Binding Documents to Lie Flat

Printed documentation can be bound in a large number of different ways, but comb and spiral bindings are generally considered the most accessible because they allow a document to lie flat. These types of bindings are useful for people with motion or visual impairments; for example, a person who is quadriplegic may lie the book flat and turn the pages with a pencil, a person who is blind may run it through a flatbed scanner to use optical-character recognition for conversion to an online format, and a person with low vision might use a closed-caption television system to enlarge the pages. Flat bindings are also preferred by people who want to be able to type while reading.

Generally, the choice of binding is made on a purely economic basis. Often a method such as perfect (glue) binding is considerably cheaper than other alternatives, but it is not particularly convenient for users with disabilities.