The drawback of an audiotape is its limited navigation, which only allows users to go forward or back. This makes it difficult for people with visual impairments to use audio books the same way sighted individuals read, according to Kerscher. For example, looking up a recipe or searching for a gardening tip would be extremely time consuming. But with digital talking books, users can navigate through different pages, chapters, or even sentences.
People can search for a given word, or start the audio at any given point using a special keypad.
The ability to see and hear at the same time is a huge benefit. Such enhancements should help mainstream users as well as students with disabilities. It benefits a broad range of users. It's great for everyone. Although several CD players and other portable devices that read e-books are already on the market, talking digital books have been slow to hit mainstream distribution.