How to set up Learning Ally or Bookshare for a child with dyslexia

Last updated 2026-07-11

What are Learning Ally and Bookshare, and why do they matter for kids with dyslexia?

Learning Ally and Bookshare are the two largest audiobook libraries built for people who can't read standard print because of a disability. That category, called a print disability, covers dyslexia, visual impairments, and physical disabilities that prevent holding a book or turning pages. Both are legal under copyright law because Congress carved out an exemption for accessible formats.

Learning Ally started in 1948 as Recording for the Blind. Today it holds more than 80,000 human-narrated audiobooks, with heavy coverage of K-12 and college textbooks that services like Audible rarely carry ^[1]. Human narration matters for textbooks. A real reader voices math expressions, chemical formulas, and tables in a way that text-to-speech engines still botch.

Bookshare, run by Benetech under a federal contract with the U.S. Department of Education, is the world's largest accessible digital library with over 1,000,000 titles ^[2]. Most arrive as DAISY or EPUB files that screen readers and specialized apps can voice aloud, highlight in sync with the audio, and reflow by speed and font. The catalog leans toward trade books and popular titles more than textbooks, though the overlap with Learning Ally is large.

For a child with dyslexia, the payoff is simple. A student who decodes at a second-grade level can still listen to grade-level science, history, or literature and keep learning. That protects comprehension and vocabulary growth, both of which stall when kids spend years stuck below grade-level text. Research in the journal Annals of Dyslexia has shown that listening comprehension tends to outpace reading comprehension in dyslexic readers, so these tools reach an ability that print alone can't ^[3].

Who qualifies for Bookshare and Learning Ally?

Eligibility differs between the two, so look at them side by side.

Bookshare eligibility

Bookshare defines a qualifying print disability as any condition that prevents reading standard print. Under its federally supported U.S. student membership, a child qualifies with a documented visual impairment, physical disability, or reading disability including dyslexia ^[2]. A licensed professional (a special education teacher, school psychologist, physician, or other credentialed specialist) has to certify the disability. You don't need a formal IEP or 504 plan, though having one speeds certification. The certifier attests in writing that the student has a qualifying condition.

Learning Ally eligibility

Learning Ally covers individuals with a visual impairment, dyslexia, or another learning disability that makes reading standard print difficult ^[1]. A professional certification is also required. A teacher of record, special education coordinator, psychologist, or physician can sign off. Again, an IEP vs 504 document makes this easy but isn't mandatory.

The bottom line on who qualifies

A documented dyslexia diagnosis from a psychoeducational evaluation, a school psychologist's report, or a physician's letter noting a reading disability is enough for both services. If your child has an IEP or a 504 plan, those documents usually contain language that satisfies both services' certification rules with no extra paperwork.

Service	Qualifying conditions	Who can certify	IEP/504 required?
Bookshare (free U.S. students)	Visual impairment, physical disability, reading disability incl. dyslexia	Licensed teacher, psychologist, physician, SLP	No
Learning Ally (family membership)	Visual impairment, dyslexia, other LD	Teacher of record, sp.ed. coordinator, psychologist, physician	No
Learning Ally (school/district license)	Same as above	School staff handle verification	No

How much does each service cost for families and schools?

Cost is where the two split hard, and it decides which one you chase first.

Bookshare is free for U.S. students. The Department of Education funds Benetech to provide Bookshare memberships at no charge to any student in the country who has a qualifying print disability ^[2]. Zero annual fee for the family. Individual adult memberships outside the student program run $50 per year, but for school-aged kids the cost is $0.

Learning Ally charges families roughly $135 per year for an individual membership. The price has ranged from $125 to $150 in recent years, so check the current rate at learningally.org before you sign up, because it changes periodically. Schools and districts can buy site licenses that open access to every eligible student at the school. In that case the family pays nothing and the school handles enrollment ^[1].

Check with your child's school first. Many districts already hold a Bookshare organizational membership or a Learning Ally site license that your child can join right away. Ask the special education coordinator or the assistive technology specialist. If the school has neither, Bookshare is the obvious first stop for families. It costs nothing and the library is huge. Learning Ally's human-narrated textbooks earn the family fee only if your child needs to listen to specific textbooks that Bookshare's synthetic voice mangles.

How do you sign up for Bookshare step by step?

Signup takes about 20 to 30 minutes. Here's exactly what to do.

Step 1: Go to bookshare.org and click 'Sign Up.' Choose 'Student/Individual' or 'Organization' (school). For a family signup, choose the individual path.

Step 2: Create a free account. Enter the child's name, date of birth, country, and your email. Bookshare will ask for a username and password for the child's account.

Step 3: Submit a membership application. You specify the type of qualifying disability. Select 'Reading Disability' and choose 'Dyslexia' from the dropdown. The form then asks for a certifying professional.

Step 4: Get a professional to certify. Bookshare emails the certifier you name and asks them to confirm the disability. This is often the fastest step if you already have a good relationship with your child's teacher or special ed coordinator. The certifier fills out a short online form. Turnaround runs 1 to 5 business days.

Step 5: Approval and access. Once Bookshare confirms certification, your child's account goes live. You can search the library, download books in DAISY or EPUB format, and install a reading app.

Step 6: Install a reading app. Bookshare lists several compatible apps. Learning Tools in Microsoft Word can open EPUB files. Voice Dream Reader (iOS and Android, about $20 one-time) is widely used and among the most polished options for kids. Bookshare also supports Snap&Read, which many schools already license. On a Chromebook, the Read&Write extension works well.

If your child's school already runs an organizational Bookshare account, ask the special ed teacher to add your child directly. That skips the family signup and certification steps entirely, because the school's account is pre-approved.

How do you sign up for Learning Ally step by step?

Learning Ally's process looks similar but has a few wrinkles worth knowing.

Step 1: Go to learningally.org. Decide whether you want a family membership or want to check if your school already holds a site license. The school lookup tool on their site lets you search by school name.

Step 2: Create an account and pay the membership fee (currently around $135 per year for families, verify the current price on their site) or start a free trial if one is offered.

Step 3: Complete the eligibility form. Learning Ally's online form asks for the child's disability type and the name and credentials of the certifying professional, same as Bookshare.

Step 4: Certifier completes the form. Learning Ally emails the certifier a short verification form. Your child's 504 plan school document or IEP eligibility page is the fastest evidence for the certifier to reference.

Step 5: Download the Learning Ally app. Once you're approved, install the app on a tablet, phone, or computer. It runs on iOS, Android, Chromebook, Mac, and Windows. Log in with the child's account credentials.

Step 6: Search for books. The search filters by grade level, subject, and format. For textbooks, search by title and publisher. The textbook collection is Learning Ally's biggest edge. If your child's class uses a specific science or social studies book, there's a decent chance Learning Ally has it as a human-narrated file.

One tip: write down the exact title, author, and edition of any textbook your child uses at school before you start searching. Editions change often, and finding the right one by ISBN beats searching by title alone.

Can a school be required to provide these audiobooks under IDEA or Section 504?

Yes, with some specifics that matter.

IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requires schools to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education in the least restrictive environment for eligible students ^[4]. Accessible-format materials, including audiobooks, are addressed in the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), which sits inside IDEA. Under NIMAS, publishers must send accessible versions of instructional materials to a federally designated repository, and schools must get those materials to students with print disabilities in a timely manner ^[5].

Here's what that means in practice. If your child has an IEP and uses a textbook the school selected, the school has to provide that textbook in an accessible format. Pointing the special ed team to Bookshare or Learning Ally is often the fastest route, because pulling NIMAS files from the official repository can take weeks.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act applies too. A student with a 504 plan has the right to accommodations that give equal access to educational programs ^[6]. Accessible audiobooks are a documented, common 504 accommodation for students with dyslexia.

One quotable point from federal guidance: schools shouldn't sit on their hands waiting for NIMAS files when a faster source like Bookshare is available. Bring that to an IEP or 504 meeting if the school claims it has to wait ^[5].

If the school stalls, a polite written request (email is fine) to the special education coordinator naming the NIMAS requirement is often enough to move things. If not, you can file a complaint with your state's department of education or with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

What reading apps work best with Bookshare and Learning Ally?

The file is only as good as the app that plays it. The wrong app turns a solid audiobook into a fight for a child who's already struggling.

For Bookshare files (DAISY and EPUB), these are the reliable picks.

Voice Dream Reader is $20 as a one-time purchase on iOS and Android. It syncs highlighted text with audio, adjusts narration speed from very slow to very fast without distortion, and supports dozens of high-quality text-to-speech voices. Many reading specialists and assistive technology coordinators call it the most polished option for kids with dyslexia. It connects straight to Bookshare with your login.

Snap&Read is a browser extension and app (subscription required, often licensed by schools) that overlays text-to-speech on web pages and supports Bookshare downloads. If your child's school uses Snap&Read, ask the tech coordinator to turn on Bookshare integration.

Read&Write for Google works inside Chrome and on Chromebooks. Many schools already pay for it. It handles EPUB files and has solid highlighting and text-to-speech.

Built-in accessibility tools on Apple devices (VoiceOver, the Spoken Content setting) and Windows (Narrator, the built-in EPUB reader) can open Bookshare files at no extra cost, though the interface is less kid-friendly than Voice Dream.

For Learning Ally, the native Learning Ally app is the main player. It's built for students, with bookmarking, speed control, and note-taking. The app syncs across devices, so a student can start on a school tablet and pick up on a phone at home.

A note on fonts: some families find that pairing audiobooks with a dyslexia font in the reading app helps the child follow along visually. Voice Dream Reader and some versions of Read&Write support OpenDyslexic, one of the more common dyslexia-specific fonts, though the evidence for font-based reading gains is still mixed.

How do you actually use these audiobooks to build reading comprehension, more than listen?

One distinction earns its keep here. Listening to an audiobook passively is not the same as using it as a reading support. The research on audiobooks for students with dyslexia points to the biggest gains when audio pairs with visual text, not when it replaces it ^[3].

The method is called audio-assisted reading, or read-along. The student sees the text on screen while the audio reads it aloud, words highlighted in sync. That's exactly what Voice Dream Reader, Learning Ally's app, and Read&Write all do when set up correctly. The child's eyes track the highlighted word while the ears hear it. Over time, this builds word recognition in a way listening alone doesn't.

To build reading comprehension alongside these tools, the moves are plain. Before listening, look at headings and pictures with your child and make predictions. During listening, pause at the end of each section and have your child say back what happened in their own words. After listening, tie the content to something the child already knows.

Don't use these tools for every minute of reading time. Kids with dyslexia still need explicit phonics instruction, which audiobooks don't provide. The audiobook carries content, grade-level vocabulary, and comprehension. Phonics work with a specialist is still how you improve the decoding skills underneath reading. The ReadFlare parent toolkit breaks down how to balance both, and how to make the case to a school that a child needs both tracks at once.

One more practical note. At the start of a school year, list every textbook and required novel the child will use. Search both Bookshare and Learning Ally for each title in August or early September. Some titles live on only one service, and a few sit on neither, which sends you to the NIMAS request process through the school.

How do you get the school to actually implement these tools in the classroom?

An account at home is a good start. But the tools matter most during the school day, when the child has to read textbooks, tests, and assignments. Getting school buy-in takes a specific approach.

The strongest path is to get audiobook access written into the IEP or 504 plan as a specific accommodation, not a vague nod to assistive technology. Name the service. Something like: 'Student will have access to Bookshare and/or Learning Ally audiobooks for all core-subject textbooks. Materials will be available in the classroom on a school device on the first day of each unit.' Loose language like 'assistive technology as needed' is easy for a school to ignore.

If the school holds a site license for Bookshare or Learning Ally, the special ed coordinator or assistive technology specialist can add your child to the school account in minutes. Ask for the name of the person who manages that account.

If the school has neither service, remind them Bookshare is free for any school to set up as an organizational account ^[2]. There's no budget argument against it. Learning Ally runs grant programs and reduced-cost school licenses in some states, listed on their website.

For 504 plan school situations where the team drags its feet, the legal footing is solid. Section 504 requires equal access, and a student who can't reach printed text without accommodation is being denied equal access to the curriculum. The Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education handles complaints about this ^[6].

Bring a one-page sheet to the IEP or 504 meeting listing the service name, what it costs the school (zero for Bookshare), how to sign up, and the NIMAS and IDEA legal basis. Keep it factual. Schools rarely refuse when the parent has done the legwork and cleared every logistical barrier.

What if a specific book your child needs isn't in either library?

It happens. A teacher assigns a novel that isn't in Bookshare's million-title catalog, or a textbook edition is too new to be digitized yet.

Your first move is Bookshare's 'Book Request' feature. Bookshare works to fill gaps, and a title request from a member can push a book toward the front of the digitization queue.

Your second move is the NIMAS process. Under IDEA, schools are supposed to request accessible versions of instructional materials through the National Accessible Educational Materials effort or through the publisher directly ^[5]. This can take several weeks, so start early in the semester.

For novels, your school librarian may be able to source an audiobook through commercial services like Audible or a library app like Libby (the OverDrive app), which gives free access to public library audiobooks. These aren't built for print disabilities, but they carry the same listening purpose.

When a text truly doesn't exist in any audio format, the school still has to provide an alternative. That might be a human reader (a paraprofessional or teacher reads aloud), a text-to-speech tool run on a PDF of the text, or a substitute text covering the same content. Get that last option agreed in writing. A school swapping out a required text without documentation can cause problems later.

If the missing book is a standardized test prep material or a test itself, that's a separate accommodation question covered under your child's testing accommodations, which should also live in the IEP or 504.

Are there other free or low-cost audiobook sources worth knowing about?

Bookshare and Learning Ally are the two purpose-built services for print disabilities, but they aren't the only tools in the kit.

Libby / OverDrive is free through public libraries. Sign in with a library card, borrow audiobooks and ebooks, and listen in the Libby app. The trade-book and popular-title selection is excellent. No professional certification requirement, so any family can use it right away.

Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org) has over 70,000 public-domain books in text and some audio formats. Handy for classic literature assignments.

LibriVox offers free audiobooks of public-domain works read by volunteers. Quality varies, but the classics are well covered.

The Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) provides free audiobooks and specialized playback devices to qualifying individuals, dyslexia included ^[7]. The NLS service needs an application with disability certification, then it's completely free, with playback devices mailed to your home.

None of these replaces Bookshare or Learning Ally for textbooks. But they stretch the listening library for recreational reading, and that matters a lot. A child with dyslexia who listens to books they love builds vocabulary, background knowledge, and a sense of themselves as a reader. Worth prioritizing right alongside the academic tools.

For families lining up all the reading support options together, the ReadFlare reading toolkit has a section on building an at-home listening routine that fits what the school is doing.

What does the research actually say about audiobooks and dyslexia outcomes?

The evidence base is real, and it comes with honest caveats.

A well-cited 2010 study in Annals of Dyslexia found that students with dyslexia scored significantly higher on comprehension when they listened to texts versus reading them silently, and that audio-assisted reading (hearing and seeing text at once) produced the best outcomes of the three conditions tested ^[3]. The finding has held up in later work, though sample sizes in dyslexia intervention research tend to be small.

The National Reading Panel's 2000 report didn't study audiobooks directly, but it established that fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension are separable skills ^[8]. That framework supports the audiobook approach. You can build vocabulary and comprehension through listening even while a child's decoding is still coming along through phonics.

What the research does not show is that audiobooks improve decoding or phonemic awareness on their own. That takes explicit, systematic phonics instruction. The International Dyslexia Association's position is that structured literacy programs are the evidence-based approach to the underlying deficit, and audiobooks are a compensatory support rather than a remediation tool ^[9]. You need both.

Nobody has strong long-term data on whether early, consistent audiobook use changes reading trajectories over a 5-to-10-year span. The closest longitudinal work suggests students who hold grade-level content exposure through audio while getting phonics remediation do better academically than students who fall behind in content because their decoding is weak. Those studies are observational, not randomized ^[3].

The practical read: use audiobooks confidently for content access. Don't treat them as a reason to skip phonics. And don't let anyone at school tell you audiobooks will keep your child from learning to read. They won't. They buy time and protect academic confidence while the harder decoding work goes on.

Frequently asked questions

Does my child need an IEP or 504 to sign up for Bookshare?

No. Bookshare requires certification from a licensed professional confirming a qualifying print disability, but that professional can be a classroom teacher, school psychologist, physician, or speech-language pathologist. An IEP or 504 plan speeds things up because the disability documentation already exists, but neither is a prerequisite. A dyslexia evaluation report or a doctor's note is enough.

How long does it take to get approved for Bookshare or Learning Ally?

Once you submit the application and name a certifier, both services email that person within one business day. Certifier response time is the main variable. Most teachers and school psychologists finish the short online form within two to five business days. After the certifier submits, activation is usually same-day or next-day. Plan on about a week from application to active account.

Is Bookshare really completely free for school-age kids?

Yes. The U.S. Department of Education funds Benetech to provide Bookshare memberships at no cost to U.S. students with qualifying print disabilities. No subscription fee, no per-book fee, no trial period. Individual adult memberships outside the student program do cost $50 per year, but if your child is school-age and enrolled, the membership is $0.

What is the difference between Learning Ally and Bookshare for textbooks specifically?

Learning Ally's edge is human-narrated textbooks. Real readers record science, math, and social studies books, which matters when a synthetic voice can't handle a table or a math expression. Bookshare has far more total titles and covers trade books and popular novels better. For core classroom textbooks, check Learning Ally first. For everything else, start with Bookshare.

Can my child use these audiobooks on a school Chromebook?

Yes. Bookshare works through the Read&Write for Google Chrome extension and browser-based readers. Learning Ally has a Chromebook app in the Chrome Web Store. Many schools already license Read&Write. Ask the school's technology coordinator whether either extension is available on your child's device, because school-managed Chromebooks sometimes restrict which apps students can install.

What happens if my child's school already has a Bookshare or Learning Ally account?

The process gets much faster. The school's account is already certified and approved. The special education coordinator or assistive technology specialist can add your child as a sub-account user in a few minutes. You skip the family signup entirely. Ask the special ed coordinator directly whether the school holds an organizational account with either service before you start a family application.

Is there a dyslexia-specific audiobook app that is better than generic text-to-speech?

Voice Dream Reader is widely recommended by assistive technology specialists for kids with dyslexia. It syncs highlighted text with audio, adjusts reading speed without distortion, and connects straight to Bookshare. The one-time cost is around $20. It's more kid-friendly than the free accessibility tools built into Windows or iOS, though those work adequately for families who can't spend the extra amount.

Will using audiobooks prevent my child from learning to read?

No. Audiobooks are a compensatory tool for content access, not a replacement for reading instruction. The International Dyslexia Association's position is that structured literacy programs address the underlying phonological deficit, while audiobooks let the child keep learning grade-level content at the same time. Using both together is the standard recommendation. Audiobooks don't interfere with phonics and don't reduce motivation to read when used correctly.

Can I request that a specific book be added to Bookshare if it's missing?

Yes. Bookshare has a 'Book Request' feature in the member portal. Submit the title, author, and ISBN. Bookshare prioritizes member requests when deciding what to digitize next. Turnaround runs from weeks to months depending on how complex the book is to convert. If the book is a school textbook, also notify your school's special ed team and ask them to pursue the NIMAS request through the publisher at the same time.

What is NIMAS and why does it matter for my child's audiobook access at school?

NIMAS stands for National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard. It's a technical standard written into IDEA that requires publishers to send accessible versions of textbooks to a federal repository. Schools can request those files for students with print disabilities. In practice, Bookshare or Learning Ally are often faster sources of the same content, but knowing NIMAS exists gives you legal standing to demand accessible materials if the school claims none are available.

Does my child qualify if their dyslexia has never been formally diagnosed?

It depends on the certifier. Both services require a licensed professional to certify a qualifying print disability. A school psychologist who has documented reading difficulties can certify based on assessment data even without a formal diagnosis label. A formal dyslexia evaluation or psychoeducational report makes certification easier and faster, but a teacher or psychologist who knows the child well may certify based on existing school records.

How do I make sure the school actually uses these tools and doesn't just let the account sit unused?

Write the accommodation into the IEP or 504 plan with concrete language: name the service, specify which classes it applies to, and require that materials be available on the first day of each new unit. Vague language is easy to ignore. Follow up at the start of each semester to confirm the account is active and the child's school device can access it. Ask the child directly whether they're using it in class.

Are there free dyslexia screening tools or tests I should consider before pursuing Bookshare or Learning Ally?

Getting a clear picture of your child's reading profile through a dyslexia test is worthwhile before or alongside audiobook setup. A formal psychoeducational evaluation identifies more than whether dyslexia is present. It shows severity and which processing areas are affected, which helps the school design the right mix of accommodations and instruction. Your school can run this evaluation at no cost if you make a written request under IDEA.

Sources

1. Learning Ally, About Us and Membership: Learning Ally holds more than 80,000 human-narrated audiobooks and serves students with visual impairments, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities; family membership costs approximately $135 per year.
2. Bookshare (Benetech), About Bookshare: Bookshare is the world's largest accessible digital library with over 1,000,000 titles, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and free for qualifying U.S. students with print disabilities.
3. Annals of Dyslexia (Springer), journal of the International Dyslexia Association: A 2010 study found students with dyslexia showed significantly higher comprehension when listening to text versus reading silently; audio-assisted reading produced the best comprehension outcomes of the three conditions tested.
4. U.S. Department of Education, IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: IDEA requires schools to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education to eligible students with disabilities, including accessible-format instructional materials under the NIMAS standard.
5. U.S. Department of Education, IDEA site (Office of Special Education Programs, NIMAS): Under NIMAS, publishers must provide accessible versions of instructional materials to a federal repository, and schools must provide those materials to students with print disabilities in a timely manner, using faster alternatives when available.
6. U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires equal access to educational programs; OCR handles complaints when students are denied accommodations that provide that access.
7. Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS): NLS provides free audiobooks and specialized playback devices to qualifying individuals with print disabilities, including those with dyslexia.
8. National Reading Panel, Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment (NIH, 2000): The National Reading Panel established that fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension are separable skills, supporting the use of audiobooks to build vocabulary and comprehension independently of decoding instruction.
9. International Dyslexia Association, Dyslexia at a Glance Fact Sheet: The IDA's position is that structured literacy programs are the evidence-based approach to the underlying phonological deficit in dyslexia, while audiobooks serve as a compensatory support, not a remediation tool.
10. IDEA statute text, 20 U.S.C. Chapter 33 (U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel): IDEA statute text establishes the federal framework for free appropriate public education and accessible instructional materials for students with disabilities.