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 document basic protections, including a commitment against targeted advertising and contractual limits on service providers.
16 of 35 checks passed
Evaluated September 2026
Privacy →Level 1 · Basic protections
Does not sell data or target ads at students, limits sharing, and lets parents see and delete their child's data.
Not documented: a commitment against targeted advertising, contractual limits on service providers
Level 2 · Parent control (meets the standard)
Families can get their data out, know who processes it, and know how long it is kept.
Not documented: a data retention timeline, self-service deletion
Level 3 · Direct data access
Families or schools can pull their own data through an API, in a stated format.
Not documented: an API for retrieving their own data, a named export format
View all 35 checks
Parent Access7/8
Does the policy mention parents specifically?
“If a member under the age of 18 (or his or her parent or legal guardian) wishes to review, modify, or delete the minor member’s Personal Information and refuse to permit further collection or use, please contact us using the contact information below.”
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, modify, or delete the minor member’s Personal Information and refuse to permit further collection or use, please contact us using the contact information below.”
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, or delete the minor member’s Personal Information and refuse to permit further collection or use, please contact us using the contact information below.”
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 the minor member’s Personal Information and refuse to permit further collection or use, please contact us using the contact information below.”
Is there a dedicated Children's Privacy section?
“## Children’s Privacy The privacy and protection of children is of great importance to us.”
Does it reference COPPA compliance?
The policy does not mention COPPA.
Does it reference FERPA compliance?
“The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 USC §1232g, applies to education records of individual students. Bookshare does not have access to personally identifiable education records. However, if Bookshare were ever to have access to education records, Bookshare would not retain them, nor disclose such records to anyone”
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 from a parent or legal guardian, except as otherwise permitted by applicable law.”
Data Portability2/5
Can users access their personal data?
“You may request to review, correct, update, suppress, restrict, or delete your Personal Information, object to the processing of Personal Information, or request to receive an electronic copy of your Personal Information”
Can users download/export their data?
“request to receive an electronic copy of your Personal Information for purposes of transmitting it to another organization (to the extent this right to data portability is provided to you by applicable law), by contacting us at”
Is there a self-service data access tool?
The policy says access requests are made by emailing privacy@benetech.org or going through the school, not through a self-service tool.
Is a specific data format mentioned for export?
The policy promises only an "electronic copy" and names no file format.
Is there an API for data access?
The policy mentions e-reading apps that can access account information, but no API that users or schools use to retrieve their own data.
Data Minimization1/6
Is data collection itemized?
“When you register for or use our Services, we may ask you for Personal Information, such as your name, e-mail address, postal address, zip code, telephone number, payment card information, or in certain situations your social media account ID.”
Can the app be used without a real name?
The policy says it collects users' names, and schools may provide student information.
Can the app be used without an email?
The policy says it collects users' email addresses.
Does it state collection is limited to what is necessary?
The policy says personal information is needed to provide the Services, but never says collection is limited to what is necessary.
Is IP address anonymized or truncated?
The policy says IP addresses are logged and used to estimate location, with no mention of anonymizing or truncating them.
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
The policy says it may work out a user's approximate location from their 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 for commercial gain or marketing purposes.”
Are third-party providers named?
“We use third-party providers of analytics services, including Google Analytics, which use cookies and similar technologies to collect and analyze information about use of the Services and report on activities and trends.”
Are providers contractually restricted?
The policy does not say service providers are contractually limited in how they use the data.
No-targeted-advertising commitment?
The policy does not commit to avoiding targeted or behavioral advertising.
Is AI/ML data sharing addressed?
The policy does not address AI or machine learning.
Child-specific sharing restriction?
“We do not knowingly allow Bookshare members, or users of other Services, who are under the age of 18 to make Personal Information publicly available through our Services.”
Cookies/tracking limited or opt-out?
“You can learn about Google’s practices by going to [www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/](http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/) and 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, object to the processing of Personal Information”
Self-service deletion mechanism?
The policy says deletion is by email request only and describes no self-service option.
Specific data retention timeline?
The policy explains the criteria it uses to decide how long to keep data, but gives no specific timeline.
Auto-deletion of inactive accounts?
The policy does not address deleting inactive accounts automatically.
Post-deletion handling described?
“Please note that we may need to retain certain Personal Information for recordkeeping purposes and/or to complete any transactions that you began prior to requesting a change or deletion.”
Advertising0/4
Advertising model explicitly disclosed?
The policy does not say whether the product shows advertising.
Free from third-party advertisements?
The policy does not say the product is free of third-party ads.
Children excluded from ad targeting?
The policy does not address ad targeting of children.
Ad-free option available?
The policy does not say whether the product has advertising or an ad-free 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 Privacy using the Common Sense Privacy Program framework. Quoted text is copied from the policy; unquoted notes are our summary. 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.
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?
TLS has not yet completed a Learning Standard evaluation of how well Bookshare teaches. Its privacy policy has been reviewed for Data Transparency and does not yet document the basic protections (Level 1).
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 does not mention COPPA.
Is Bookshare FERPA compliant?
The reviewed privacy policy references FERPA. A policy reference alone does not establish FERPA compliance. Policy review note: The policy names FERPA and says how Bookshare would treat 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 has a section headed 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: The policy states that Benetech does not sell personal information.
Can you delete your data from Bookshare?
The reviewed privacy policy describes account deletion. We have not tested the deletion process. Policy review note: Users can ask to have their personal information deleted.
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- 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
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