Better Access to Content in Classrooms and Beyond


Students with print disabilities have difficulty accessing printed books and learning materials. Collaborative efforts have helped to improve traditional textbook accessibility, but there is still a lot of work ahead.

With the advent of digital publishing epublications can now provide access to information for students who were not able to access course materials previously. Adaptive reading systems enable a rich reading experience for them.

Digital-First Learning Materials

The widest adoption of the EPUB 3 format is in the educational publishing space. EPUB 3 offers the most opportunity for mainstream accessible publishing and the free open source EPUB checking tool Ace by DAISY has been developed to assist content providers in their efforts to provide accessible learning content. By developing learning materials that include mainstream accessibility you will greatly decrease the cost of specialist instructional materials and offer access to learning at the same time, the same price and in the same format

Guidance

Recently published, A Practical Guide for Using EPUB in K-12 Teaching and Learning, provides a detailed overview and recommendations for adapting materials in EPUB format for students at all levels. These guidelines provide a basic understanding of EPUB and how this format can benefit learners.

Further reading:

What about Legal Requirements?

Colleges and universities are required to ensure equal access to educational benefits and opportunities. All members of the campus communities are encouraged to follow best practices and accessibility standards. In doing so, they ensure that their content can be viewed by all.  Review legal obligations for accessibility on campus.

Accessible Publishing Support (W)

In our series of free weekly webinars September 28th saw a session focused on Accessible Publishing Support which gave a round-up of training, tools and […]

WIPO’s Accessible Books Consortium Launches Accessibility Training Courses for Publishers

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) has recently launched an accessible publishing concept course for publishers to assist them in their accessibility journey. This course, […]

Accessible Publishing: The Fundamentals (W)

September 14th 2022 saw the first in a new season of free DAISY webinars with a session focused on Accessible Publishing: The Fundamentals. Accessible […]

Nomination Deadline Extended – International Excellence Awards for Accessible Publishing 2022

The WIPO Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award 2022 is open for nominations. As in previous years, there are two categories for the awards, […]

What’s Next For Digital Publishing?

EPUB 3.3 is nearing publication and, as such, is mostly fixed in what it will contain. It remains the most accessible publishing option for […]