Announcing the upcoming release of the RealSAM BookClub App for World Book Day—Joining a Long History of Accessible Reading
On World Book Day, conversations about reading often focus on books themselves. But for the blind and low vision community, the story of reading has always also been a story about format, access, and ingenuity.
On World Book Day 2026, we want to celebrate the many ways people read — past, present, and future
Accessible reading takes many forms. It can be felt, heard, or touched through braille, audio, tactile books, and digital technologies. This World Book Day, as we prepare to launch the RealSAM BookClub app, we want to honour the important history of accessible reading and the many organisations that have made it possible.
A Long History of Accessible Stories
The story of accessible reading predates digital technologies by centuries. It began with Braille itself, a tactile writing system invented by Louis Braille in the early 19th century, providing a foundation for literacy for blind people worldwide.
In the UK, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has been central to expanding access for over 150 years. Its Talking Books service, which began in 1935 to support soldiers blinded in the First World War, offered recorded books on early formats and has evolved continually to embrace modern technologies, such as DAISY CDs, USB sticks, digital downloads, and smart-speaker access.
Beyond audio, RNIB’s library includes tens of thousands of braille and tactile titles, delivered free to blind and partially sighted readers across the country.
Accessible Formats Today: More Voices, More Ways to Read
Accessible reading isn’t limited to audio, and it never has been. Today, organisations across the UK are expanding what reading can look like for blind, low vision, and print-disabled readers:
Organisations like ClearVision and Living Paintings run postal service libraries which provide books with hundreds of braille, audio, print, tactile pictures, and Touch to See books—tactile books paired with audio guides—options. These organisations provide 100% free access to blind and visually impaired children of all ages, ensuring that reading remains inclusive, multisensory, and diverse in format and experience.
Libraries such as Listening Books provide thousands of professionally recorded audiobooks available online or by postal CD, to support anyone in the UK whose illness or disability affects their ability to read print books, including those outside of the blind and visually impaired community who may experience dyslexia, anxiety, chronic illness, or physical challenges like arthritis.
To support visually impaired people who still want to read print books, organisations such as Reading Sight have created a resource pack aimed at educating people working in libraries to better support people with vision and print impairments, which they have sent to every library service in the UK (with a free digital version available on their website)
Meanwhile, the DAISY consortium is working on a project which focuses on ensuring that more music braille scores are easily available to blind musicians worldwide, who rely on them for study, work, and, of course, for enjoyment.
Projects such as these reflect the strength of a community in which blind and low vision readers continue to shape the future of reading on their own terms. RealThing is honoured to stand beside such impressive groups to support the independence and well-being of a community to whom we ourselves look for inspiration, strength, and ingenuity.
Celebrating World Book Day with RealSAM BookClub
Today, we are excited to announce the upcoming RealSAM BookClub App for World Book Day. It brings together audiobooks, newspapers, and community in a voice-first space designed for blind and partially sighted readers.
But we recognise that accessible reading did not begin with an app — and it will not end with one. World Book Day is a moment to celebrate every way that people read:
The touch of braille dots under fingertips
The voices of recorded narrators on a long walk
The tactile pages of a Touch to See book
The quiet joy of listening with others online
Our contribution is part of this broader landscape of access and inclusion. We are proud to stand alongside organisations that have championed accessible reading for generations, and we look forward to supporting the ongoing work of expanding choice and connection for blind and low-vision readers.
For more about World Book Day and accessible reading, or to receive updates on the RealSAM BookClub app launch, visit our website.
