IBPA Independent magazine | By Bill Kasdorf, Apex CoVantage Vice President and Principal Consultant
The time is right for publishers to help make accessible books mainstream
We are all about to benefit from the mainstreaming of accessibility.
Accessibility has long been one of those issues that most publishers realize they should be paying attention to but hope they can put off a while longer. While we’ve all admittedly had our collective heads in the sand, important advances are making it easier than ever to make our books accessible. Almost all books are now created in digital forms (even if published only in print), providing the basis for what assistive technology requires.
We’re not far off from many books being “born accessible” as a natural consequence of how they’re published. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting a lot closer. And the good news is that there’s help for what still requires some extra effort.