The winners of the 2020 ABC International Excellence Award in Accessible Publishing were announced on March 10, 2020. IPA congratulates Macmillan Learning of the United States in the publisher category and Fondazione LIA in the initiative category for their important contribution in improving accessibility of digital publications for people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled.
The short-list for the 2020 ABC International Excellence Award in Accessible Publishing was announced on February 10, 2020. 3 publishers and 3 initiatives are competing for the two awards in the respective categories. The names of the winners will be unveiled at the awards ceremony taking place at the London Book Fair on March 10, 2020.
On 28 October, the Italian accessible books foundations, Fondazione LIA, welcomed two new institutional members meaning the foundation now brings together all of the associations involved in promoting accessibility.
On 26 September WIPO’s Accessible Books Consortium welcomed Hachette Livre as the 100th Signatory to the ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing marking an important milestone for the Consortium working to increase the number of books in accessible formats for use by hundreds of millions of people around the globe who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled.
The French Publishers Association (SNE) initiative “La rentrée littéraire pour tous » successfully saw 82 publishers make 425 titles available in accessible format upon their release in partnership with the French National Library (BNF) and the National Book Centre (CNL).
On Wednesday 26 June a group met at the National Library in Auckland, New Zealand to discuss the ins and outs of working with EPUB3. The workshop was put together by the Blind Foundation in partnership with PANZ.
Following legislative change in the European Union (EU) on 2 October 2018, EU Member States can align the VAT rates for eBooks and audiobooks with physical books. A number of countries have been quick of the mark but in others publishers are campaigning hard.
On 14 May 2019 the AIPI was launched to help the 22 per cent of the Australian population with a print disability read in formats beyond print and audiobooks.
