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Södertörn University Library: SöderScholar

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Library help and support for students with a disability

If you have a reading impairment that is affecting your studies then you have the right to get your course literature in accessible format. On this page you can read more about the help and support you can get from the library.

Basic information about the support we offer

You can get support both from the special coordinators at your university as well as from the library. The aim of the support is to provide equal access to all services and facilities in the library. The Accessible Media service team can help you to get your course literature in accessible format. In the library you will also find desktop computers with support programs and the resource room. 

You can contact us directly without a referral from the coordinators at Södertörn University (SH), the Swedish Red Cross University (RKH) or SMI. Contact us by emailing talbok@sh.se or click the button Get talking books and other accessible media.

Talking books

Talking books can help you to read and remember your course literature. In order to use talking books you must have a reading impairment, for example dyslexia, ADHD or a vision impairment, but a certificate is not required. If you have the right to use talking books you can freely download the books you need.

Talking books is the most frequently used form of accessible media. If you are unsure of whether you are entitled to talking books, you can read more on Legimus, website by the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media (MTM External link, opens in new window.). The page is in Swedish only.

As a student with a reading impairment, you have the right to get your course literature as talking books. However, it is your responsibility to check that your books are available in Legimus. Therefore, try to get your reading list as soon as possible. If something is missing you can ask us to order it from MTM by filling out this form. It is important to know that it might take up to 12 weeks to get a new book produced.

E-text and Braille

If you have a visual impairment, we can help you to get your course books as Braille. You can also get them in a format called e-text, developed for people with visual impairment.

Read with speech synthesizer

You can also read a text using speech synthesizer, a program that transforms written text into audio. If you are a student at SH you can get the program TorTalk free of charge to your own computer, even if you haven't got a reading impairment. See more information on the page Study Support Unit, scroll down to the black button labelled "Speech to text". The program is also available on all computers at Södertörn University, including the ones at the library.

The resource room

The resource room is located at the entrance floor in the library, room UB 523. Read more about the resource room and how to access it.

Support programs and laptops

As a student at SH with a Funka certificate, you can borrow a laptop computer with support programs for two weeks at Infocenter.

Some of the desktop computers also contain support programs. By clicking on the plus sign you can read more about the various support programs and where to find them.

EasyReader is a program for reading talking books from Legimus. It is available in the Resource room, the Quiet computer room and on the laptops with support programs.

You can get this program on your own computer.

Tortalk is a speech synthesizer program that reads all other electronic text. It is available on all computers at Södertörn University, including the ones at the library.

If you are a student at SH you can get the program free of charge to your own computer. See more information on the page Study Support Unit, scroll down to the black button labelled "Speech to text".

These are spelling programs in English and Swedish. They alert you, for example, when you use a word with different meanings. They are available in the Resource room and on the laptops with support programs.

This is a thesaurus in English and Swedish with a dyslexia friendly search tool. It is available in the Resource room.

Clarocapture is a program for collecting information. It creates clear references to text and pictures that you paste. It is available in the Resource room.

Mindmapping program to help you organise your work. It is available in the Resource room.

ZoomText is a magnifier and screen reader developed especially for low-vision users. It is available in the Resource room.

The OCR-Scanner scans for example handouts or book chapters in books not available as talking books. When you use the OCR function you can make accessible PDFs that you can read using any speech synthesizer program. It is available in the Resource room.

More support when you study with a disability

As a student with a disability you may be entitled to extra help from your university. For this type of support you will need a certificate of your diagnosis/disability.

Read more about possible support from Funka at SH.

Read more about possible support at RKH (in Swedish only). External link, opens in new window.

Another suggestion is to contact The Study Support Unit. They can help you with writing and holding oral presentations, but also to structure your studies. Everyone is entitled to get support from The Study Support Unit, but if you have a certificate of your diagnosis/disability, you can get extra tutoring time.

Information about accessibility in the library can be found on the page Visit the library.

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Page updated

20-04-2023