too much
experience with anticipating an upcoming release only to learn that a braille or audio
version won't be available on a publication date; unlike with pre-order options, there isn't
a list to inform us of accessible releases. In all honesty, our resolution to a cliffhanger
may last anywhere from a month to four years--and counting--after the satisfaction
sighted fans experience, so if someone with a white cane or a dog in a harness scoffs at
your disappointment upon having to wait for a novel, please try to excuse their
rudeness.
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