New Accessibility Features for Libby

Over the last year, Overdrive has been working to make the Libby app more accessible for all readers, including those with visual, motor and cognitive needs. Overdrive partnered with Fable to get feedback from blind and low vision users of Libby.  They took that feedback and made improvements this year and have a number of additional improvements set to release in January 2022.

Avid users of Libby may already be familiar with some of the changes:

Screen reader support – eBooks open in Libby can be read using the native or preinstalled screen reader software on your smart device.

Read from Here – a new mode in Libby to have the text of an eBook read aloud.

Navigation Bar labels – an app setting that adds labels to each of the navigation bar icons.

Adjustable text size – Libby uses your phone/smart device setting to pick text size, but you can also adjust it to a size that works best for you.

Adjustable playback speed for audiobooks – Overdrive provides 48 different reading speeds to find the one that best suits the listener.

Keyboard shortcuts – for use on a desktop, the browser eBook reader and audiobook player can use keyboard navigation.

Lighting options – Libby uses your phone/smart device’s setting to pick the brightness of your screen when reading. Users can adjust these by picking preset options like light, dark, or sepia.

Updates coming in early January 2022 include:

Screen readers and voice control improvements - all labels and descriptions are being updated for users of assistive technologies to better use the app.

Keyboard focus indicators - they are making more improvements to help users who need to use keyboards or other assistive devices to interact with the website.

New accessibility features:

Reduce Color Variations – this setting can be used to change the default color settings to something more neutral with good contrast.

Reduce Text Variation – this setting can be used to adjust the variety of font and text styles to more simplified texts styles.

Reduce Motion – this setting can be used to reduce the motion of screen transitions like page turns.

Reduce Haptics – this setting can be used to turn on or off haptics (the slight vibration you receive on your device with certain touch interactions)

Orientation Locking – this setting allows the user to override the device orientation setting to change the orientation of the app.

Full screen menus – the menu will no longer open from the side of the app but will open up full screen.

Updated menu icon - the in-app menu will be changed to a more intuitive button design.

Click here to view the full announcement on the Libby Website.

- by Amelia R., IT Department