The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) promotes the production of "born accessible" publications that are fully accessible to all readers – our vision is for the same product to be usable by everybody.

In particular, ABC encourages all publishers to:

  • use the accessibility features of the EPUB3 standard for the production of digital publications;
  • include descriptions of the accessibility features of their products in the information they provide to retailers and others in the book supply chain.

Enroll in the ABC Online Course on Accessible Publishing Concepts

This introductory course aims at a high-level understanding of critical concepts in accessible publishing. Learn the essentials of accessibility standards and best practices in two to three hours.  It is open to all and free of charge. Take it in: Arabic, English, French or Spanish.

See more resources below.

ABC International Excellence Award

This annual award recognizes outstanding leadership and achievements in advancing the accessibility of digital publications for persons who are print disabled.

Two awards are presented each year, one to a publisher and one for a project initiative.

ABC encourages nominations of companies, organizations or individuals that are based in developing or least developed countries.

Past Winners of the ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing

Publisher Category:

  • 2024: Gerbera Ediciones
  • 2023: Bokförlaget Hegas AB
  • 2022: Kogan Page
    • Special Commendation: Constantine Editores
  • 2021: Taylor & Francis Group
  • 2020: Macmillan Learning
  • 2019: EDITORIAL 5
  • 2018: Hachette Livre
  • 2017: SAGE Publishing
  • 2016: Elsevier
  • 2015: Cambridge University Press

Initiative Category:

  • 2024: Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities (Australia and New Zealand)
  • 2023: Accessible Reading Materials Library, Chetana Charitable Trust of India (India)
    • Special Commendation: Kalimat Foundation (United Arab Emirates)
  • 2022: Ashoka Bandula Weerawardhana (Sri Lanka)
    • Special Commendation: Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind (Brazil)
  • 2021: National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) (Canada)
  • 2020: LIA Foundation (Italy)
  • 2019: ekitabu (Kenya)
  • 2018: Daisy Forum of India (India)
  • 2017: Tiflonexos (Argentina)
  • 2016: Action on Disability Rights and Development (Nepal)
  • 2015: Young Power in Social Action (Bangladesh)
A woman with straight blonde hair wearing a grey blouse smiling at the camera. She is standing indoors in front of shelves filled with colorful books and magazines
2023 ABC award winner (publisher category): Bokförlaget Hegas, Sweden, Ms. Annica Järnum (Image: Emma Holström)
A woman with long wavy blonde hair wearing a dark blue button-up shirt smiling at the camera. She is standing indoors in front of bookshelves filled with colorful books, with a window in the background
2023 ABC award winner (publisher category): Bokförlaget Hegas, Sweden, Ms. Elin Ljungvall (Image: Emma Holmström)
A woman with short dark hair wearing a yellow shirt smiling at the camera. She is indoors, with shelves of books and files visible in the background
2023 ABC award winner (initiative category): , Chetana Charitable Trust, Accessible Reading Materials Library, IIndia, Ms. Namita Jacob, Director (Photo: Chetana Charitable Trust)
A woman with long brown hair wears a green headscarf and matching robe over a black top. She is smiling at the camera, with a blurred patterned background behind her
2023 ABC award winner (special commendation): Kalimat Foundation (United Arab Emirates), Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, Founder and Chairperson (Photo: Ivana Maglione)

Accessible Publishing Resources

General

  • The DAISY Consortium has a number of technologies and services available to support with the creation and validation of accessible publications including its Inclusive Publishing Hub
  • Ace by DAISY” is an open-source “Accessibility Checker” for e-books created in the EPUB format.
  • The DAISY Pipeline facilitates the production and maintenance of accessible content for people with print disabilities, and can be used by anyone creating and upgrading digital content for print-disabled readers.
  • EDRLab – European Digital Reading Lab is an international, non-profit development laboratory working on the deployment of an open, interoperable and accessible digital publishing ecosystem worldwide.
  • DIAGRAM Center is a Benetech Global Literacy initiative focusing on accessible education technologies.
  • W3C's Publishing Page has information on the standards that should be taken into consideration when producing accessible content.
  • Quick Start Guide to Accessible Publishing was compiled by the Book Industry Study Group Content Structure Committee’s Accessible Publishing Working Group (Note: resource published in 2016).
  • EPUB3 Accessibility Guidelines by Matt Garrish (Note: resource published in 2012).

Australia and New Zealand

Canada and USA

Europe

ABC Resources

o	A woman with straight dark brown hair and a black top smiling at the camera. She is standing in front of a wooden background
2022 ABC award winner (publisher category): Constantine Editores. Mexico, Ms. Gina Constantine (Photo: Gina Constantine)
o	A man in a dark suit with a white shirt and red striped tie smiles at the camera, standing against a plain white background with his arms loosely crossed
2022 ABC award winner (special commendation): Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, Brazil, Mr. Alexandre Munck (Photo: Aline de Rezende Rodrigues Freires)

Charter for Accessible Publishing

The ABC Charter contains eight aspirational principles that publishers should follow to make their digital publications accessible to persons with print disabilities.

  • Arabic PDF, Charter in ArabicDOC, Charter in Arabic
  • English PDF, Charter in EnglishDOC, Charter in English
  • French PDF, Charter in FrenchDOC, Charter in French
  • Italian PDF, Charter in ItalianDOC, Charter in Italian
  • Portuguese PDF, Charter in PortugueseDOC, Charter in Portuguese
  • Russian PDF, Charter in RussianDOC, Charter in Russian
  • Spanish PDF, Charter in SpanishDOC, Charter in Spanish