The Library of Lodz University of Technology has tools to assist people with disabilities. These include:
- electronic enlargers,
- voiceover equipment,
- Totupoint system,
- induction loop.
The tools listed are described below.
ClearView+ electronic magnifiers (reading room on the ground floor and 2nd floor – behind the librarians’ desk, between shelves with 69 SIGNATURE, against the wall) allow visually impaired people to read text – magnification from 2.6 to more than 50 times.
Each unit has a movable X–Y top on which the reading material can be placed. The magnifier allows customisation of the display parameters, i.e. changing the colours responsible for black and white, negative display. ClearView+ also allows automatic focus with the possibility of locking.
SARA reading devices by Freedom Scientific (in the reading room on the ground floor) allow texts to be read by an automatic reader. They enable playback of books in Daisy format, as well as files in OBX, ARK, RTF, TXT, DOC, PDF, HTML and XML formats.
An integrated CD-RW burner allows documents scanned in OpenBook, TXT and RTF formats to be saved in CD.
A Totupoint audio marker is located above the entrance to the Library. This device makes it easier for visually impaired people to navigate the public area. The marker indicates the location of the various departments in the Library building.
The system is based on the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) wireless communication standard. This means that phones and tablets must have this connection. Apps are available for devices running IOS version 9.0 or later and Android version 5.0 or later. The apps are free of charge. They can be downloaded from the online app shops – App Store or Google Play respectively.
The Univox SmartLoop portable induction loop system is located in the Main Library's lending department. The device supports people with hearing impairments who use hearing aids and implants. The induction loop improves hearing comfort and perceived sound quality in difficult conditions such as noise and reverberation.
For the device to support hearing, it is necessary to use a suitable hearing aid (with an induction coil). Most hearing aids receive the induction loop signal. Simply switch the hearing aid to the telecoil mode and the device will send the sound directly to the hearing aid. The speaker must be within 1 m of the induction loop.