The DAISY Consortium believes that by working across the publishing industry’s value we will achieve our vision of people having equal access to information and knowledge, regardless of disabilities.

1. Inclusive Publishing
The Key to Accessible Digital Books
George Kerscher
Secretary General, DAISY Consortium
Technology for Life - Glasgow, Scotland
September 7, 2012

2. Who is the DAISY Consortium?
• We are a global consortium of
organizations committed to a common
vision and mission, which pools and
coordinates resources to deliver global
change.

3. Vision:
People have equal access to information &
knowledge regardless of disability; a right
confirmed by the UN convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

4. Mission:
• Work to create the best way to read and
publish, for everybody, in the 21st Century
• Foster a global partnership between civil
society, publishing and technology
industries, standards bodies and
governments, that builds a more effective
solution, for everyone.

5. So people with disabilities can say:
• I can access the same information at the
same time & cost
• I have a great reading experience with
eyes, ears or fingers
• I can easily find the publications I want to
read
• More publications with built-in accessibility
are available for me to purchase or borrow

6. People with disabilities can say,
cont’d:
• There are far more accessible publications
available to me
• I have control over my reading experience
• The reading technologies I use are
affordable and easy to use: DAISY
technology helps me

7. Born Digital Publishing:
• People want to read anywhere, any time on
every device
• Rapid adoption in the publishing industry
• Need for accessibility clearly communicated

8. EPUB 3 and Accessibility:
The incorporation of the DAISY
accessibility requirements into the non-
proprietary
EPUB 3 standard holds significant promise
for the increased availability of commercial
products that are useable, out of the box,
by a wide range of consumers.
Specification is available at http://idpf.org/epub/30

9. Short list of what needs to be in place:
• Commitments from the accessibility community
• Standards
• Guidelines
• Samples
• Validation tools and accessibility checkers
• Accessible reading systems
• Math support
• Accessible images and graphics
• Beautiful user interfaces
• User friendly ways to purchase content

10. What is Built-in Accessibility in
Commercial Publications?
• A mainstream publication
• Useable directly by people reading with
their eyes, ears or fingers
• With no need for modification
• For example, currently:
– Works with screen readers
– Has great navigation
– Pictorial material adequately described

11. What Does Customized for
Accessibility Mean?
• A separate version of a mainstream publication
• Modified to be read by disabled persons using
their eyes, ears or fingers to read
This may include:
• Re-design for Braille, adding additional
accessible images and graphics and speech
narration
• Often distributed separately via a special library

12. Spheres to Influence and Help:
• Standards
• Publishing
• Library Communities
• Technology (reading systems, authoring
tools)
• Education
• Government
• Blind and print disabled persons

13. Conclusion:
The DAISY Consortium believes that by
working across the publishing industry’s
value chain from standards and laws through
the publishing library and distribution
industries, to people with disabilities, we will
achieve our vision of people having equal
access to information and knowledge,
regardless of disabilities.