Abstract: A magnetic tracking aid for use with a hand held optical scanner is disclosed. It consists of a magnetic flat substrate having a hinged magnetic flap at its top edge to form a clip board configuration. An individual sheet or page of a bound volume is aligned with the top edge of flat substrate, and a magnetic strip, hinged to the top edge, is rotated onto the page to lock it into the aligned position. A second magnetic strip is used to keep the aligned page locked into position when the first strip is raised to enable scanning of the top portion of the page. Alternate rows of north and south pole lines are formed on the flat substrate. A small sheet magnet is adhered to the bottom of the scanner which has identical rows of north and south pole lines so that the opposite poles are attracted to those on the flat substrate to assist in maintaining the orientation of the scanner while it is being moved by a blind user to scan a swath of printed text.