Creator: World Intellectual Property Organization
Date Updated: January 12, 2023
Overview
The Accessible Book Consortium (ABC), led by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is dedicated to increasing the availability of accessible book formats (braille, eBooks, audiobooks, etc.) worldwide for people with print disabilities, which is possible due to the Marrakesh Treaty.
The information on this page has been summarized from the Accessible Books Consortium website.
Services
ABC has an online catalogue, the ABC Global Book Service, of accessible digital books available for libraries that provide materials to people with print disabilities. There are over 730 000 accessible formats in this catalogue. They also provide a list of websites that provide accessible formats around the world. This list includes Canadian services – the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS), the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), and Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).
ABC promotes Accessible Publishing and “born accessible” books. They provide resources for publishers to help them with this process. They encourage the format EPUB3 as the future of accessible publishing because when it’s formatted correctly, it can be the base for many accessible formats, like audiobooks and electronic braille.
- Inclusive Publishing in Australia?: An Introductory Guide developed by the Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative
- Accessible eBook Guidelines for Self-Publishing Authors developed by ABC
- Accessible Publishing, Best Practice Guidelines for Publishers by EDitEUR
ABC has worldwide projects that provide training to groups and organizations that serve people with print disabilities, which they call Capacity Building. The training focuses on the production and distribution of accessible formats – EPUB3, braille, and DAISY.
Visit the Accessible Books Consortium website.
Resources
Accessible Book Consortium. (n.d.). ABC Global Book Service. Accessible books consortium (ABC). Retrieved January 12, 2023, from https://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/en/web/abc/globalbooks
Accessible Books Consortium. (n.d.). Accessible Publishing. Accessible Books Consortium (ABC). Retrieved January 12, 2023, from https://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/en/web/abc/publishing
Accessible Book Consortium. (n.d.). Accessible books consortium (ABC) Homepage. Accessible Book Consortium Portal. Retrieved January 12, 2023, from https://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/en/web/abc/portal/index
Accessible Book Consortium. (n.d.). Capacity Building. Accessible Book Consortium (ABC). Retrieved January 12, 2023, from https://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/en/web/abc/capacity_building/index