The statistics from ReadHowYouWant, a Portland, Ore., division of the Australian research & development company Objective Systems Pty Ltd., state that roughly 17% of Americans, or 16.5 million people, are visually impaired. Intending to serve that community, ReadHowYouWant is partnering with various publishers to create an array of books that feature larger print and audio add-ons.

The company, which retails titles through its Web site, www.readhowyouwant.com, has signed agreements with approximately 20 publishing partners, among them John Wiley, Career Press, Rosen Publishing, New World Library and Beyond Words. Consumers who go to the site can choose from a variety of font sizes and orders are sent through Amazon's print-on-demand subsidiary, BookSurge, which ships the printed copy to the buyer's home. Prices depend on book length and font size.

Currently featuring titles in a wider range of large-print options than usually available—director of public relations Maureen Watts said the large-print standard is 11 to 13 point and ReadHowYouWant font sizes range from 16 to 24 point—the company is soon going to roll out a variety of other formats. Among the new formats will be download-ready files in DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System), a technology that, with free software, allows readers to quickly sync highlighted blocks of text to a matching voice recording of a book. ReadHowYouWant will also be selling print-ready Braille formats (which readers would run off of their own specialized printers) and standard audio titles.

ReadHowYouWant converts publishers' files for free in exchange for a 50/50 revenue split on sales. Users can search the ReadHowYouWant site—which the company is publicizing through ads and at various industry events—in myriad ways including by format, title and category.