Announcing the Launch of “Inclusive Publishing and the Quest for Reading Equity”
Accessibility expert and friend of Inclusive Publishing Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya has just published Inclusive Publishing and the Quest for Reading Equity giving us a new perspective on where we’ve come from and where we are going. She says:
My journey toward inclusive publishing initially began as an effort to implement industry best practices in digital book production at a small publishing house. Through years of professional experience, I have observed firsthand the complex landscape of “born-accessible” publishing, witnessing both the obstacles that continue to impede progress and the opportunities that emerge when accessibility is prioritised from the outset.
The publishing industry stands at a critical juncture. We have the technological capabilities, the knowledge base, and the ethical imperative (and in the European Union, a legal imperative) to create truly inclusive publishing practices. What we need now is the collective will to implement these capabilities systematically and sustainably across the industry globally.
The book, which emerged from the desire to understand the broader context of accessibility implementation, intends not only to inform but to inspire action – to provide the tools, frameworks, and motivation necessary to transform publishing from an industry that inadvertently excludes to one that intentionally includes. This transformation requires both individual commitment and systemic change, both immediate action and long-term strategic thinking.
The ultimate vision is of a publishing ecosystem where accessibility is so thoroughly integrated into standard practices that it becomes invisible – not because it’s ignored, but because it’s seamlessly woven into every aspect of how we create, produce, and distribute books. In this future, the question won’t be whether we can afford to make books accessible, but rather how we ever operated without these essential practices that serve to strengthen and expand the impact of everything we publish.
Inclusive Publishing’s Sarah Hilderley was pleased to be part of the review team for this excellent new book which eis free to access online till August 11th at https://lnkd.in/gud22GEj
Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya is senior lecturer and Degree Director of the Master of Publishing in the Discipline of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney. Her research examines how technological innovation and power dynamics shape the publishing industry, particularly their impact on equitable access to literature and knowledge. She is also president of the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disability and co-editor of Publishing Research Quarterly. She is co-author of Books without barriers: a practical guide to inclusive publishing (2023), and author of Inclusive publishing and the quest for reading equity (2025).