Listen to literature

In many of our databases there is a option to use the listening function for reading e-books or articles. This can be found as e.g. a headphone symbol in the database.

You can use a screen reader program that reads the text on your screen. As a student or staff, you can download Tortalk for free.

If you have a talking books account in Legimus you can use the reading programs EasyReader or Thorium that you can link to you Legimus account. Download it free of charge on the Legimus website.

Thorium can read e-books in E-PUB and DAISY (not PDF) formats. In the software you can adjust the appearance and reading speed, as well as add notes, underlines and bookmarks. If you have borrowed encrypted books from Legimus, you will need to enter your password to be able to read them.

If you're using Windows, you can use the Speak Aloud feature in the Edge browser, or have text read aloud in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

You can also use various AI services to have the text read aloud, e.g. Google Translate, but keep in mind that there may be copyright restrictions on what you are allowed to copy.

Talking book account at Legimus for those with disabilities

If you have difficulty reading printed text, you can request access to Legimus. Having a disability does not in itself entitle you to an account in Legimus. There must be a connection between the impairment and the difficulty of reading.

You must be registered and admitted to a course at University West to get a Legimus account.

Before you apply, read up on who is entitled to a talking book account on legimus.se (in Swedish).

How to apply

After you have submitted your application, we will contact you via your student email. We will schedule an application interview, during which library staff will gather information for your Legimus application. The Swedish Agency for Accessible Media (MTM) will then decide whether you are eligible for an account and notify you by email. Read more about the application process on legimus.se (in Swedish).

After the application interview, you will receive a temporary account in Legimus with access to a few freely available titles. The library staff will show you how to use Legimus and other reading programmes.

Is the book not in Legimus?

You can you can request to have a book produced as a talking book if you you cannot find it when you search in Legimus. The book you order should be:

• Compulsory course literature in a course or programme to which you have been admitted.
• Of the same edition as it is in your literature list.

It takes at least 8 weeks to produce a talking book, so look up your course literature well in advance! If the course has already started, it is usually not possible to order the book.

Books may be removed from Legimus 

MTM has decided that, as of June 1, 2026, they will no longer produce talking books of course literature if libraries are able to purchase the book as an e-book.

Books that have already been recorded and are available via Legimus will also be removed when they become available for purchase as e-books.

If you have previously read your course literature in Legimus, you may need to use several different e-book platforms. Accessibility features such as text-to-speech, fonts, text size, etc., will be available in different ways depending on the platform. There may also be varying rules for e-books regarding, for example, how many people can read the book at the same time, download options, and settings.

If you have needs that cannot be met by e-books, you can continue to receive support from MTM. In that case, you need to apply to MTM for accessible adapted literature. They make individual decisions regarding access via Legimus.