United Kingdom · Editorial · Books & Culture

A book that announces itself on the shelf — Blind Not Broken with NaviLens.

Blind Not Broken (Lucy Edwards, Hamlyn / Hachette UK) adds NaviLens to the book's accessibility ecosystem — alongside the RNIB braille edition and the audiobook. The code lets blind and partially sighted people detect the book in a bookshop, hear title, author, blurb and ISBN, and decide whether to take it home — no help needed.

Cover of Lucy Edwards' Blind Not Broken with an accessible NaviLens code.

Among first: Trade books with NaviLens on the cover
40: Languages supported by NaviLens read-out
Braille + audio: RNIB braille edition and audiobook also available
2 M+: People living with sight loss in the UK

Hamlyn · Hachette UK · Lucy Edwards

Lucy Edwards is a broadcaster, journalist and disability activist. She lost her sight at 17 to a rare genetic condition (incontinentia pigmenti) and has built a community of millions on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. She is a long-time ambassador for NaviLens and RNIB.

Blind Not Broken is her memoir and self-help guide, published by Hamlyn (an Octopus Publishing Group imprint, Hachette UK). Hachette UK runs an active accessible-publishing strategy and RNIB distributes a braille edition in its official shop.

01
Finding a book while blind
In a bookshop or on a shelf, a blind person can't read the spine, tell one book from the next or decide whether to buy it. Asking a bookseller breaks the intimacy of choosing a book.
02
Braille and audio aren't enough on their own
Braille and audiobooks are essential — but the blind reader still depends on someone guiding them to the title. There's a missing layer to recognise the physical book on shelf.
03
Coherence with the book's message
Blind Not Broken is about turning loss into purpose and autonomy. The cover had to live up to it — picking up the book had to be accessible from the first touch.

The NaviLens code is part of the cover design. A blind or partially sighted person can detect it from the bookshop entrance with the free NaviLens / NaviLens GO apps — up to 12 times further than a QR, at angles of 160°, in 1/30 of a second and with no focusing required.

On scan, they hear title, author, publisher, blurb and ISBN in their language — up to 40 — and can decide to buy it, order the RNIB braille edition or download the audiobook. The initiative closes the loop: braille + audio + NaviLens on cover = a book fully accessible from the shelf.

“People are often shocked when I say going blind was the best thing that ever happened to me, but it's true. I am more empowered today than I ever have been — and I want my book to be accessible from the cover for anyone who picks it up in a bookshop.”

Lucy Edwards · British Vogue · Essay in British Vogue
British Vogue ↗

2022
Lucy Edwards & NaviLens · viral moment
Lucy Edwards' video scanning a Kellogg's Coco Pops box with NaviLens — "the first time in 9 years I could pick my own cereal" — racks up millions of views and makes NaviLens a symbol of independence for blind people.
2023
Hamlyn acquires Blind Not Broken
Hamlyn (Octopus Publishing Group, Hachette UK) announces the acquisition of Blind Not Broken — Lucy Edwards' memoir and self-help guide on sight loss.
2024
Accessible launch · braille, audio and NaviLens
Blind Not Broken is published as a trade edition with a NaviLens code on the cover, a braille edition distributed through the RNIB shop, and an audiobook narrated by Lucy herself.