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Customer Service: Information, Policies & FAQs

Our customer service department is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm EST. You can call toll-free 800-548-7323 (or 617-266-6160 ext. 520 from outside U.S.), or fax 617-437-0456.

Email to orders@nbp.org. For your security, please do not provide credit card numbers over email.

Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of books that ship via "Free Matter for the Blind" in the United States.

NOTE: While some orders may be shipped via U.S. Postal Service’s Free Matter for the Blind in the continental USA, orders shipped outside the USA and Canada will be subject to shipping charges. Since USPS Free Matter does not provide tracking, lost orders will not be replaced or refunded by NBP. Large orders can avoid this risk by shipping UPS for which shipping charges will apply. Please call our Customer Service department at 617-266-6160 ext 520 to inquire about the UPS charges for your particular order.

Note that our weekday UPS pickup time is 2:00 pm, so any UPS-shipped orders (including Overnight, 2-Day, or Ground delivery) received after 2:00 pm will be shipped the following day.

  1. You can place your order online here!
  2. We accept payments by credit card (through the online store or over the phone), and by check or money order (through the mail).
  3. We can invoice an organization or agency from a purchase order; there is a $5 processing fee for this service. (There is no charge if prepaid by check or credit card.) All purchase orders require paid shipping, for tracking purposes. Please contact our Customer Service department to inquire about the shipping fees for your particular order. Email your PO to us at orders@nbp.org.
  4. We accept major credit cards: MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. Send us your credit card number, expiration date, CVC code, and daytime phone number, or call us toll-free at 800-548-7323 (or 617-266-6160 ext. 520 from outside U.S.).
  5. You can fax an order to NBP 24 hours a day at (617) 437-0456. Be sure to include your credit card information or PO number.

Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of books that ship via "Free Matter for the Blind" in the United States.

NOTE: While some orders may be shipped via U.S. Postal Service’s Free Matter for the Blind in the continental USA, orders shipped outside the USA and Canada will be subject to shipping charges. Since USPS Free Matter does not provide tracking, lost orders will not be replaced or refunded by NBP. Large orders can avoid this risk by shipping UPS for which shipping charges will apply. Please call our Customer Service department at 617-266-6160 ext 520 to inquire about the UPS charges for your particular order.

Note that our weekday UPS pickup time is 2:00 pm, so any UPS-shipped orders (including Overnight, 2-Day, or Ground delivery) received after 2:00 pm will be shipped the following day.

  • Purchases will be refunded within 30 days of purchase if the publication does not appear worn or used and is in resalable condition. NBP will not accept returns that have been stickered. Refunds will be processed within 30 days of purchase of receipt of merchandise.
  • Note that returned items may be subject to a $10 restocking fee.
  • Before returning any item, call 800-548-7323 (or 617-266-6160 ext. 520 from outside U.S.) to obtain a Return Authorization number.
  • Please pack items carefully to protect them during shipment.
  • NBP electronic books CANNOT be returned, for obvious reasons. The only exception would be if you received a defective CD and we pre-approved the exchange.
  • We cannot refund shipping charges.
  • When applicable, please provide original Purchase Order number with the return.
  • Thank you for your cooperation!

The NLS player will play any DAISY book that has audio, so it will play DAISY books from NBP just fine. Simply copy the folder containing a DAISY book to the root of a cartridge or flash drive and connect it to the player.

BRF (Electronic Braille Files)

  • The B2G
  • Braille Me
  • Book Port, all models
  • BrailleNote and VoiceNote, all models
  • Icon
  • Braille Plus, all models
  • Braille Sense and Voice Sense
  • Victor Stream
  • Kurzweil and Openbook
  • Computer with braille display
  • iPhone or iPad with AccessNote and braille display (or NLS book reading software).

ePub

  • Victor Stream
  • Book Port DT (not Book Port Plus)
  • iPhone or iPad using iBooks or Nook app

DAISY

  • NLS player
  • Book Port, all models
  • BrailleNote and VoiceNote, all models
  • Icon
  • Braille Plus, all models
  • Braille Sense and Voice Sense
  • Victor products, including Stream
  • Kurzweil and OpenBook
  • Computer with DAISY program such as FSReader or APH Book Wizard
  • iPhone or iPad with Read2Go or InDaisy

BRF is an electronic braille file (in contracted, or Grade 2, braille). All our current titles, and most of our past ones, are available in BRF format, except those with tactile graphics. BRF is designed primarily to be read on a portable braille reading device, but these books can also be embossed with a braille embosser, or accessed with a computer and braille display or braille-aware notetaker.

You need one of the following:
  • A notetaker with a braille display, such as the B2G, the Braille Me, Braille Lite or BrailleNote.
  • A notetaker that can speak braille files, such as a PAC Mate, Braille 'n Speak, Type 'n Speak, or VoiceNote.
  • A computer with either a braille display or version 6 or later of Kurzweil 1000 or OpenBook 7 adaptive scanning software.
  • A braille reading device, such as a Bookworm.

You load it the same way you would a text or Web-Braille file. Here are some possible scenarios:

  • If you're using a notetaker and have a disk drive designed to work with it, you can insert the USB/flash drive and copy the file you want into your notetaker's memory.
  • If you're using a notetaker but don't have a specially designed USB/flash drive, you can insert the USB/flash drive into the computer, attach the notetaker to the computer, and use a terminal program to copy the file you want into your notetaker's memory. Terminal programs you might use include Windisk, PCDisk, ActiveSync, HyperTerminal Private Edition, and Commo.
  • If you're using a Bookworm, you can put the insert the USB drive into the computer, attach the Bookworm to the computer, and use the download program that came with the Bookworm to copy the file you want into your notetaker's memory.
  • If you're using a computer with a braille display, you can insert the USB drive and open the file you want in a word processor like WordPad, Microsoft Word or WordPerfect 5.1.
  • If you're using a computer running an adaptive scanning program, you can insert the USB/flash drive and open the file you want in that program.

No. BRF is a plain braille format; the only symbols it contain are braille characters, carriage returns, and spaces. As long as your notetaker can handle braille files, you will be able to read BRF. If you are using a PAC Mate, open the file in the FS Editor, not Pocket Word.

No. BRF is in a plain braille format; the only symbols they contain are braille characters, carriage returns, and spaces. If you're using a computer with a braille display, you can open and read BRF just fine in most word processors, including WordPad, Microsoft Word, and WordPerfect for Windows or DOS. If your braille display or screen reader normally translates text on your screen into contracted braille, just remember to turn this feature off (see the next question for more details).

Yes. If you own version 6 or later of either Kurzweil 1000 or OpenBook 7, simply open the BRF file in either of these adaptive scanning programs.

Without such a program, BRF sounds garbled if you try to listen to them with a screen reader. They are written in contracted braille, not text, so your screen reader has no way of knowing, for example, that when it sees the letter "C" all by itself, it should read it as "can." If you're using a braille display, however, the file will appear on the display in contracted braille and you will be able to read it. Just be sure that if your display or screen reader has a feature that translates text into contracted braille, this feature is turned off when you read BRF. The file is already in contracted braille, so if your display tries to translate it into contracted braille, you will see gibberish.

There is no difference. Previously BRF contained some specialized formatting; they are now formatted exactly like Web-Braille books.

It depends on the book. A short book, like Who Moved My Cheese, is 70K (kilobytes), while our longest book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is over a megabyte long. Except in rare instances, no BRF volume is over 125K.

All our current titles (and many of our past ones) are available, except those that include a significant number of tactile graphics.

If you have other questions that we did not answer here, please email us, or call our customer service department at 800-548-7323, or (617) 266-6160 x 520.

Thank you for your interest in creating accessible content with National Braille Press (NBP). Read on for brief answers to some of the most frequently-asked questions on this topic.

Our business needs materials produced in braille and/or other accessible formats. Is this something NBP can do?

    Yes! Our business-to-business (B2B) division offers braille transcription, proofreading, printing, and manufacturing services for a fee. If you would like a quote for producing your materials in braille, electronic braille, large print, or tactile graphic formats, visit our "Braille Printing for Business" page or email our B2B Sales Administrator.

Our educational organization needs tests and/or textbooks produced in braille and/or other accessible formats. Is this something NBP can do?

I am a children's book author and would love to see my book published in braille. Can NBP help me?

    Our publications division serves the blind community directly by creating books in accessible formats for distribution through our bookstore. We offer books across a wide range of topic areas, and for all ages. We publish both original works (like our technology guides and innovative educational products), and we also produce accessible versions of already-published books (like our cookbooks or our print/braille versions of popular children's picture books). All books produced by the publications division are produced at no cost to the author or publisher, and are sold in our bookstore at or below the actual cost of production. Our bookstore serves blind children, adults, families, and educators all across the country and is an important resource for braille literacy, helping people build their own braille libraries one book at a time.
    Many independent authors approach us asking us to produce their children's book in braille. While we will certainly evaluate any book for possible publication, we tend to select already-popular, already-published children's books, so that blind children have access to the same books their sighted peers are reading. This means that for many such authors, our business-to-business division (see above) is the most viable option for producing their kid's books in accessible formats. Materials produced for authors by the business-to-business division are produced at the author's or publisher's own expense, for the author's or publisher's own use and/or distribution, and are not sold in our online bookstore. Alternatively, we offer a free list of independent braille transcribers that may be able to help you produce your materials for personal use.
    With all of the above in mind, if you still want the publications division to consider your picture book for publication, please send an email to editor@nbp.org with a brief description of your book.

I am a blind writer and would like to write a book with NBP. Who would I contact to discuss this further?

    We are always looking for new writers, especially blind experts in the area of technology. Please email editor@nbp.org to discuss potential book ideas.

I am a teacher of the blind and visually impaired and would like to write a book with NBP. Who would I contact to discuss this further?

    We are always looking for new writers, especially educators active in the field. Please email editor@nbp.org to discuss potential book ideas.