Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
Learning Ally name and logo
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| Founded | 1948 |
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| Founders | Anne T. Macdonald |
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
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Area served
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United States |
| Slogan | Together It's Possible |
| Website | http://www.LearningAlly.org |
Learning Ally, which was previously named Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic or RFB&D, is a non-profit volunteer organization operating nationwide in the United States. It produces and maintains a library of educational accessible audiobooks for people who cannot effectively read standard print because of visual impairment, dyslexia, or other disabilities.
Learning Ally provides a wide range of services for individuals with print disabilities such as dyslexia and visual impairments, as well as the people who support them. This includes services for parents such as phone consultations, webinars, support networks and information on specialists and tutors; and services for teachers such as classroom management tools (Teacher Ally), professional development workshops and lesson plans.
Learning Ally also offers a robust digital audiobook library that includes the world’s largest collection of audio textbooks. The library, which in 2015 contained over 80,000 titles, includes a broad variety of specialty and academic subjects, from kindergarten through post-graduate and professional.
Borrowers must provide a certification of their disability, and may borrow titles through an individual membership, through their association with a member institution such as a school, or both. In recent years, approved borrowers had paid no charges or fees for this service thanks to funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Since the federal appropriation was eliminated in 2011, Learning Ally began requiring an annual membership fee for individuals, currently $119, with hardship waivers available for those who qualify. Learning Ally Audio software for mainstream mobile devices and Learning Ally's Link software for Mac and PC are available to members free of charge. Institutional memberships are also provided at various fee levels to public and private schools, colleges and universities.
Textbook and literature titles are digitally recorded by human narrators and produced in downloadable audio files in a specialized format, which allows Learning Ally to respect copyright and allows users to navigate their audiobooks by chapter or page number, set bookmarks, speed up playback, etc. Downloadable audio textbooks can be played using mainstream devices like the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, as well as Android smartphones and tablets, Mac-OS or Microsoft Windows-compatible computers running Learning Ally’s Link software. The audiobooks can also be played back on assistive technology devices like the Plextalk, Humanware Stream, and Intel Reader, to name a few.
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