Kitob Plus — Uzbekistan's First Screen-Reader-Native Audiobook App, Built by Blind Developers

Uzbekistan's blind and low-vision community had few usable digital reading options: existing audiobook and e-book platforms such as Asaxiy, Audionoma and UzBook were reported as largely inaccessible to screen readers, cluttered with advertising, and lacking built-in text-to-speech support.

In 2023, Sharoit Plus (the Public Association of Disabled People of Tashkent), led by blind activists Abdulaziz Salimov and Mirali G'iyosov, partnered with the Tashkent City Centre for Blind Youth to build Kitob Plus, a free iOS and Android audiobook app designed to work natively with screen readers. The project also produced the first Uzbek-language voice for the open-source RHVoice text-to-speech engine, launched in June 2023.

The Kitob Plus build (13 July–13 November 2023) was funded by a 232,608,116.88 UZS (approximately $20,000) grant from Uzbekistan's Agency for Youth Affairs, with stated targets of at least 500 hosted audiobooks, 105 newly recorded Uzbek-language titles, and 300 processed radio plays. The app was publicly presented in Tashkent on 30 November 2023.

No source publicly reports post-launch usage data — downloads, active listeners, or the catalogue size actually reached against the stated targets. Available accounts read mainly as launch announcements rather than an independent evaluation, and it is unclear how many blind or low-vision users beyond the two lead developers were formally involved in structured usability testing.

Read the full analysis: https://sharoitplus.uz/en/kitobplus-developing-an-online-library-for-people-with-visual-impairments-in-uzbekistan/