"I have a right to read"

Seventy-year-old Mark Stephens sits in a senior citizen center in Northern Virginia. He is reading an article on the Web. He has enlarged the type size from 10-point to 22-point. He appears frustrated as he moves from page to page.

Also in Northern Virginia, seventy three-year-old Claire Haynes is using a text to speech product and is listening to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain.

Haynes and Stephens are lifelong readers. She is a retired layer. He is a former federal government bureaucrat and editor.

"I need larger print to read books, newspapers, magazines, manuals. Having enlarged feature capability on a computer enables me to read which is one of my great pleasures," says Stephens. Stephens is considered legally blind. He says with passion, "I have a right to read."

With equal passion, Haynes holds the same right to read philosophy as Stephens. When it comes to reading, she says, "Print publishers must become sensitized to the reading needs of the public, especially publishing books."

Haynes vision acuity is 20/200. Like Stephens she is constantly searching for materials that address her reading needs. She buys audio books sometimes. Searching the Web, she has found several companies that she believes are addressing the various needs of the aging reading population.

Not wanting to give many companies free publicity, she says, "ReadHowYouWant (ReadHowYouWant.com) seems to have the right business and social philosophies in ensuring people have access to reading materials."

Stephens and Haynes spent an hour collectively looking at the ReadHowYouWant site. They agree that having books available in various print sizes with different print styles and spacing, or in audio or e-book formats addresses a variety of their print needs. Neither Stephens nor Haynes wants to learn Braille.

"ReadHowYouWant was founded to make content accessible at the time of publication at a fair price. We believe that readers should be able to choose the format that works best for them," says Tricia Roth, ReadHowYouWant CEO.

In fact publishers know that technology is rapidly changing the publishing industry. Readers can now buy books that "fit" them-This levels the playing field for readers who cannot read a standard printed book while providing publishers with access to new markets.

"My life would be empty without reading," says Stephens.

Haynes likes the wide choices of books that she can order on-line, especially novels.

Haynes and Stephens encourage other publishers to be as communication-savvy as ReadHowYouWant in addressing the reading needs of everyone, and they have written to the Association of American Publishers to encourage other publishers to adopt a universal publishing reading strategy.

John Williams is the managing editor of ATechNews.com and coined the term assistive technology. He can be reached at jmmaw@verizon.net.