The Books for the Blind Program is an initiative of the United States National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) which provides audio recordings of books free of charge to people who are blind or visually impaired.
[3] See also National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped In 1931, the United States passed the Pratt-Smoot Act to provide blind adults with access to books.
[6] Audio recordings were first created on vinyl when the Pratt-Smoot Act was amended in 1933 to include "talking books", and later, in 1969,[7] on proprietary cassette tape and player,[8] becoming the preferred format.
Currently, books for the blind and visually impaired can be downloaded from the NLS's Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) system, which allows for digital books on desktop computers and some mobile devices.
[9] In 2016, a Wi-Fi symbol was added to the NLS's logo to represent the inclusion of wireless connectivity to the programs.