Books without barriers: a new guide to accessible inclusive publishing 

The product of two years’ work by IPEd’s Accessibility Initiative Working Party, based on a review of the international literature and a survey of local publishers, the new publication Books without barriers is a guide to accessible inclusive publishing. In this edited extract from their forthcoming presentation at the IPEd conference on Friday, 5 May, Julie Ganner, Agata Mrva-Montoya, Maryanne Park and Kayt Duncan share some of the recommendations included in the guide, which is available for free download from the IPEd website.

Editors are at the centre of the book publication process and play a crucial role in transitioning to inclusive industry practices. Considering the needs of readers with print disability requires thinking beyond reading as a visual activity. This has consequences for the way editors edit. 

Books without barriers is a new guide to inclusive publishing that explains the many different ways in which books can be experienced. It outlines the barriers to reading that people with disability may experience if their needs are not supported, and describes how to avoid creating these barriers at each stage of the publishing process. The guide was written by members of IPEd’s Accessibility Initiative Working Party (AIWP) and is co-published by IPEd and the Australian Publishers Association, with support from the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. 

Balancing the needs of all readers 

One of the first findings from our research was the diversity of ways in which people read, and the consequent need for flexibility in their choice of formats. 

Readers may use hearing, touch, vision or a combination of these senses to read. For example: 

• A reader who is blind may use braille for work or study but listen to audiobooks for pleasure
• A person with low vision may read large-print documents, or a screen with enlarged font, during the day but switch to using text-to-speech technology or a talking book in the evening when they are tired
• A reader who finds it difficult to hold a book may alternate between using ebooks and audiobooks
• A student may listen to an audio file at the same time as reading the written text, to help them focus on and process the information
• A reader without print disability may read onscreen materials at work but consume printed books, ebooks or audiobooks during their leisure time. 

Writers and editors must therefore ensure that content is flexible enough to be perceivable and understandable in any format in which it is read, and irrespective of the sense used to read it. This involves balancing the needs of all readers, including those who may access the text tactually or through hearing, or who read visually but are unable to perceive certain aspects such as colour. It also means considering the requirements of different formats, such as audio and tactile technologies, which may sometimes be at odds with one another. 

The case of quotation marks 

An October 2022 article in the Australian Government Style Manual newsletter reviewed the use of quote marks and found that “there is no need to change our style from single quotation marks to double quotation marks on accessibility grounds”. However, the review considered only how screen readers convert the punctuation from text into speech, and not how single quote marks impact users of braille. 

Our surveys and research with members of the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities revealed that braille transcribers waste valuable resources correcting apostrophes into single quote marks and vice versa. NextSense, for example, has estimated that up to one-third of its transcribers’ time can be spent fixing these punctuation marks alone. This is because while the marks do not have separate keys on a keyboard, they have different braille codes. When a sighted reader sees a closing quote mark or an apostrophe, they can quickly infer from the context which one is signified. However, the wrong code in braille will cause confusion, so the correct mark must always be used. 

There are two ways to avoid this issue. One is to manually insert the correct symbol in MS Word using the Insert symbol tool each time it is used. The Unicode for the apostrophe is 0027; the Unicode for the closing quote mark is 2019. However, this can be time consuming, even using a search and replace function, especially in a text that has a lot of quoted material. It also does not remove the obligation for transcribers to check each quote mark. 

The other, more obvious solution is to use double quote marks instead. Double quote marks: 

• significantly reduce the workload for braille transcribers 
• are easier to see for people with low vision 
• will not be confused with apostrophes by people using digital braille displays (tactile electronic devices that are driven by screen readers) 
• do not affect the ability of readers without vision impairment to understand the text. 

This is a good example of how the needs of people with print disability can be supported without impacting the needs of other readers or creating significant extra work for publishers. Books without barriers therefore recommends the use of double quote marks for accessibility best practice. 

Creating effective image descriptions 

Another key area of the AIWP’s research concerned how to convey the information contained in images to readers who cannot see them. This includes people using braille and listening to audiobooks as well as those using screen readers. The image description provided in an ebook file can be transcribed into braille or narrated as part of an audio file, for example, so that the information contained in the illustration is available in any format in which the book is read. 

Image descriptions are useful not only to readers who are blind. Non-visual learners may use them to help understand illustrations such as complex diagrams. Readers with dyslexia may find it easier to process text alone rather than text with images. And anyone listening to an audiobook will need an image description if they are to understand a cross-reference to an illustration in the book. 

An image description should convey equivalent information, and serve an equivalent purpose, to that of the image. Image descriptions can be provided in two forms: 

• alternative (alt) text is a brief description of images that are simple or of medium complexity
• alt text with an additional long description is used for complex images such as diagrams. 

The length and detail of the image description will depend on the context of the image, including the genre, the purpose of the image and the reading level of the target audience. 

There is a fine balance between providing too little detail in the description and too much. For a reader who does not have a visual, learning or cognitive disability, supplementing text with images can aid their comprehension and put less stress on their short-term working memory. As a result, it takes them less effort to process the information than if only text is provided. However, the opposite experience can be true for some people with disability. A reader who is blind, for example, must construct a mental image of the illustration from the image description, which significantly increases their cognitive load. Too little information will create gaps in understanding, while too much detail creates mental clutter that impedes understanding. 

To avoid this problem, Books without barriers recommends writing image descriptions that: 

• are succinct as possible 
• provide information and concepts in small chunks 
• emphasise the key information 
• omit details that are unimportant or potentially distracting. 

Choosing appropriate images also helps. Uncluttered photographs and illustrations that focus on the key elements of the topic being illustrated will make the work of the image description writer easier. They often illustrate the subject more clearly than a busier image would do, so they can be the best choice for all readers, including those without disability. 

Distinguishing ideas in children’s picture books 

Picture books are high-cost, low-return publications in comparison to other trade publications. However, they play a critical role in the establishment of early literacy foundations. Research indicates that access to picture books by children aged zero to five, and being read to by a parent or carer, are key factors in the development of literacy and numeracy skills. These skills, in turn, drive an individual’s career and prosperity prospects.

Federal and state governments endorse the need to improve access to picture books, and support early reading programs for the zero to five age group. Vision Australia reminds us of the “undeniable fact”that children with print disability have the same right as any child to an education and all the materials and resources that come with it. 

However, without alternatives to print formats, children with a print disability, or children of parents or carers with a print disability, will be excluded from participation in early reading. They will continue to enter and graduate from schooling with lower levels of literacy than their peers, or have to make substantial personal investments in private tuition to achieve equitable standards of literacy. It is therefore imperative that books are made accessible to all children. 

The challenges of creating accessible picture books 

Picture books include: 

• early childhood concept books 
• early learner readers 
• simple read-out-loud picture books 
• elaborate story books.  

Each category has specific accessibility considerations, such as when providing image descriptions. Decisions about how to make a book accessible must always be driven by the age group of the target readership and the purpose of the book. 

A highly visual storytelling component, combined with a low word count, makes creating accessible picture books a challenge. Successful traditional picture books follow a “show, don’t tell” philosophy, which is problematic for children with low or no vision. They are likely to rely on text to understand the action in the story, whereas in picture books the action is shown through the imagery instead. 

This issue highlights two interesting questions: 

1. How do you make what is essentially a visual storytelling medium accessible to a reader with print disability? 
2. How do you do so in an industry that holds onto the traditional notion that picture books are a durable, physical, expensive storytelling medium? 

Alternative formats for picture books 

Books without barriers offers advice on how to create children’s books with elements that can be perceived through senses other than vision. Books written, illustrated and designed with accessibility considerations in mind are transferable into tactile and audio formats, rather than being limited to print alone. This allows them to become the drivers and champions of early literacy equity for children with print disability. 

The chapter on children’s books describes the many ways in which visual images can be translated into tactile equivalents, and the different approaches that can be taken depending on the target age group and learning goals of the book. Audio and digital books increase the range of alternatives to print. And while fixed-layout ebooks still create some barriers to reading for children with print disability, technologies are improving. There is every chance that this format, too, will offer accessible picture books in time. 

Creative adjustments to design and illustration that improve accessibility can be easily achieved without detriment to artistic freedom or visual impact. Accessible picture books do not have to sacrifice their traditional roots. Recommendations in the guide include using: 

• language that works in line with the principle of “show, don’t tell” yet accommodates the language needs of children with low or no vision (for example, including adjectives that appeal to the sense of touch rather than vision alone) 
• design to maximise engagement and improve readability (for example, choosing simple, unembellished fonts and providing high contrast between the text and the background) 
• illustrations with features that transfer more easily to tactile formats (for example, textures and distinct outlines) 
• image descriptions drafted by the authors and illustrators to ensure that narrative missing in the text but conveyed in the imagery is succinctly communicated. 

Conclusion 

While the current legislative framework in Australia does not require publishers to adopt inclusive publishing practices, this may change in the future. 

Educational publishers are already under pressure to comply with government procurement requirements for accessible information and services. And in contrast to the exception-based Marrakesh Treaty, the European Accessibility Act (which comes into force in June 2025) will require publishers to produce their digital publications in accessible formats for the European market. The entire supply chain will need to make content available to users through accessible services.While the directive is of particular salience to European publishers, it will affect any organisation wanting to sell books in the European market, so its influence is international rather than just local. 

Editors have an important part to play in creating books that are designed from inception to be accessible to everyone. This change begins with expanding editors’ understanding of how content is perceived: that information must always be communicable through sound and touch, not just vision. Being armed with the appropriate knowledge and skills is vital if editors are to keep up with the transition to more inclusive publishing practices, both locally and internationally. Our hope is that the advice on editing for accessibility provided in Books without barriers will help transform the way editors think about editing and prepare them for the coming changes. 

Julie Ganner AE is chair of IPEd’s Accessibility Initiative Working Party. She has over 30 years’ editorial and production experience in educational publishing and is co-author of Inclusive publishing in Australia. Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya is lecturer and degree director of the Master of Publishing in the Discipline of Media and Communications, University of Sydney. Maryanne Park AE is a technical writer and editor with experience in STEM subjects for secondary educational texts. Kayt Duncan is an author-illustrator, independent publisher, and National Officer at the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA). Books without barriers is available for free download from the IPEd website.

Category: Features