A free reading service for the blind and low-vision community
What is Read This To Me.org?
It is a free service for blind people. After you fax a document to ReadThisToMe, one of
our volunteer readers will call you and read that document to you. The document can be anything
that you need read: a bill or letter, a mystery can of food in your pantry, anything that
can be faxed.
How can this be free?
Volunteer readers donate their time to make calls. The software that runs the show in
the background is built and maintained by Savetz Publishing, Inc.
as a public service. Other businesses are invited to sponsor the site to help pay for the phone lines and
administrative costs.
Who can use it?
Anyone who is blind or low-vision, in the United States or Canada, may use the service. It may also be useful to
people with dyslexia and other reading disabilities. You will need a phone line and a fax machine.
How do I start?
You'll need a phone line with a fax machine hooked to it. Simply send a fax to
1-877-333-8848 with the document to be read.
This is important: the first page of the fax needs to be a cover page on
which is written your name (first name only is fine) and the phone
number that the reader can call you back on. It can be the same phone
line that the fax machine is connected to — just make sure the automatic
answer function of the fax machine is turned off.
I can't see well enough to know which side of a document to fax...?
You can fax both sides. Multi-page faxes are fine.
Can I have a whole book read?
We don't recommend faxing more than 5 or 10 pages at a time.
Few readers may have time to read a whole opus in one stretch.
A lenghty document can be broken into several faxes over a period of time.
How long after I fax the document will I get a callback from a reader?
That depends on the number of readers available at the time, and the volume of
documents to be read. That said, it is our hope that most callbacks will be made
within an hour or two of receiving the fax.
Readers only make calls from 8AM through 9PM. An exception to this is the one-hour rule: if we can call you back within one hour of receiving your fax, we will, no matter what time it is. (So if you fax in a document at 3AM, and a volunteer reader happens to be available, he or she may call you by 4AM. Otherwise we won't call until 8AM rolls around.)
What is your privacy policy?
Savetz Publishing will not share your name, phone number, or the
contents of your faxes with anyone except volunteer readers unless demanded
by law enforcement authorities or court order.
In addition, volunteer readers are reminded to keep information confidential.
That said, we cannot guarantee the privacy of information faxed to ReadThisToMe.
Therefore we recommend that you do not send documents that may contain
confidential information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers,
etc.
Can I be a volunteer reader?
ReadThisToMe does not need new readers at this time.
Can I donate money to help?
Yes. Although the service is free, it costs money to operate the phone lines and
servers, hire programmers, and so on. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated.
Click this link to contribute:
I have a question that isn't answered here...?
You can e-mail your question to send e-mail to info at readthistome.org.
Media questions/Press interviews
Contact Kevin Savetz, creator of ReadThisToMe, here.