Dolphin Publisher

Create human narrated DAISY talking books

Latest Version: 3.03 - What's new?

Dolphin Publisher FAQ

Why DAISY?

In very basic terms, DAISY (Digital Accessible Information Systems) is a type of eBook. However, the difference with DAISY books is in the way they are structured, which allows for the addition of:

Audio recordings or human-sounding voice synthesisers to be associated to the book
Navigation points to be added, including:
Heading structures
Bookmarks
Footnotes
Sidebars
Page numbers

DAISY books also come in a variety of different flavours. For instance, DAISY books can be text-only, audio-only, or full text and audio.

For readers with dyslexia, the main benefit of DAISY books is that they allow the reader to hear the spoken word at the same time as they see the highlighted written text. Software DAISY players such as Dolphin EasyReader display DAISY books using synchronised highlighted text and speech.

For readers with visual impairments, the main benefit of DAISY talking books is the ability to instantly navigate to any point in the book. Software DAISY players such as Dolphin EasyReader provide options for the reader to navigate forward and backward by chapter heading, sentence, page, or by other navigation points such as bookmarks or footnotes.

DAISY books also provide a stimulating and interactive way to present reading materials to students in a classroom environment. For instance, playing a DAISY talking book on an interactive whiteboard enables all students to read through the material whilst following the highlighted text and speech.

DAISY books are also extremely easy to create, using tools such as Dolphin EasyConverter. With EasyConverter, you can convert your printed and electronic documents into DAISY talking books, ready to be played on any DAISY player.

More information about DAISY talking books is included on the AltFormat.org website.

Check out the DAISY Consortium's Youtube Channel for more information about the difference that DAISY talking books are making to readers with visual impairments and dyselxia.