Not all textbooks are printed in braille. That is quite an understatement. The challenges the visually challenged meet go beyond the state of their sight.

The completion of a new braille code for the International Phonetic Alphabet was a breakthrough. Many teachers have been awaiting it for years, and their students as well!
Some people said that it made learning braille more difficult, but it is not true. Students that are not visually impaired have to learn the phonetic alphabet as well. In this respect the blind are not at a disadvantage, which is quite rare.

Nonetheless, the cost to fabricate embossed documents, with or without phonetic signs, means high prices, and that limits the access to knowledge for many blind students.
Unlike printed textbooks or embossed ones, audiobooks can be used by both blind and sighted persons. But usual audio books have a major drawback for language learners: they are meant for people who already know the language they are listening to.
To be able to follow a story told in a foreign language, you have to know at least the basics.

Bilingual talking books prove to be superior when it comes to learning languages. The translation prevents you from being overwhelmed with a flood of incomprehensible sentences.
If you have never heard a simultaneous translation, like the audio description in which a movie is described through audio technology, you may find a bilingual recording somewhat strange. But it is no more than a matter of habit. After the first two or three sentences, you recognize the voices -to say nothing of the languages.
http://multilingualbookstore.com provides the blind and the visually impaired with bilingual audiobooks.

Related:

http://snipsly.com/2010/04/01/learning-a-foreign-language-with-bilingual-audiobooks/