The Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) has partnered with creative agency Innocean Berlin on the release of a new app designed to improve access to audiobooks for visually impaired children.

Bedtime Donations, which is available to download now on the App Store and Google Play, captures the voices of parents and caretakers as they read bedtime stories, and transforms them into audiobooks that children all around the world can listen to.

In order to do this, the app provides a curated list of stories that users can choose to read aloud. Whilst reading, their voices are recorded in-app and, after passing internal quality checks, are turned into free audiobooks with the help of AI.

“The app is designed to make reading and listening as smooth as possible,” notes Jens Brater, managing director and lead developer of digital agency BuzzWoo, which supported the project. “AI-powered voice cleaning removes background noise for a clearer, more enjoyable experience. Features like coverage scoring and built-in guardrails ensure the narration stays true to the original text, promoting better reading engagement.”

Crucially, not only parental figures can contribute their voices to the project – RSBC and Innocean Berlin have encouraged other volunteers and various celebrities to read stories and create their own audiobooks for the platform. So far, actors, comedians and TV personalities such as Jon Richardson, Ralf Little, Jon Culshaw and Mathew Baynton have joined the efforts.

Where the app and website design is concerned, inclusivity was key, with Innocean Berlin collaborating with experts during the process to ensure that the colours and fonts were as accessible as possible. These now meet WCAG Level AAA standards, and maintain a minimum contrast ratio of 7:1 for optimal visibility.

Speaking on the project, Gabriel Mattar, CCO of Innocean Berlin says: “Bedtime Donations is a powerful platform that takes an important step towards making stories more accessible to children with vision impairment and their families, through sheer dedication, latest technology and inclusive design.”

Credits:
Agency: Innocean Berlin
European CCO: Gabriel Mattar
ECD: Ricardo Wolff
Creative Directors: Jose Suaid, Sebastian Pattis
Art Director: Fran Misetic
Senior Designer: Elise Chastel
Copywriters: Ana Zuric, Divya Mirlay
Senior Motion Graphic Designers: Julia Sachse, Alexander Aleksidze
Conceptors: Daniel Manzi, Pedro Paes
Web Designer: Vladimir Osokin
App Development Company: Buzzwoo