A Landmark Moment for RNIB Talking Books
This year marks 90 years of RNIB Talking Books, a service that has transformed access to reading for blind and partially sighted people across the UK. To celebrate, RNIB has brought together a group of well-known celebrity voices to create a collective recording of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — a powerful tribute to both British literary heritage and the organisation’s long history of providing accessible reading options.
From Reels to Recordings: how Accessible Audiobooks have Evolved
When RNIB launched its Talking Books service in the 1930s, recordings were pressed onto vinyl records and delivered by post. Since then, the service has continually evolved—Through cassette tapes, CDs, DAISY formats, and now fully digital, voice-led platforms.
That ability to adapt has ensured accessible reading for blind and partially sighted people has kept pace with technology, without losing sight of what matters most: reliable access to stories, information, and culture.
The Pride and Prejudice recording is a beautiful symbol of that evolution — a classic novel, reimagined through modern, accessible formats, while honouring nearly a century of listening history.
Why Pride and Prejudice Still Matters in Accessible Reading
Pride and Prejudice has endured for generations, not just because of its romance or wit, but because it speaks to universal themes of independence, misunderstanding, and social change.
Making works like this available as accessible audiobooks ensures blind and partially sighted readers can continue to engage with shared cultural touchstones—not as an afterthought, but as part of the conversation from the start.
Accessible literature isn’t niche. It’s essential.
Proud Partners in Accessible Reading
We’re especially proud to celebrate this moment as long-standing partners of RNIB, having worked alongside them since 2017.
RNIB’s Talking Books service has laid the foundations for so much of what accessible reading looks like today. Their nearly century-long commitment to evolving formats, improving access, and centring the blind and low-vision community’s reading experiences is something we deeply admire and actively support. It has provided inspiration for our own RealSAM BookClub, as well as for innumerable other accessible organisations and endeavours, setting the standard for accessible and inclusive services globally.
Partnership, not competition, is how accessible services grow stronger.
Looking Ahead to the Next Chapter
Ninety years of RNIB Talking Books is an extraordinary achievement — but it’s also a reminder that accessible reading must continue to evolve.
As formats change and technology advances, the goal remains the same: making reading easier, richer, and more inclusive for blind and partially sighted people.
Here’s to the voices, stories, and listeners who made the past 90 years possible — and to everything still to come.
