Books for All

In our Books for All report we said that “Efficient production and distribution would be enhanced by establishing file repositiries to store digial versions of materials. At the present time the most suitable format is one which can be reliably created and edited using Microsoft Word, since most accessible formats can be generated from Word.”

Previously if you wanted to make a Daisy DTB you usually had to buy a program like Dolphin’s EasyProducer or EasyConverter, but now there is a Daisy converter for Word available. See the Daisy site for more info and where to get the download.

By creating a properly structured accessible document in Word (i.e. use headings, table styles and alt text descriptions) this now means you can easily create:

• tagged (accessible) PDFs
• Microsoft Reader books
• Daisy DTB books
• RTF / XML files

It’s all there folks - we just need to get on and get these books and other materials made and shared!

Richard Orme, Head of Accessibility at RNIB, noted today that the IPA have published a resolution stating that “It is a shared ambition of publishers around the wordl to make their works accessible to all readers. IPA looks forward to the day where all readers can have the same access, at the same time, in a awy suitable to their needs to all books and calls for all stakeholders to collaborate in practical ways to achieve this important goal.” The full text can be found on the IPA web site.

Disability Discrimination legislation exists in many countries, and a case was brought against the US Social Security Administration, who refsued to provide information in accessible formats to partially sighted people who receive benefits. The judge ruled that the agency must provide communications in formats that are accessible to these [visually impaired] beneficiaries. See the Blind Access Journal for more details. This could be the first of many actions.