BARD Mobile
The BARD Mobile app provides access to talking books from the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site. BARD contains nearly 65,000 talking books, magazines, and braille music scores, with new selections added daily.
With BARD Mobile, you can play talking books and magazines on your Android device.
To use BARD Mobile, you must first be registered with a braille and talking book library in the NLS network of cooperating libraries. If you aren’t registered with a library but believe that you qualify for this service because you have a visual impairment or physical disability that prevents you from reading regular print, locate your local library at www.loc.gov/nls/find.html or call 1-800-NLS-READ to apply for service.
Once you are registered, you may then sign up for a BARD account and receive your BARD user name and password. Download the free BARD Mobile app and sign in with your BARD user name and password to get started. You will only need to do this the first time you use the app. The app contains a user manual that you may access through the Bookshelf feature.
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, administers the braille and talking book program, a free library service available to residents of the United States and its territories and American citizens living abroad whose low vision, blindness, or physical disability makes reading regular print difficult. Through its national network of cooperating libraries, NLS mails digital audio players and audio and braille books and magazines directly to enrollees at no cost. Music scores, instructional, and appreciation materials are available in large-print, braille, and recorded formats. Some materials may also be downloaded online or via Android devices. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/ThatAllMayRead or call 1-888-NLS-READ (1-888-657-7323).
Category : Books & Reference
Reviews (27)
I love the app. There is a few items of improvement I'm going to share. 1. When the app is connected to Bluetooth headphones. If the headphones are disconnected the app should stop playing. 2. The search feature needs to put into the app. Improve those features and I'll give more stars.
This is an extremely frustrating app. I enter my username and get all the way through where would you like your books to be stored I press the button and okay and it totally just closes out and then I have to log in all over again and go through the same process. I have not successfully used this app which is extremely annoying as being a blind individual you would think that the federal government would allow an app to be easier managed since this is for print and hearing impaired individuals.
I find the application very convenient and user friendly. Much easier than carrying a big, clunky player. I would request that the settings be updated to include being able to set the "part", "chapter" "bookmark" or "phrase" to which ever one is most convenient for the user as the default setting. Also add an "off" option. I constantly hit the back or forward button on my headset when I am trying to press the stop/play button and it takes me forever to find my place again because it jumps back to the previous chapter.
Fabulous upgrade from the cassets sent through the mail. However, the search engine needs a major overhaul. Every time you save a title to your wishlist, you are taken to an unnecessary options page which requires you to hit the back button to return to the book list. A new search engine which could take you to a book list so that you don't have to read through pages and pages of the entire book descriptions before you can find your title. Having books on your phone can't be beat for portability.
Could be better if there was an option to turn off autoplay when entering a book, the player didn't continue playing if headphones are disconnected, the app took advantage of things like swiping on a title to provide an option to deleting it and the online user guide online clearly indicated it's for iOS only and your out of luck if your on Android and confused about something. Otherwise it does technically work when your not confused how to perform basic functions.
This app has been improved however, still needs a lot of help. Still rather clunky and seems 8 bit in a 128 bit world. the ability to cast to a device, such as a Google home or an echo would be awesome. sleep timer button gets smaller when pressed making it more difficult to adjust or add time.
Why can't I start and stop an audiobook by pressing the button on the microphone that is in my earbud cord? I use a single earbud, which combines stereo into mono, as I am deaf in 1 ear. All of my other audio apps: podcast player, music player, and other audiobook apps, allow me to start and stop, or play and pause by pressing the button on the microphone on my earbud cord, but BARD Mobile doesn't.
Update: Make frequent bookmarks; it will let you get close if something goes wrong. Old: Works OK if you don't lose your place. Then you learn there are no ways to find where you left off. I wish there was a different app.
I'm only iny 30s, and this app feels impossible to navigate. I can't figure out how to search for a specific book, nor do I know how to return a book. This feels very unhelpful for a population looking for extra help. :(
What happened? The app used to work great. But now every time my son opens it up to use it his place in the book has been lost. And fast forwarding a rewinding is not a simple task. So he's listening to the same parts over and over and getting uninterested. When will this be fixed?
Not easy to use. No way to organize your library of books. No way to delete a book if you've read it. If there's an issue with a book that refuses to play, you can't delete it and DL it again. Not user friendly and asking for help is pointless. Good selection of titles seems to be the only plus.
I have used Bard on IOS for years, & it works great on IOS but has some bugs on android. For example, now whenever I downloaded a book it always sounds like the narrator is moving back and fourth, so I'm constantly adjusting the volume.
My 85-year-old, legally blind father is learning to use this app on his new smartphone. He has used an NLS-specific player for decades. While having the mobility of listening from his smart phone is awesome (he is no longer tied to just listening in the chair where his dedicated player is plugged in), there are some drawbacks. The buttons are clearly not tactile on a phone and his extremely limited vision makes it often difficult to press the correct button. He often hits the button next to the one he meant to hit and then cannot find his place again in the book. Some verbal commands would be an excellent addition to the app, as this is designed to be used by folks with limited or no vision. The other criticism is for BARD in general. It is impossible to search by author name. You can only search by the first letter of the last name. For someone who cannot read the names, this is maddening. If he wants to find a book by Stephen King, for example, he has to scroll through all the Ks (and there are way more than I would have thought) to find what he is looking for.
I love this app. I love that I can have lots of books on my phone. It beats carrying around Braille books. I love NLS and what they give to us patrons the gift of reading. Keep up the fantastic books. I definitley recommend this wonderful app to any blind, visually impaired and physically handicapped. You truly offer a fantastic service.
It's a good service but the app needs a MAJOR overhaul. It's for the blind. It needs a voice search option and to be compatible with Google home and Alexa. These are basic assess ability needs apps not designed for the blind have. How does this app just kick you out to a awkward website. It's 2020 for crying out loud...
I've been a member of the nls program since in so 8 years old this is a great program for those who need it. The app has its bugs but over the years they have work on it to make it better and it's 100% better then the old cassettes.
easy to use on my smartphone. huge selection of books, far more than Audible. Great selection of classics and histories. Also, lots of out of print books!
I haven't used this app for awhile, and have forgotten my password. Where is the feature that I can have either my old password sent to my email, or a temporary one sent to my email where I can change it to something new? Whoever heard of an app without this feature? (We forget stuff, too.)
A lot of options I just wish you could enter an entire author's name or book title. I've been a user since the android version came out. I love that I don't have to use the big bulky machine anymore. Can you please make the "previous download" printable or somehow make a "downloaded" mark next to the books you've already heard? Thank you for all you do!
The controls are very easy to use, you can vary the speed of the reader,, the number of available books is incredible, and it's free, without ads, to those who quality.
There are some bugs in the app but I would like to see some more updates with the app for the android side and also I would like to see some more stability with the app crashes I they can fix those as soon as possible
Fantastic after u learn how to use it which can be tricky.. help set up is definitely not user friendly. No search bar. Great experience!!! Soooo glad we have android and apple apps!!! Thank youuu...still need help on synching thru same account on different devises
It's a great reader but for one fault; no wireless headphone controls. Much appreciated considering the whole system.
This app is every thing it should be and more. I use it for hours every day. The selection is virtually unlimited--books, magazines, newspapers, articles, whatever I want. You won't be disappointed.
UI friendliness lacking due to being a bit dated. Tho, amazing service, enormous title selection, and high quality professional narration.
Can someone please fix the bookmark function this has been going on for about a year I have updated the app. It will not save your spot in the book every time you leave the app please please please please please please please fix it
This is not user friendly and it only provides access to half as many audiobooks as Audible. You need someone with a PC to setup up your account. If you forget your password then someone with a PC has to change it for you so someone else always has access to your account (unless you have your own pc). Clunky and amateurish don't come close to describing the interface. What a disappointment.