General information

Oxford Reading Buddy is compatible with the most commonly used hardware (i.e. desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile devices) but, in common with other digital products used in schools, it doesn’t work on everything and you should check this information before purchase.

If you are using non-standard operating systems you will not be able to use the service. Examples of such devices include LearnPads.

Oxford Reading Buddy books are not formatted to work on eReaders such as Kindle and Kobo.

Oxford Reading Buddy works on the Kindle Fire but it is not fully optimised for this device so you may not get the best possible experience.

Desktop computers, laptops and notebooks

Most PCs, laptops and notebooks (such as Chromebooks) will meet the minimum specification requirements to run Oxford Reading Buddy. However, please note the following requirements:

Internet speed

Recommended: Minimum 10 Mb per second.

Operating system

If you are using Windows, you will require Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 or a later version of Windows.

If you are using a Mac (Apple) computer, you will require OS X 10.11 or above.

If you are using a Chromebook, you will require OS 79 or OS 80 of Chrome OS.

Please note that in order to use Oxford Reading Buddy on your computer, you will need to access it via a supported browser  using the URL www.oxfordreadingbuddy.com. To learn more about which browsers are supported, please click on the ‘Supported browser’ tab.

Tablets and mobile

Oxford Reading Buddy works on the tablet and mobile devices below.

iPhone

iPhone 5s (released 2013)
iPhone SE (released 2016)
iPhone 6 and higher (released 2014)

iPad

iPad 5th generation and higher (released 2017)
iPad mini 2 and higher (released 2013)
iPad Air and higher (released 2013)

Please ensure that you have installed iOS 11 or above on your iPad or iPhone. iOS is the operating system on your device. You can see which version you have by opening Settings on your device and navigating to General > About. The number displayed next to Version will tell you which operating system you have.

Android devices

Any Android devices with Android 4 or above installed.

For Android devices, you can view which operating system you have by opening Settings and navigating to About Phone > Software Info. The operating system will be displayed beneath the heading Android version.

Amazon Kindle Fire

Oxford Reading Buddy works on the Kindle Fire but it is not currently fully optimised for this device. Therefore, it’s possible that you may not get the best user experience.

 
Unsure how to check this on your device? Download our technical guide.

Supported browsers

Oxford Reading Buddy works best on the most widely used browsers – see below for details. We will always support the latest two versions of these browsers. Updates tend to happen automatically when a device is connected to the internet. If not, the latest version can be downloaded from the internet. Please note, Oxford Reading Buddy does not support incognito mode.

Windows

Edge
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox

Apple OS

Safari

Linux

Firefox
Google Chrome

iOS

Safari
Google Chrome

Android

Google Chrome
Firefox

Unsure how to check this on your device? Download our technical guide.

Internet filtering

To avoid issues like this, you can add the Oxford Reading Buddy domains and URLs to your school’s web filtering software to exclude them from the filtering process. The list of domains to allowlist are below. If the problem persists, please contact your web filtering provider to ensure that the settings are applied correctly.

• oxfordreadingbuddy.com
• cdn-prod.oxfordreadingbuddy.com
• https://oup-orb-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/buddies
• https://www.google-analytics.com
• https://www.googletagmanager.com
• https://bam.nr-data.net
• https://js-agent.newrelic.com
• https://www.oupereader.com/
• https://uncompressed.oupereader.com/
• https://account.oup.com
• https://id.oup.com/

Accessibility statement

To help achieve our objective of excellence in research, scholarship and education and as part of our commitment to serving our customers and users, Oxford University Press is striving to make its products accessible to and inclusive of all our users, including those with visual, hearing, cognitive, or motor impairments.

In line with these goals, we follow the general principles of web usability and universal design and, where feasible, endeavour to make Oxford Reading Buddy accessible to all regardless of physical or cognitive impairment or the device used. We are currently targeting adherence to level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1), in order to help our users take full advantage of the accessibility features provided by their chosen device, web browser or operating system.

A programme of improvement

Oxford Education complies with applicable law relating to accessibility (including with the obligations under The Equality Act 2010).

We are however making ongoing improvements, and to accomplish these, we have a committed investment and development programme to deliver improved accessibility compliance over the coming months and beyond.

Areas currently identified for improvement include:

• Improving colour contrast in the Teacher areas of the site
• Provide improved labels and groupings for radio buttons in quizzes
• Improve the way some elements on the page are read by a screen reade

Since commencing this programme we have delivered the following improvements:

• Introduced the ability to turn off Buddy animations that distract some users
• Improved the ability to navigate the site when using Tab
• Improved the colour contrast

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please provide your name and email address. If you cannot view the information on our ‘contact us’ page, please call +44 (0)1536 452 610 or email us at support@oxfordreadingbuddy.com for assistance.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact support@oxfordreadingbuddy.com.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).