What Is an Accessible Book?
The majority of books published in any given year are accessible to most people in that they can buy or borrow and read them, a fact that is often taken for granted. There is a significant portion of the population that can’t read in the traditional way and so need an accessible format in order to consume content. Some estimates put the print-disabled population at about 20% — or one in five people who have a disability that keeps them from reading traditional print books. Without question, we all know someone who relies on an assistive technology of some kind to read books, or simply uses accessibility features regularly without realizing that’s what they are.
One might think that having a “print disability” is something that happens to other people, or refers to blind people or a similar sliver of the population. It’s really not. As the population ages, more and more readers will develop reading issues which accessible books will solve — even simple things like increasing the font size. Sometimes the need for an accessible format is temporary — a broken arm prohibits someone from holding a book or turning pages, for example. And sometimes it is a lifelong mode of engaging with the world, such as blindness, dyslexia, or low-vision. It’s worth noting that sometimes a reader’s need for accessible formats is obvious as in the case of someone who is visibly blind. And sometimes it’s invisible — for example a reader with a learning disability.
This is where accessible books come in. In the simplest terms, an accessible book is a book that has features which make reading possible for people with disabilities. It is one that can be read in ways other than reading print. Alternate formats take many forms. It might be an ebook that can be listened to with voiceover or text-to-speech. It could be a commercial or specialist audiobook. It could be large print or an ebook whose font size is malleable. It could be a braille — either a physical braille book, or a digital braille book that can be read with a refreshable braille display. It might simply be a well-built ebook with good structure and image descriptions and for which the end user can change the font, the type size, the line spacing, etc., to create a comfortable reading experience on the device of their choosing.
Sometimes the definition of an accessible book is one that the reader can consume however they choose. Print-disabled people deserve choice!
It’s worth spending time with the notion that access to books is an issue of equity. Around the world, people living with print disabilities tend to be socio-economically disadvantaged. Being able to read — for leisure or for education — is a right. Print is still king in book publishing, but an awareness of the demand for accessible formats is something that all kinds of publishing folks — in trade, educational, and higher ed — needs to simmer in. And while publishers should be doing the work to publish accessibly while taking advantage of supports like the eBound Benetech Certification service, publishers in Canada need ongoing government support to maintain and deepen the work of publishing for all readers.
Further Reading
Booknet Canada, How do Readers Use Ebooks.
eBound Benetech Certification, https://www.eboundcanada.org/our-services/benetech/.
Accessible Publishing Learning Network, 360° Accessible Publishing.
Josh O’Kane, “Future of accessible book, audiobook production in limbo as subsidy winds down,” Globe and Mail, June 30, 2023. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-future-of-accessible-book-audiobook-production-in-limbo-as-subsidy/
