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AMIS FAQ

General Questions about AMIS

1. Does AMIS run on Linux or Mac?
2. Can AMIS play books over the internet?
3. Will AMIS play Learning Ally / NLS / Bookshare books?
4. Does AMIS support books with Math?
5. Can AMIS play HTML, MP3, or plain text files?
6. I'm a programmer and I want to learn about AMIS. Where should I start?

AMIS Installation

7. How do I perform an unattended/silent installation of AMIS?
8. Can AMIS run without being installed?

AMIS Language Support

9. Can AMIS read books in my language?
10. I want to translate AMIS. How can I get started?
11. Is AMIS available in my language?
12. Can the installer also be translated?

AMIS Accessibility

13. Will my screenreader work with AMIS?

AMIS Troubleshooting

14. AMIS is crashing, what should I do?
15. Why is the main text content window blank?
16. Other issues?



  1. Does AMIS run on Linux or Mac?

    No, AMIS only runs on Windows.

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  2. Can AMIS play books over the internet?

    Yes, although it doesn't stream the books, it just downloads the data necessary to play each portion. Go to File, Open URL and enter the address of your book's NCC or OPF file. e.g.

    http://example.com/book/ncc.html

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  3. Will AMIS play Learning Ally / NLS / Bookshare books?

    Learning Ally (formerly RFB&D) and NLS books are copy-protected and for that reason do not work in AMIS. Bookshare.org books should work if they are formatted as valid DAISY/NISO 2005 books. Note that books formatted as DAISY/NISO 2002 are not supported in AMIS.

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  4. Does AMIS support books with Math?

    No; however AMIS supports fallback images associated with Mathematical expressions.

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  5. Can AMIS play HTML, MP3, or plain text files?

    AMIS will only play DAISY books (which comprise many files that all work together to provide text, audio, and navigation). Playback of standalone HTML, MP3, and plain text is not supported.

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  6. I'm a programmer and I want to learn about AMIS. Where should I start?

    Read how to Build AMIS from source.

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  7. How do I perform an unattended/silent installation of AMIS?

    Run the setup program with a /S option:

    C:\>Setup-amis31.exe /S

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  8. Can AMIS run without being installed?

    No, but this is such a popular feature request that it should be expected in a future revision.

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  9. Can AMIS read books in my language?

    AMIS supports books in almost any language. The book must have been created using supported encodings. Right now, this includes UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, and (of course) ASCII. No matter what language AMIS itself is set to use in its user interface (buttons, dialogs, menus, etc), it can read books in almost any language.

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  10. Is AMIS available in my language?

    All of the menu items, dialog boxes, buttons, spoken prompts, and help contents in AMIS can be translated. A complete translation is bundled as a language pack add-on and is distributed on our website. There is a growing collection of language packs for AMIS. Please check our languages download page for a current list.

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  11. I want to translate AMIS. How can I get started?

    We really depend on volunteer contributions to create and maintain our translations of AMIS. Email us to volunteer as a translator.

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  12. Can the installer also be translated?

    Yes, translating the text of the installer is possible (and easiest if the target language is included by default in NSIS). Note that the installer contains no audio.

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  13. Will my screenreader work with AMIS?

    • Jaws for Windows: AMIS comes with Jaws scripts. You can also download them separately.
    • HAL and Supernova: Run an update of Hal/Supernova while connected to the internet to get the map file for AMIS support
    • Window Eyes: Users report that AMIS is compatible. More details about the user experience as we collect feedback.
    • NVDA: AMIS is compatible; however, switching between AMIS playback and text reading mode is not supported.

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  14. AMIS is crashing, what should I do?

    Please follow these Troubleshooting instructions.

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  15. Why is the main text content window blank?

    There are several possible reasons.

    • There is no text content in your book
    • The text references are broken. Validate your book with one of our validation tools

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  16. Other issues?

    Although slightly technical, you might find your issue addressed in our list of known Limitations.

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