Bookshare
Product by Benetech
The Bottom Line
Partially. Bookshare does not directly teach new concepts through practice or assessment, but it is a highly effective assistive tool that removes decoding barriers. By offering text-to-speech and visual customization, it relies on multimodal learning principles to help students with reading disabilities access and comprehend grade-level text independently.
Pros
- Utilizes multimodal learning by pairing synchronized text-to-speech audio with visual highlighting to improve reading comprehension.
- Applies Universal Design for Learning principles by allowing users to customize font size, colors, and line spacing.
- Reduces cognitive load for students with decoding difficulties so they can focus entirely on vocabulary and narrative comprehension.
- Provides access to a massive catalog of core curriculum textbooks and fiction titles required for schooling.
Cons
- Lacks active learning mechanics like retrieval practice or comprehension checks to verify student understanding.
- Requires an official qualifying diagnosis of a reading barrier to access the platform, excluding general education students.
- Relies heavily on synthetic text-to-speech voices that lack the natural prosody and inflection of human narrators.
- Does not provide built-in vocabulary definitions or scaffolding for complex academic texts.
What Do We Know About Bookshare?
Bookshare is highly effective for supporting reading comprehension in children with diagnosed learning barriers, even though it does not explicitly teach phonics or reading skills. Your child will not find interactive quizzes, spaced repetition flashcards, or gamified rewards here. Instead, Bookshare functions as a critical accessibility tool that removes the friction of decoding words. By offering synchronized text highlighting alongside text-to-speech audio, the platform leverages dual-coding theory, allowing your child to process information visually and auditorily at the same time. This significantly reduces the cognitive load required to sound out words, freeing up your child's working memory to focus on understanding the story or textbook material. Parents must understand that this platform requires a documented print disability, such as dyslexia or a visual impairment, to create an account. Once verified, your child gains access to virtually any book needed for school. Because Bookshare operates as a digital library rather than a tutor, you will need to monitor your child's comprehension independently. The app itself has not yet been formally evaluated by The Learning Standard, but its core mechanics align strongly with established principles of Universal Design for Learning.
How Does Bookshare Work?
Bookshare uses an accessibility-first instructional approach rooted in Universal Design for Learning, allowing students to customize how they consume written text. Users search the massive digital library for assigned textbooks, literature, or recreational reading. Once a book is opened, the platform allows your child to modify the visual presentation by adjusting font sizes, selecting dyslexia-friendly typefaces, and changing background contrast to reduce visual crowding. The core learning mechanic relies on multimodal input. Students activate the text-to-speech feature, which reads the text aloud while simultaneously highlighting each word on the screen. This dual-presentation method helps students map spoken sounds to printed words, reinforcing sight word recognition while bypassing severe decoding deficits. The platform does not sequence learning materials, track mastery, or offer corrective feedback. It acts strictly as an adaptive delivery mechanism for external curriculum. Students navigate through chapters independently, using the assistive tools to process complex academic material at their own customized pace.
Strengths and tradeoffs of Bookshare
Bookshare's biggest strength is its seamless integration of multimodal reading supports, while its biggest weakness is the complete absence of active learning checks. The platform excels at reducing extraneous cognitive load for students with print disabilities. When a student with dyslexia struggles to decode text, their working memory is entirely consumed by identifying letters, leaving no mental capacity for actual comprehension. By providing synchronized audio and visual text, Bookshare bypasses this bottleneck. This application of the modality effect ensures that students can process grade-level content alongside their peers. Furthermore, the extensive customization options strongly align with Universal Design for Learning guidelines, ensuring the interface adapts to the learner rather than forcing the learner to adapt to the text. However, the platform is strictly a content delivery system. It lacks the retrieval practice, spaced repetition, and formative assessments required to ensure a student actually understands what they are reading. If a student loses focus while the text-to-speech continues playing, there are no built-in mechanics to redirect their attention or check for understanding. It requires high self-regulation or active monitoring by a parent or educator.
Who Might Benefit From Bookshare?
Bookshare is best for students across all grade levels who have a documented print disability like dyslexia, blindness, or a physical limitation that prevents them from holding a physical book. It is an essential tool for children who need to access grade-level core curriculum textbooks or assigned literature but cannot decode standard print efficiently. Because it relies heavily on student self-direction, it works best when paired with classroom instruction or active parental involvement to ensure the student is actually engaging with and understanding the material.
Data Transparency
Does Not Meet Data Transparency Standard
Bookshare does not meet our data transparency standard. Its privacy policy does not reference COPPA.
17 of 35 checks passed
Evaluated April 2026
View privacy policy →View all 35 checks
Parent Access7/8
Does the policy mention parents specifically?
“without obtaining consent from a parent or legal guardian”
Can parents view their child's data?
“If a member under the age of 18 (or his or her parent or legal guardian) wishes to review...”
Can parents modify their child's data?
“If a member under the age of 18 (or his or her parent or legal guardian) wishes to review, modify...”
Can parents delete their child's account?
“If a member under the age of 18 (or his or her parent or legal guardian) wishes to review, modify, or delete...”
Is there a dedicated Children's Privacy section?
“The policy contains a section explicitly titled 'Children’s Privacy'.”
Does it reference COPPA compliance?
“The policy addresses children's privacy but does not explicitly reference COPPA.”
Does it reference FERPA compliance?
“The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 USC §1232g, applies to education records”
Is parental consent required for child accounts?
“We do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose Personal Information from children under the age of 18 without obtaining consent”
Data Portability2/5
Can users access their personal data?
“You may request to review, correct, update, suppress, restrict, or delete your Personal Information”
Can users download/export their data?
“or request to receive an electronic copy of your Personal Information for purposes of transmitting it”
Is there a self-service data access tool?
“Users must email privacy@benetech.org to access data; no self-service tool is mentioned.”
Is a specific data format mentioned for export?
“Mentions an 'electronic copy' but does not specify a format such as CSV or JSON.”
Is there an API for data access?
“The policy does not mention providing API access for data retrieval.”
Data Minimization2/6
Is data collection itemized?
“such as your name, e-mail address, postal address, zip code, telephone number, payment card information”
Can the app be used without a real name?
“Does not explicitly state that users can register without providing a real name.”
Can the app be used without an email?
“Lists e-mail address as personal information collected during registration; no non-email option mentioned.”
Does it state collection is limited to what is necessary?
“We need to collect Personal Information in order to provide the requested Services to you.”
Is IP address anonymized or truncated?
“Does not mention anonymizing or truncating IP addresses before logging them.”
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
“We may also derive your approximate location from your IP address.”
Third-Party Protection4/7
Does it explicitly state no selling of data?
“We want you to know that we do not sell your personal information or share it with third parties”
Are third-party providers named?
“Google Analytics, National Library Service for the Blind... Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google, and Twitter”
Are providers contractually restricted?
“Mentions using third-party service providers but does not explicitly detail contractual restrictions on them.”
No-targeted-advertising commitment?
“States they don't share data for marketing, but lacks a strict 'no targeted advertising' pledge.”
Is AI/ML data sharing addressed?
“The policy is completely silent on AI, machine learning, and associated data sharing.”
Child-specific sharing restriction?
“We do not knowingly allow Bookshare members... under the age of 18 to make Personal Information publicly available”
Cookies/tracking limited or opt-out?
“opt out of them by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add‑on”
Deletion & Retention2/5
Can users delete their account?
“You may request to review, correct, update, suppress, restrict, or delete your Personal Information”
Self-service deletion mechanism?
“Deletion requires sending an email to privacy@benetech.org; no self-service mechanism mentioned.”
Specific data retention timeline?
“Data is kept 'for as long as needed or legally permitted'; no specific timeframe is given.”
Auto-deletion of inactive accounts?
“Does not mention automatically deleting accounts that become inactive.”
Post-deletion handling described?
“we may need to retain certain Personal Information for recordkeeping purposes and/or to complete any transactions”
Advertising0/4
Advertising model explicitly disclosed?
“Does not outline an advertising model for the platform.”
Free from third-party advertisements?
“Does not explicitly promise that the services are free from third-party ads.”
Children excluded from ad targeting?
“Does not explicitly state that children are excluded from ad targeting.”
Ad-free option available?
“Does not mention the availability of an ad-free tier or option.”
What This Means
The policy review did not meet our data transparency standard. The checks above show the documented findings and unknowns. A missing statement does not establish how the app handles data in practice.
About this evaluation: Based on automated analysis of Bookshare's privacy policy using the Common Sense Privacy Program framework. Results describe the policy disclosures we assessed; unknown checks are excluded from scores. Privacy policies can change. This review reflects the version we analyzed and does not determine legal compliance.
Sources and review method
TLS combines product information and editorial analysis to explain how Bookshare works, its tradeoffs, and the questions to ask before choosing it. Product features, an instructional rationale and evidence of learning outcomes are different kinds of information.
Formal Learning Standard assessment: not yet completed. Data Transparency findings are reported separately and do not establish learning effectiveness. Read our methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bookshare
Is Bookshare free?
Yes, Bookshare is entirely free for all United States schools and students who have a qualifying print disability. Funding for the platform is provided by an award from the U.S. Department of Education, making this massive library highly accessible for eligible families. Because the costs are completely subsidized at the federal level, parents and educators never have to worry about subscription fees, hidden microtransactions, or paying per book. This ensures equitable access to educational materials for students who need them most.
Is Bookshare good for elementary school students?
Yes, Bookshare is excellent for elementary students who have documented reading barriers. The synchronized highlighting and text-to-speech audio support help young learners map spoken sounds to printed letters, which reinforces early phonics and sight word recognition. However, the interface is primarily designed as a library database rather than a kid-friendly application. Parents and educators will need to actively help younger children search for titles, adjust their visual settings, and navigate the reading menus before the child can read independently.
What does Bookshare teach?
Bookshare does not explicitly teach specific academic subjects, reading skills, or core concepts. Instead, it provides highly accessible versions of books covering everything from early childhood education to post-doctoral applied sciences. Think of it strictly as a delivery tool for your child's existing curriculum rather than an instructional teaching program. It removes the mechanical friction of decoding complex text, allowing students to access and comprehend the material that their classroom teachers are already assigning.
Is Bookshare safe for kids?
Yes, Bookshare is incredibly safe and operates under highly regulated conditions. Because the platform deals with sensitive student data and official disability documentation, it adheres to strict federal privacy standards. The application does not contain any third-party advertisements, social networking features, or predatory microtransactions that could distract your child. Furthermore, the environment is closed off to the general public, ensuring a secure digital space dedicated entirely to reading and academic access.
How does Bookshare vs Audible compare for learning?
While Audible provides high-quality human narration, Bookshare is significantly better for educational learning because it pairs its audio output with visual text. This multimodal approach utilizes dual-coding, allowing students to simultaneously see the words while hearing them spoken aloud. This reinforces literacy development, spelling recognition, and vocabulary retention much better than the purely passive listening experience offered by Audible. However, Bookshare relies heavily on synthetic, computer-generated voices, which lack the natural emotion found in commercial audiobooks.
Has The Learning Standard evaluated Bookshare?
Bookshare is currently pending evaluation by The Learning Standard and has not yet received an official rating. While its core features align exceptionally well with established Universal Design for Learning principles, we have not yet run the platform through our formal evaluation rubric. We encourage parents and educators to review our methodology page for detailed information on exactly how we score applications, assess learning mechanics, and verify pedagogical effectiveness.
Is Bookshare COPPA compliant?
A COPPA reference was not found in the reviewed privacy policy. This does not determine whether the app complies with COPPA. Policy review note: The policy addresses children's privacy but does not explicitly reference COPPA.
Is Bookshare FERPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references FERPA. A policy reference alone does not establish FERPA compliance. Policy review note: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 USC §1232g, applies to education records
Does Bookshare have a children's privacy policy?
The reviewed policy includes a dedicated children's privacy section. Policy review note: The policy contains a section explicitly titled 'Children’s Privacy'.
Does Bookshare sell student data?
The reviewed policy states that the app does not sell data. This is a policy statement; actual data practices were not verified. Policy review note: We want you to know that we do not sell your personal information or share it with third parties
Can you delete your data from Bookshare?
The reviewed privacy policy describes account deletion. We have not tested the deletion process. Policy review note: You may request to review, correct, update, suppress, restrict, or delete your Personal Information
Follow TLS Research
Subscribe to future TLS research updates: app reviews, findings, and what the evidence shows.
Take Action
For Bookshare
If you represent Benetech and have a correction or new evidence, send the relevant source so we can review and update this page.
Submit a correctionDetails
- Pricing
- Bookshare is free for all US schools and students.
- Platforms
- Web Browser, iOS (Apple mobile), iPadOS (Apple tablet), Android (Google mobile), Tizen (Samsung mobile), Windows (Microsoft), macOS (Apple), Chrome OS (Google), Other
- Grade Levels
- 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Associate's degree, Bachelor's degree, Post-baccalaureate certificate, Master's Degree, Post-master's certificate, Doctoral Degree, Post-doctoral certificate, Adult Education, Professional or Technical Credential
- Website
- Visit site