Blindness. Legal blindness past 20/200 with correction, or total blindness.

Low vision. Readers of large print books and magazines are also eligible to receive Talking Books.

Inability to hold a book and turn its pages. This includes arthritis, a broken arm, stroke, allergies to ink, ongoing dialysis or cancer treatment, and other medical conditions such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy or myasthenia gravis.

Reading disabilities due to an organic dysfunction. These can include conditions such as dyslexia and attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder. A medical doctor (M.D.) or a doctor of osteopathy (D.O.) must certify an organic reading disability. Additional information on reading disability qualifiers is available on the NLS website.

The disability qualifying a reader for service may be permanent or temporary. Examples of this can include a short-term medication regimen that blurs eyesight or eye surgery that interrupts vision for a brief period of time.