Reading Apps User Requirements
Purpose
The DAISY Reading Apps User Requirements establishes comprehensive user requirements for accessible digital reading applications, developed through collaboration between the DAISY Consortium, accessibility experts, and people with print disabilities.
Overview
This specification goes beyond basic accessibility compliance to outline reading app features that significantly improve usability and user satisfaction. These requirements cover text, audio, and hybrid reading experiences across key areas including navigation, screen reader support, read aloud, embedded audio, visual adjustments, bookmarking, highlighting, note-taking, answer entry, and library management.
The Executive Summary provides a high-level overview of these requirements.
To ground these requirements in real-world contexts, the working group developed a comprehensive set of user stories that describe specific scenarios and tasks people with print disabilities encounter when using digital reading applications. These user stories served as a foundation for the working group’s discussions and helped prioritize requirements based on actual user experiences.
Who is it for?
This document is intended to help developers, designers, and decision-makers understand what individuals with diverse print disabilities need and expect from digital reading solutions- especially when it comes to accessibility, usability, and inclusive design.
While the document is particularly relevant for those developing or procuring specialized reading apps, it also offers valuable guidance for those working on mainstream reading platforms who wish to make their products outstandingly accessible and user-friendly for everyone. Furthermore, it is widely recognized that affordances made for users with print disabilities are often beneficial or convenient for other users.
Status
The DAISY Reading Apps User Requirements are managed and maintained by The DAISY Consortium. The current version was released in October 2025.
Participate
Whether you are building a new reading application from the ground up or enhancing an existing one, we invite you to explore these requirements not just as a treasure trove of insights into the needs of people with print disabilities, but as a roadmap toward more inclusive digital reading experiences. We strongly readers to review the user stories , as they provide valuable context for understanding why specific requirements were prioritized and offer practical insights into the lived experiences of users with print disabilities.
History
The development of this specification was proposed and financially supported by DAISY member Dedicon. This project was a close collaboration between DAISY Consortium members, people with print disabilities, accessibility experts, and developers of specialized reading apps. The published document is the result of ten months of working group meetings, workshops, and discussions with developers. DAISY Consortium acknowledges the invaluable contributions of the many professionals with deep expertise in accessible reading technology who shaped and articulated the user requirements.
Related
Reading Systems Evaluation is a related DAISY Consortium initiative that serves as the home for accessibility testing of EPUB-based digital reading systems. This activity complements the DAISY Reading Apps User Requirements by providing practical, empirical data on how well reading systems implement fundamental accessibility features on the epubtest.org website. Whilst Reading Systems Evaluation tests for minimum baseline requirements for EPUB reading systems, this document takes a broader and more aspirational approach, covering text, audio, and hybrid reading experiences across multiple formats, and establishing comprehensive requirements that guide developers toward creating truly outstanding accessible reading solutions.