This brief training manual explains how to use Bloom’s accessibility resources (Image Description Tool, Visual Impairment Visualizer, Sign Language Tool, and Bloom Reader Quiz Page.


These basic guidelines for writing image descriptions were adapted from the Description Tip Sheet developed by the Described and Captioned Media Program, which can be found here, supplemented by information from a variety of other sources. Because these particular guidelines are designed for writing image descriptions in local languages, we include information on recording the image descriptions in Bloom, as Text-to-Speech is not available for such languages.


As part of a pilot project conducted by SIL LEAD and funded by the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) Partners (the United States Agency for International Development [USAID], World Vision and the Australian Government) and Pearson, Resources for the Blind (Philippines) produced a set of 40 accessible books for the visually impaired and blind.” Each of these books was published in both Cebuano and Tagalog. You can view and download the books created by RBI on Bloomlibrary.org. To visit RBI’s bookshelf, please click on the link to the left. When you select a book from their bookshelf, you can view the book online; download a PDF, ePUB, and or Bloom Reader file; or download the book to Bloom Editor.

If you would like to see a sample of one of the books created by RBI, titled My Blind Classmate, click on one of the following links to download and view it: PDF, ePUB, or Bloom Reader. In order to view the Bloom Reader file, you will need to download the free Bloom Reader app which is available for Android devices on the Google Play Store. Your browser may know how to handle the ePUB file, but if it does not, you may need to download an ePUB reader app. You can also view this book on Bloomlibrary.org.


YouTube and Vimeo Playlists

A set of 31 free training videos is available on YouTube and Vimeo. These training videos range from beginner to advanced. These videos are narrated in English but are subtitled in a number of languages including Arabic, Bangla, English, French, Indonesian, Nepali, Spanish, and Swahili.