Tag Archive for: accessibility

Fondazione LIA and the Italian Blind and Partially Sighted Union Join Forces

Logo for the LIA FoundationAfter many years of fruitful collaboration, Fondazione LIA – Libri Italiani Accessibili (Accessible Italian Books) and the Italian Blind and Partially Sighted Union have decided to strengthen their partnership with the UICI becoming an institutional participant of the Italian LIA Foundation which promotes book and reading through research on digital accessibility, awareness-raising events, training courses and consultancy activities.

This represents a further step forward for Fondazione LIA, which was started in 2011 as a project carried out by AIE, the trade association of Italian Publishers, and later became a Foundation in 2014. Since the beginning, LIA was conceived to increase access to publishing for the almost two million visually impaired people living in Italy. In fact, its main goal was to create a national catalogue of accessible e-books – an initiative made possible thanks to funding from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism for the development of the LIA digital platform. The catalogue has grown even since and today it features more than 20 thousand accessible digital e-books available on the website www.libriitalianiaccessibili.it, and more than 400 titles, mainly new ones,  are added every month.

LIA shows that if associations representing people with disabilities, publishers and institutions work together, actions and results can be much more effective. Technologies today offer opportunities that were unthinkable to us even a few years ago. It would be a shame not to catch them.

For full details of this important announcement read the recent edition of the DAISY Planet Newsletter published on April 4th 2018.

Diversify Your Editorial Offerings: All About Ebooks for Editors

September 26th, 2018

Kevin Callahan of BNGO Books (www.BNGObooks.com) is an ebook developer, writer and speaker based in New York City. He will be presenting 4 one hour sessions on ebooks for editors with a specific focus on accessibility via The Editorial Freelancer Association . Full information can be found at the EFA website including details on how to register. The first session is on September 26th, 2018

Making Accessible Ebooks Webinar

April 25th, 2018

Kevin Callahan of BNGO Books (www.BNGObooks.com) is an ebook developer, writer and speaker based in New York City. He will be presenting this webinar on creating accessible ebooks via The Editorial Freelancer Association.

This webinar will address:

  • laws governing ebook accessibility
  • editorial influence on book structure
  • the nitty-gritty of grammar and language choices (an italic word is not always italic!)
  • the editor’s role in art selection, captions, and descriptive text
  • how not to use colour to signify meaning
  • how to build robust ebook navigation: there’s more than one table of contents

Full information can be found at the EFA website including details on how to register.

All About Ebooks – 4 Week Webinar Series

April 19th, 2018
Kevin Callahan of BNGO Books (www.BNGObooks.com) is an ebook developer, writer and speaker based in New York City. He will be presenting 4 one hour sessions on accessible ebooks via The Editorial Freelancer Association. Full information can be found at the EFA website including details on how to register. The first session is on April 19th, 2018

Inspiring Words from Industry Leaders: Interview with Bradley Metrock, Digital Book World

Bradley Metrok, CEO of Score Publishing and producer of the Digital Book World conference. Bradley is the subject of this interviewInclusive Publishing has embarked on a series of interviews with industry leaders and their approach to accessibility. Bradley Metrock CEO of Score Publishing and Producer of Digital Book World , is committed to helping people become better interactive content creators – accessibility is at the heart of this.

It’s great that we’re collectively prioritizing accessibility in the way that we are.

Why is inclusive publishing important to your organization?

Digital Book World exists to bring together the wide world of publishing – we can’t accomplish that without understanding inclusive publishing and integrating as much of the great work going on to make content more accessible into the Digital Book World program as we can.

Why is it crucial for DBW to be so closely aligned with accessibility best practices?

Digital Book World lost relevance in the last couple of years for a variety of reasons. To restore the conference to “The Super Bowl of Publishing”, as one outlet called it, we need everyone represented. We can’t do that without accessibility being a big part of the equation.

What do you think will be the biggest game-changer for inclusive publishing in the next few years? 

Voice technology, more properly referred to as “voice-first-technology,” such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, and many others, is the next frontier for accessibility in publishing. Voice assistants, and even primitive AIs, will be able to make content accessible for entire swathes of new people in ways we haven’t even thought about. But that future is very nearly here.

What do you wish you knew about accessibility 5 or 10 years ago? 

My first exposure to the importance of accessibility came when my grandmother’s vision worsened and she couldn’t read anything except large print books, which at that time were harder to find that they should’ve been. We always bought her large print books for birthdays or Christmas and she read them all. I think back to her when I see new technologies emerging that open up reading to more and more people who need assistance. It’s great that we’re collectively prioritizing accessibility in the way that we are.

Can you sum up your attitude towards inclusive publishing in one sentence?

I can sum it up in one word: essential

How would the Digital Book World accessibility awards help the shape the goals of accessible publishing?

The DBW Awards will honour worldwide achievement in publishing, including those people, books and companies doing market-leading work in accessibility. These awards will help reinforce the important idea that accessibility should be understood, celebrated and pursued. We’re excited about them.

Do you have any final thoughts on accessibility or inclusive publishing practices you would like to share? 

We’re fortunate that groups like the DAISY Consortium exist. We need groups that help galvanize understanding of accessibility best practices. We appreciate their work and are honoured to partner them at Digital Book World.

Full details regarding Digital Book World 2018 are available on our events page. Inclusive Publishing readers have been offered a 25% discount on their conference passes with the code DAISYDBW2018

Logo for the Digital Book World conference

Accessible Publishing Webinar: What You Need to Know to Get Accessibility Right

April 4th, 2018

Most publishers now realize how important it is to make their publications accessible. The question is no longer the “why,” but the “how.” This webinar, organized by Apex Covantage, is designed to show you how. Join Bill Kasdorf, noted authority on accessibility and publishing workflows, for practical advice that will get you on the right track to making your publications “born accessible.”

Date

April 4, 2018 at 2pm ET

Venue

Online

Learn More

Information is available at the Apex Covantage website including details on how to register for this free event

The European Accessibility Act: A Push for Accessible Publications

Logo for the European Disability ForumThis article was kindly submitted by Alejandro Moledo, New Technologies and Innovation Officer at the European Disability Forum.

The European Accessibility Act has the potential to make the European internal market more inclusive and accessible for 80 million persons with disabilities. In December 2015, the Commission released a proposal for a European Accessibility Act[1], which is now at its final stage of negotiations. Many aspects of the proposed Directive have been challenged by users, industry, and governments, but ebooks remain one of the items in which, thankfully, there is a broad consensus.

A Short Background

When the European Union (EU) was examined by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities one of the main recommendations from the Committee[2] was to present this EU accessibility legislation which the European Disability Forum (EDF) and its members have been strongly advocating for, for many years. Three months later, the Commission launched the long-awaited European Accessibility Act (EAA), not without some surprises too.

Firstly, the EAA is an Internal Market Directive. This means that the Commission aims at harmonizing existing and potential national legislation on accessibility by setting out common accessibility requirements for certain products and services across the EU. This will benefit companies and public agencies alike, because, once adopted, the accessibility requirements of the Directive will be further detailed in standards and technical specifications that will be easily used and followed by them. No more different accessibility standards for different countries.  Everybody wins: citizens, companies, public agencies, and governments.

Secondly, the Commission introduced exemptions in cases of a disproportionate burden to implement accessibility, or when applying accessibility constitutes a fundamental alteration of the product or service. For instance, a special telephone with a simplified use for older people will not need to comply with all the accessibility requirements for smartphones. Obviously, it will need to be proved. The body entitled to check and enforce this legislation will be the different national market surveillance authorities. These authorities will have the power to request a company, for example, to fix the accessibility of a given product if they want to place it in the European market, or to impose penalties if the problems remain unsolved.

Even though the structure and the approach of the Directive were promising, the scope of the EAA was disappointing. The proposal has a very strong component on new technologies: ebooks, computers, operating systems, self-service terminals (e.g. ATMs, check-in machine, etc.), smartphones, telephony and emergency services, TVs and audiovisual services, banking services, and ecommerce. However, it also lacks crucial products such as household appliances and the approach to transport services was very limited. More importantly, accessibility requirements for the built environment were not mandatory. What is the point of having an accessible ATM if we cannot access the bank?

Additionally, the EAA proposal did include a very important aspect within its scope: the use of accessibility requirements in public procurement and use of EU funds. Other EU acts already require to “buy accessibly”, however they do not explain how to do it. The EAA details the requirements to achieve this and to ensure that taxpayers money will not be spent anymore on inaccessible products, services and facilities that discriminate persons with disabilities. Even industry organizations agree with us on the importance of including public procurement in the EAA[3].

For example, let’s imagine that a public authority wants to publish an ebook. When drafting the technical specifications of the tender, the accessibility requirements for ebooks, or the relevant standards that comply with those requirements, will need to be included in the call. Therefore, in order to be considered as an eligible bidder, the interested publishers will have to prove that they will publish an ebook that is accessible.

What Happened with the Proposal?

Once the proposal was presented by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council (representing EU Member States) began to propose changes to it, and the work of accessibility advocates has not been easy. Surprisingly, the European Parliament, which is often very supportive of the positions of civil society organizations, did not have a positive approach at the beginning. We did our utmost[4] to switch its initial position. The final report of the Parliament[5], voted in September 2017, does include some improvements, but also some deteriorations. On the positive side, the Parliament supports the inclusion of accessibility requirements for public procurement and EU funds, and proposes mandatory requirements for the built environment for the provision of certain services in some circumstances. It also broadens the scope of transport services to cover urban modes of transport as well, and adds accommodation services. However, it fully exempts all microenterprises, and excludes audiovisual content from the Act.

In parallel, EU Member States agreed on December 2017 on a common position[6] which does also contain some pro’s and con’s. The Council text excludes completely public procurement and EU funds from the Act, as well as any reference to the built environment. It does exempt microenterprises, but only those providing services, hence ensuring the importers and distributors will need to check whether a product complies with accessibility. Furthermore, regarding emergency services, Member States do not want to include requirements for the emergency centers – making accessible emerging communication impracticable. Nevertheless, the accessibility requirements proposed by the Council are more robust and comprehensive than the Parliament, which proposed requirements which were in some cases very vague or simply examples.

Having these two positions ready, the inter-institutional negotiations, known in Brussels as “trilogues” (Commission, Parliament and Council) started on March 5, and both the Parliament and the Council seem confident that, despite the difficult discussions ahead, the EAA might be adopted in 2018. For disability organizations getting the Act adopted this year is of high importance, as next year the EU will hold its elections and we do not want to miss the political momentum. Having said that, people with disabilities will not want just any Accessibility Act, and we keep advocating for a meaningful and ambitious Directive that truly makes a change in the everyday life of Europeans with disabilities.

And What About ebooks?

During the negotiations in the Parliament, EDF and the Federation of European Publishers jointly sent a letter to the Member of the European Parliament responsible for this file calling for the inclusion of two important aspects for the provision of accessible ebooks: the inclusion in the scope of the ereaders (both hardware and software), as well as the metadata on the accessibility of ebooks. These proposals were taken up by both the Parliament and the Council, and we can say that there are not big changes in their approach to these requirements. This means that there is almost certainty that these two aspects will be in the final text.

Both institutions do propose to add ereaders in the scope of the Directive. The ereaders will then have to comply with the general accessibility requirements for Information and Communication Technologies, including their user interface. Additionally, the ebook providers will also need to inform the users about the functioning of the service and its accessibility characteristics (i.e. the above-mentioned metadata). They will also have to design their websites and mobile applications in an accessible manner and provide information about complementarities with assistive technologies (e.g. screen readers, Braille displays, coupling with hearing technologies, etc.).

Finally, when it comes to the accessibility requirements of the ebooks themselves, the amendments introduced by the EU co-legislations clearly point at the characteristics of the EPUB 3 standard, which already incorporates accessibility guidelines. Thus, the proposed requirements in the Directive talk about access and navigation throughout the content, dynamic layouts, flexibility and choice in the presentation of content, prohibition of preventing assistive technologies to work properly and, among others, it also ensures that Digital Rights Management measures do not block accessibility measures.

All in all, it seems that legislators, users and the industry agree on adopting a European Directive that truly underpins the efforts to make publishing more inclusive and accessible. Despite the potential (and yet not decided) exclusion of microenterprises delivering services, including therefore ebooks, which will especially affect small publishers, the EAA can definitely have an impact in boosting accessible ebooks so that everybody in Europe will be able to enjoy reading them, no matter how they choose to read and through whatever device suits their purpose.

About EDF

The European Disability Forum is an independent NGO that defends the interests of 80 million Europeans with disabilities. EDF is a unique platform which brings together representative organization of persons with disabilities from across Europe. EDF is run by persons with disabilities and their families. We are a strong, united voice of persons with disabilities in Europe.

Resources

Footnotes

[1] http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202

[2] http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD%2FC%2FEU%2FCO%2F1&Lang=en

[3] http://www.edf-feph.org/newsroom/news/accessibility-act-buying-accessible-must-public-authorities-digital-age

[4] http://www.edf-feph.org/newsroom/news/activists-demonstrate-strong-law-accessibility-europe

[5] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2017-0347

[6] http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15096-2017-INIT/en/pdf

International Publishers Association calls on Publishers to Support the Accessible Books Consortium

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) is delighted that Michiel Kolman, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and Senior Vice President at Elsevier and Hugo Setzer, Vice-President of the IPA and CEO of Manual Moderno are encouraging publishers to support ABC and sign the ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing. Both Elsevier and Manual Moderno are signatories to the ABC Charter. Michiel Kolman’s call to action is available on youtube and their full interviews in the WIPO magazine

NNELS Accessible Publishing Workshop – Toronto

March 20th, 2018

This 3-hour workshop in Toronto is intended for people who know (or want to know!) some HTML and can navigate some of the inner workings of an EPUB file.

Laura Brady will demonstrate how code problems can trip up assistive technology, and how to clean an ebook’s markup while also giving hands-on comparisons of what works seamlessly and what gets snagged in various environments. Laura is an ebook developer, the principal of Brady Type, and the editor-in-chief of EPUB Secrets. She consults on workflow, tools, specifications, and production best practices.

Audience: ebook production staff, or other interested people such as consultants, alternate-format producers, editors, writers, librarians, and publishing students.

Cost: free!

Date:

March 20th, 2018

Time:

9-12 ET

Venue:

900 Bay Street, Toronto, Canada

Learn More:

Further details about the event and how to attend are available on the workshop registration page.

Digital Publishing Summit Program Announced!

Logo for EDRLab the organizers of this conferenceEDRLab has announced the program for their annual Digital Publishing Summit (DPUB) which will take place in Berlin May 16-17, 2018. As ever the program is an exciting mix of tech presentations and high level sessions from the production of natively accessible ebooks to the spread of highly interoperable EPUB 3 reading applications on all platforms, with Readium LCP.  Delegates can expect plenty of practical demo sessions as EDRLab encourages adoption of open standards and software by the European publishing industry.

The program is of huge interest to accessible publishing, in particular the session on EPUB 3 as an accessible and mainstream format. Early bird pricing is available until February 28 and full information is online at the EDRLab website.