In Lviv, ten new adapted editions by Ukrainian and foreign authors have been prepared for people with visual impairments. Five books have been printed in Braille, and another five have been turned into audiobooks. The results of the work were presented by the project coordinator, blind Lviv resident Oksana Potymko.
The new embossed Braille editions in bright hard covers and the audiobooks were created within the project “Historical Memory of Ukraine and the European Context. A Literary Dimension”. It is being implemented by the Lviv regional branch of the All-Ukrainian NGO “Ukrainian Union of People with Disabilities — USI” with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
The list of Ukrainian works adapted in Braille includes books by Ivan Malkovych “Anna Yaroslavna: Kyivan Princess — Queen of France”, Myroslav Dochynets “The Cricket Shepherd” and the collection “Home for Christmas”. The books “Anna Yaroslavna: Kyivan Princess — Queen of France” and “Home for Christmas” have also been recorded in audio format with the participation of actors from Lviv theatres, blind children and servicemen who lost their sight because of the war.
Among European authors, they adapted monumental multi-volume editions based on real historical events and emphasising the importance of preserving Ukraine’s historical memory. These are the six-volume book “Before the Birds” by Finnish writer Merja Mäki and the thirteen-volume edition “No Man’s Land” by British author Simon Tolkien, both printed in Braille.
Separately, an audio version has been created of the trilogy “Children of the Famine” by Irish writer Marita Conlon-McKenna: the first book “Under the Hawthorn Tree”, the second “Wildflower”, and the third “Fields of Home”. They were voiced by Yaroslav Nudyk, a performer with the vocal ensemble “Pikkardiyska Tertsia”. This trilogy is available in the “Astrolabium” app with verified and free access for users with visual impairments.
According to the organisers, in less than five months the Lviv team prepared five new Braille editions and five audiobooks for readers with visual impairments.
“Over just under five months, the team from Lviv created five new Braille editions and five new audiobooks for readers with visual impairments. Once again, Lviv residents have demonstrated just how stylishly designed and sophisticated literature can be printed and voiced for people who are unable to read printed publications independently without special adaptation. All the literary works printed in Braille and recorded as audiobooks have already been sent out or will soon be distributed to different parts of Ukraine — to educational and library institutions, civic organisations and specialist centres” — Oksana Potymko
The organisers are preparing a final briefing for the media. During the event, they plan to show how books are edited and printed in Braille, how inclusive audiobooks are recorded and how illustrations are adapted for blind readers, as well as to offer interactive experiments with tactile images. The date and venue of the briefing will be announced separately.
The background information notes that since the beginning of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, more than 5,000 books for children have been printed in Braille and recorded as audiobooks in Lviv, and this work continues. The city has also hosted a series of camps for blind children from across the country, made municipal Administrative Service Centres accessible to people with hearing and visual impairments, launched a special version of the city website for blind users and provides annual municipal payments to people with visual disabilities.