SBP — Smart Book Player
A free, accessibility-first audiobook player for Windows — entirely keyboard-driven and built for NVDA and JAWS users.
Not sure which to pick? The installer sets SBP up for everyone on the computer and adds Start Menu and desktop shortcuts. The portable version is a folder you can run from anywhere — including a USB drive — without installing. You can also browse all releases on GitHub.
What is SBP?
SBP (Smart Book Player) is an audiobook player designed from the ground up for people who are blind or visually impaired. Every control is reachable from the keyboard, and every change — play, pause, volume, speed, chapter, bookmark — is spoken aloud through your screen reader, with the same information printed on screen as a fallback. There are no on-screen buttons to hunt for and no mouse required.
It runs completely on its own. There is no VLC, ffmpeg, or other software to install alongside it, and it never needs an internet connection to play your books.
Features
- Fully keyboard-driven — designed and tested with NVDA and JAWS. Press F1 in the player for the complete shortcut list.
- Spoken announcements for every action, so you always know what is happening.
- Resume where you left off — your position in every book is saved automatically.
- Chapters — jump between chapters, open a full chapter list, or announce the current chapter and time remaining.
- Bookmarks you can name, jump to, and export to a file to back up or share.
- Adjustable volume, speed, and pitch, each set independently, plus an optional equalizer that can make voices easier to hear.
- Single-file or folder audiobooks — each file in a folder becomes a chapter automatically.
- Built-in update check — SBP can tell you when a new version is available and download it for you.
- Your data stays private — settings, bookmarks, and listening positions are kept on your own computer.
Supported formats
SBP plays M4B, M4A, MP3, OGG, FLAC, WAV, OPUS, and AAC files. Both single-file audiobooks and folder-based audiobooks (one file per chapter) are supported. DRM-protected files are not supported.
System requirements
- Windows 10 or Windows 11
- A screen reader such as NVDA or JAWS is recommended, but not required — SBP also prints every announcement on screen.
- About 150 MB of free disk space.
Installing
SBP is not yet digitally signed, so the first time you run the installer Windows may show a blue “Windows protected your PC” message that says the publisher is unknown. This is expected and does not mean the file is unsafe. To continue, choose More info, then Run anyway. The warning usually stops appearing once enough people have downloaded the same version.
Upgrading keeps all of your settings, bookmarks, and listening positions. Uninstalling leaves them in place too, so nothing is lost if you reinstall later.
Documentation & support
A full user guide is included with every download (open docks/readme.html
in the SBP folder). If you run into a problem or have a suggestion, email
adelspence2004@gmail.com.