New Series – Ebook Accessibility

We warmly invite you to follow and comment on our new series of articles on ebook accessibility.

Digital availability might be thought to be, first and foremost, something thanks to which people with disabilities are able to use technology. However, its importance is far greater than that, as digital availability improves the quality of our daily lives.

These articles will be published on a regular basis, and the aim of the series is to throw light upon the subject and to raise awareness of accessibility in this day and age, with a particular focus on digital accessibility.

What to Expect

We intend to explain what “accessibility means and why making a product accessible not only facilitates its use, but also makes use of an accessible website, application or book more comfortable. We also want to tell you how to make an ebook accessible for the blind and visually impaired. Other we topics we will to cover include screen readers used by blind people, such as VoiceOver (built into the iOS operating system), TalkBack and Commentary, both of which can be used on Android devices, and computer programmes NVDA and Jaws. We aim to explain how refreshable braille displays (also known as braille terminals) work and have a closer look at what metadata is and why it is a crucial factor in broadly defined ebook accessibility. We will present best practices in adjusting text to the needs all its users, regardless of their ability, preferences or skills and explain what aspects should be considered first.

Written by Experts

All articles comprising the series will be written by the people most knowledgeable in the field of accessibility, which is a great advantage, as the initiative is aimed at them. They will provide us with the insight, both theoretical and practical, showing us the devices and solutions they use every day. To this end, we are collaborating with the Trakt Foundation (Fundacja Trakt) and the experts working there will show their knowledge with us.

Why Is eBook Accessibility Important for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals?

Every publisher wants their products to reach as large a group of readers as possible. To this end, they try to follow new trends, listen to their prospective clients and respond to said clients’ needs. This is why paper books are being replaced by electronic books, commonly known as ebooks. Digital accessibility makes their content available for everyone regardless of their age, level of education or technical abilities. Is the aforementioned digitalisation particularly important for the visually impaired?

Our Eyesight Is Getting Worse

There are around 45 million blind people and 269 million visually impaired people in the world today. A study published by “Lancet Global Health” predicts that by 2050 the number of blind people will increase threefold. The main reason behind this is the rapid and inevitable aging of population. Not many years ago, if a reader was unable to read printed text they could not enjoy books as a form of education and entertainment.

What Digital Availability Means

In this day and age technology plays a bigger and bigger part in our daily lives. Thanks to it, everyone including blind and visually impaired people is able to access digital texts. Therefore, the digitisation of books not only makes literature and science more widely available, it is also an important tool to fight exclusion. In other words, digital ability will enable us to understand the contents of a book or any other document even if our abilities or skills are limited.

However, it is crucial to remember that the products offered by publishers need to fulfil important accessibility guidelines. An accessible digital product is therefore a document, book, report, sheet music or magazine which can be used by the widest audience possible and to the greatest possible degree.

It is worth mentioning that books, websites and applications which have been made accessible are easier to use by anyone regardless of their needs. Well-prepared ebooks facilitate reading and finding desired information, which increases their usefulness.

Within Reach

One of the crucial aspects of digitisation of books is making the book market more accessible for visually impaired individuals. Printed braille books are expensive to produce and take up a lot of space. Both of these factors lead to their limited availability. They can rarely be bought, usually it is only possible to borrow them from special libraries, whose collections are limited. Digitised books make it possible for visually impaired individuals to access thousands of volumes using only one device – a smartphone, a tablet or a computer. These books can be read using speech synthesisers or converted into braille using devices such as refreshable braille displays (also known as braille terminals). As of today, NVFA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is the most functional and free programme used around the world.

The development of new technologies is fast, which raises concerns among those who do not follow all the technology news or are unable to keep up with the changes.

Thanks to digital availability everyone will be able to use the latest technology, no matter how rapidly it develops.

Equal Access to Education

The accessibility of book digitisation plays a vital part in education, including school and university education. Thanks to it, students can use digital textbooks, works of literature and other educational materials and, in consequence, have the chance to study and develop their skills. They are able to efficiently browse information, make notes and scan texts, which is difficult (or even impossible) when using printed braille books.

Independence and Comfort

For many people access to a digital library means independence. Digital books don’t take up much space on drive and the number of available ebooks keeps growing. Everyone is free to decide what, when and how they want to read. Elderly people, people with movement disorders or those who do not leave their houses for other reasons, are finally able to access almost any book or magazine they want to – it takes no more than a few mouse clicks. Using a digital book makes it possible for the blind to change the pace of reading, set up different voices in speech synthesizers and adjust other parameters to one’s needs. Thanks to all of this reading can become a pleasure instead of a challenge or something one can only dream of.

Culture and Personal Development

Partial or total inability of visual perception makes it impossible for affected individuals to absorb the world as intensely as non-disabled people can. Text digitisation and adjusting graphic elements to suit their needs grants them access to culture and personal growth. It goes without saying that literature alone plays a vital role in forming our identity, broadening our horizons and expanding our imagination. Thanks to digital books, and therefore access to magazines or specialised literature, more and more people, including blind people will have the opportunity to discover new worlds and develop their interests. Digitalisation facilitates access to books in foreign languages, which can both improve readers’ language skills and broaden their knowledge about different cultures.

Summary

The digitisation of books is not only technical progress, it is also a big step towards equality and availability for everyone. Bigger buttons, easy-to-read fonts, a good contrast ratio make it easier for people who are elderly, absent-minded, affected by concentration deficit disorder, as well as for the visually impaired, to use electronic devices.Thanks to it, all users have the same opportunities to enjoy literature, study and grow.

For those who have limited access to printed books, a well-prepared ebook will offer the chance to optimise the use a book or textbook. Encouraging the digitisation of books helps build a more inclusive society where all members have an equal chance to grow and achieve self-fulfilment.

By investing in digital accessibility we invest in a future which will benefit all of us.

The article was created in close collaboration between the Polish Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired "Trakt” and Have a Book.

About the Trakt Foundation

Polish Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired “Trakt” (trakt is Polish for “road”) was founded in 2005 by seven people who may have lacked eyesight but certainly did not lack passion. In the beginning, the focus of their work was on geographical and historical tactile maps, i.e. maps which allow you to discover the shape of continents, the width of rivers or the order in which troops are positioned in a famous battle, using the sense of touch. In time, the Foundation broadened the scope of their work. One of the new areas they focused on was making sure that more and more websites, trade magazines or applications fulfilled the criteria of accessibility for the blind and visually impaired.

The employees of the Foundation, as well as it supporters, are well-educated, charismatic people full of innovative ideas and deeply engaged in endeavours which aim to help visually impaired individuals and those around them. Many of the employees are blind or visually impaired individuals, and, because of the health challenges they face, they approach the tasks they are given with empathy.

We spread knowledge about the needs and functioning of blind and visually impaired individuals, we act against social exclusion and aim to integrate people with such disabilities with non-disabled people to the greatest possible degree.

Translated by Aleksandra Kallas