Accessible publishing

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Accessible publishing is an approach to publishing and book design whereby books and other texts are made available in alternative formats designed to aid or replace the reading process. It is particularly relevant for people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled.

Contents

Alternative formats that have been developed to aid different people to read include varieties of larger fonts, specialised fonts for certain kinds of reading disabilities, braille, e-books, and automated audiobooks and DAISY digital talking books.

Accessible publishing has been made easier through developments in technology such as print on demand (POD), e-book readers, the XML structured data format, the EPUB3 format and the Internet.

Aim

The aim of accessible publishing is to make reading easier for those who have difficulties doing so. This group includes people who are blind or who have low vision, people with learning disabilities, and people who are learning a second language. Accessible publishing also aims to allow people to read whichever format allows them to read fastest or allows them to absorb the information in a better way.

In the twenty-first century, the accessible publishing aim is to make every book available in all formats so that every reader can read with ease and proficiency.

Guidelines and techniques for publishing in accessible formats have been made available by several organisations and authors, including:

History

Before the 21st century, the publishing industry focused on the production of printed books. The predominant publishing theory, which stressed economy of scale, tended to make only one format of a given book available. In this way they could be mass-produced and made available for the general public. This model did not allow for any other format to be widely available, however.

There were a number of developments in technology that increased the accessibility of books. The first of these was the development of the braille writing system by Louis Braille in 1821. [7] Then there was the development of audiobooks which originated from the United States Congress in 1931 [8] and became popularised by advances in recording and the use of voice actors.

In 1980, Thorndike Press came into existence as a republisher of large print books. [9] [10] Thorndike bought the rights for large print versions of books from publishers and then republished them in a larger and more accessible format for people with reading difficulties.

Recent developments

New portable readers, such as the Victor Reader products [11] and the Plextalk Pocket [12] handle talking books in a wide variety of formats including DAISY Digital Talking Book, MP3, text only, and many others.

New technology, such as introduced in the Sony Reader [13] of 2004 and Amazon's Kindle [14] in 2007, provided the ability to alter the size of the font automatically.

ReadHowYouWant is another leader in developing this technology. [15] It works in partnership with publishers to make books available in all formats all across the world. [16] This includes specially designed fonts for dyslexia, macular degeneration and line tracking problems.

See also

Accessible publishers:

Related Research Articles

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is a UK charity offering information, support and advice to almost two million people in the UK with sight loss. The charity affords practical and emotional support to those affected by sight issues and acts as an advocacy body.

An audiobook is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Accessible Information System</span> Technical standard for digital audiobooks, periodicals and computerized text

Digital accessible information system (DAISY) is a technical standard for digital audiobooks, periodicals, and computerized text. DAISY is designed to be a complete audio substitute for print material and is specifically designed for use by people with "print disabilities", including blindness, impaired vision, and dyslexia. Based on the MP3 and XML formats, the DAISY format has advanced features in addition to those of a traditional audio book. Users can search, place bookmarks, precisely navigate line by line, and regulate the speaking speed without distortion. DAISY also provides aurally accessible tables, references, and additional information. As a result, DAISY allows visually impaired listeners to navigate something as complex as an encyclopedia or textbook, otherwise impossible using conventional audio recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Large-print</span> Formatting of book or text document

Large-print refers to the formatting of a book or other text document in which the typeface are considerably larger than usual to accommodate people who have low vision. Frequently the medium is also increased in size to accommodate the larger text. Special-needs libraries and many public libraries will stock large-print versions of books, along with versions written in Braille.

The following is a comparison of e-book formats used to create and publish e-books.

The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) is a free library program of braille and audio materials such as books and magazines circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States and American citizens living abroad by postage-free mail and online download. The program is sponsored by the Library of Congress. People may be eligible if they are blind, have a visual disability that prevents them from reading normal print, or a physical disability that keeps them from holding a book. Library materials are distributed to regional and subregional libraries and then circulated to eligible patrons. In total there are 55 regional libraries, 32 subregional libraries, and 14 advisory and outreach centers serving the United States and its territories: the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EPUB</span> E-book format

EPUB is an e-book file format that uses the ".epub" file extension. The term is short for electronic publication and is sometimes styled ePub. EPUB is supported by many e-readers, and compatible software is available for most smartphones, tablets, and computers. EPUB is a technical standard published by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). It became an official standard of the IDPF in September 2007, superseding the older Open eBook (OEB) standard.

Bookshare is an online library of accessible ebooks for people with print disabilities, such as visual impairment, severe dyslexia, and cerebral palsy. An initiative of Benetech, a social enterprise organization based in Palo Alto, California, it was founded in 2001 by Jim Fruchterman. Bookshare provides books in DAISY, EPUB, BRF, MP3, and Microsoft Word document formats. Books have been contributed by volunteers, authors, libraries, universities, and publishers. By 2010 more than half of books had been contributed by publishers and by 2020 more than 900 publishers had partnered with Bookshare, contributing to its library of more than 900,000 books.

The Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille is a public library organization based in Oslo, Norway. It produces and loans out audiobooks and braille books. Its services are aimed at people who have difficulty reading printed texts, for example because of dyslexia, visual impairment or other disabilities which making reading difficult. The library serves users across the whole country and the service is free of charge. Audiobooks are sent free by post on CD and can also be downloaded or streamed from the library's website. Users can also use the library's Lydhør app to listen to audiobooks on smartphones or tablets. The library is Norway's largest producers of audiobooks and braille books. In 2014, its collection was made up of 18,000 audiobooks and 7400 braille books. The library also produces and loans out study materials for students with difficulties reading printed texts. Norwegian law permits the library to produce audio books and braille books from material subject to copyright. The library has about 29,000 users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan Braille Library</span> Private library in Tokyo, Japan

Japan Braille Library is a special private library in Tokyo, Japan, serving individuals who are unable to read standard printed material, and those who research the field of visual impairment. JBL is one of the biggest and oldest libraries for the blind in Japan. The library's collection includes about 81,000 braille books, 210,000 talking books, and various documents concerning the blind and braille. JBL also provides a braille transcription service, a braille printing service, a recording service, digital library services, PC training programs, braille training programs, and sells about 1,200 products for the blind. The library's services now extend beyond Japan, providing braille textbooks and computer training to developing Asian nations.

RoboBraille is a web and email service capable of converting documents into a range of accessible formats including Braille, mp3, e-books and Daisy. The service can furthermore be used to convert otherwise inaccessible documents such as scanned images and pdf files into more accessible formats. RoboBraille has been in operation since 2004 and currently serves thousands of user requests each month from users around the world. The service is available for free for strictly individual, non-commercial use. Institutional use by academic institutions is available through SensusAccess.

Mitra Jyothi established in 1990, is a charitable trust registered under Indian Trust Act based in Bangalore. Its aims to support the visually impaired through various programs it offers. These programs include Talking Book Library, Computer Training Center, Independent Living Skills, Braille Transcription Center and Job Placement. It received State Award in 2010 from the Directorate of Disabled Welfare and Senior Citizens, Government of Karnataka for its exemplary service for persons with disabilities. Mitra Jyothi is also a member of the DAISY Forum of India (DFI). DFI is a forum of Not for profit organizations from India who are involved in production of books and reading materials in accessible formats for persons who cannot read normal print.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Central Library for the Blind</span>

The German Central Library for the Blind, abbreviated DZB, is a public library for the visually impaired located in the city of Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Its collection of 72,300 titles is amongst the largest in the German speaking countries. The institution consists of a lending library, a publishing house, and a research center for barrier-free communication. It also has production facilities for braille books, audiobooks, and braille music. The DZB publishes about 250 new titles annually. Founded in 1894, the DZB is the oldest library for the blind in Germany.

Lektz is an eBook business platform developed by AEL Data, operating in the UK and India. The platform has DRM, ebook reader applications, virtual book store, ebook conversion, elending, consumer analytics, and digital marketing solutions for small, medium-sized publishers and independent authors. M.S. Mohammed Sadiq, Sr. Vice President of AEL Data, is the chief architect of the Lektz platform and it draws support from AEL Data's ePublishing, digitization, accessibility solutions, and application development services.

A print-disabled person is "a person who cannot effectively read print because of a visual, physical, perceptual, developmental, cognitive, or learning disability". A print disability prevents a person from gaining information from printed material in the standard way, and requires them to utilize alternative methods to access that information. Print disabilities include visual impairments, learning disabilities, or physical disabilities that impede the ability to manipulate a book. The term was coined by George Kerscher, a pioneer in digital talking books. DAISY is used by libraries as a means of making complex books accessible via audio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Play Books</span> Digital distribution service for ebooks

Google Play Books, formerly Google eBooks, is an ebook digital distribution service operated by Google, part of its Google Play product line. Users can purchase and download ebooks and audiobooks from Google Play, which offers over five million titles, with Google claiming it to be the "largest ebooks collection in the world". Books can be read on a dedicated Books section on the Google Play website, through the use of a mobile app available for Android and iOS, through the use of select e-readers that offer support for Adobe Digital Editions, through a web browser and reading via Google Home. Users may also upload up to 2,000 ebooks in the PDF or EPUB file formats. Google Play Books is available in 75 countries.

The Swedish Agency for Accessible Media, formerly the Audiobook and Braille Library, is a Swedish governmental administrative agency under the Ministry of Culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nota (library)</span> Danish library for those with print disabilities

Nota, or the Danish Library and Expertise Center for people with print disabilities, is a state-run library under the Danish Ministry of Culture that produces audiobooks, e-books and Braille books for people who cannot read ordinary printed text. The organization is headquartered in Nakskov, Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accessible Books Consortium</span>

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) is a public-private partnership which was launched in 2014 by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The ABC was created with the intent of being "one possible initiative, amongst others, to implement the aims of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty at a practical level." ABC's goal is "to increase the number of books worldwide in accessible formats - such as braille, audio, e-text, and large print and to make them available to people who are blind, have low vision or are otherwise print disabled."

References

  1. ↑ EDItEUR: "Accessible Publishing - Best Practice Guidelines for Publishers Archived May 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine . Version 3 September 2012
  2. ↑ Matt Garrish: "Accessible EPUB 3", in: Matt Garrish and Markus Gylling: EPUB 3 Best Practices. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2013. ISBN   978-1-4493-2914-3 (print) / ISBN   978-1-4493-2529-9 (e-book) / ISBN   978-1-4493-2803-0 (chapter as e-book).
  3. ↑ Geoff Freed and Madeleine Rothberg: "Accessible Digital Media Guidelines Archived 2013-07-03 at the Wayback Machine ". The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM).
  4. ↑ AcceDe PDF: ""Making PDF files accessible: guidelines for the DTP creation phase". Archived January 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ PDF accessibility: ""Make a PDF document accessible from Adobe InDesign and Acrobat Pro"
  6. ↑ PDF accessibility: ""Make a PDF document accessible from Microsoft Word"
  7. ↑ Kimbrough, Paula. "How Braille Began". Enabling Technologies. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008.
  8. ↑ "The History of Audiobooks". Audiobook Quest. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.
  9. ↑ Thorndike Press: About Thorndike Press
  10. ↑ Thorndike Press: Public Libraries.
  11. ↑ HumanWare
  12. ↑ Plextalk: Plextalk Pocket
  13. ↑ Sony Reader Digital Book.
  14. ↑ Amazon: Kindle: Amazon's Original Wireless Reading Device (1st generation)
  15. ↑ DAISY Consortium: Member Detail: ReadHowYouWant Pty Ltd.
  16. ↑ ReadHowYouWant: Publishers Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine .
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