2023: Member Spotlight
Around the world DAISY Members have been actively serving their communities and developing new resources. We are delighted to include a few of their stories from 2023.
Amnet, India
Amnet ContentSource is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and creating a digitally accessible and inclusive world. We empower organizations to adopt and implement accessibility standards for their business objectives.
In 2023, we launched Digita11y—a suite of accessibility scanners and tools to deliver customers’ content efficiently.
- Scanners: Web and EPUB
- Tools: Conformance, Audit Repository, and Audit Summary
At the London Book Fair 2023, we hosted a panel discussion, titled “Inclusion & Accessibility—Are We Nearly There?,” with experts Richard Orme, DAISY; Venu Prasad, Amnet; and Oliver Gadsby, Gadsby Consulting. They discussed the challenges and solutions faced by publishers in digital accessibility. Our webinar series “Digital Accessibility: Are We Nearly There?,” chaired by Oliver Gadsby, featured valuable insights from prominent accessibility evangelists Michael Johnson and Stacy Scott.
We expanded our Thought Leadership series by publishing insightful articles about digital accessibility by industry experts Bill Kasdorf and John Foliot.
Caption: Richard Orme, Venu Prasad, and Oliver Gadsby at the London Book Fair panel discussion
https://www.amnet.com
APH, USA
American Printing House for the Blind (APH) is a mission focused organization with a vision that all companies should have – making the world accessible and providing opportunity for everyone. APH demonstrates that everyone deserves access to technology, learning, working, and life and that providing products and services that work for everyone is an achievable goal.
Together with our partners at HumanWare and the National Federation of the Blind, we have developed the Monarch, a device capable of displaying both braille and tactile graphics on the same surface. Working with the DAISY Consortium and over 100 braille experts from 20 different countries, APH and our partners have created a new international eBraille file standard that adds new functionality and semantic markup to digital braille so that it is reflowable, easier to navigate, and includes tactile graphics integrated with text. Learn more at Meet Monarch | American Printing House (aph.org).
Caption: photo showing the Monarch refreshable braille tablet
BoinIT, Republic of Korea
BoinIT has completed a way to verify and enhance accessibility across DAISY, EPUB, and PDF/UA-1 formats.
In the year 2022, we launched BUCC (Boin Universal Contents Converter), a Korean conversion service for DAISY. 5 organizations in Korea, including the National Library for the Disabled and the Korean Welfare Association for the Blind, are utilizing the service in 2023~24.
BoinIT released the Accessible EPUB Verification system in 2021. Through this system, you can view ACE/EPUBCheck error messages in Korean. It is currently being used by over 80 publishers to evaluate and improve EPUB for accessibility. National Library for People with Disabilities website.
In the second half of 2023, we introduced Korea’s first accessible PDF service. Provided 9 tutorials aimed at facilitating accessible PDF publishing and 7 manuals for users. PDF Accessibility Tutorial YouTube
Caption: Screenshot of the BoinIT Service offering DAISY, EPUB, and PDF/UA-1 format titles.
CBB, The Netherlands
Many seniors do not use DAISY, often because they lack digital skills and struggle with streaming and digital menus. Even the buttons on a CD player are often perceived as too complicated. Seniors with dementia frequently forget how the buttons work. That’s why CBB successfully developed a very simple player: BAS. The foundation is streaming, but the streaming is activated by inserting a card with a QR code into the device. That is the only necessary action. With large clear buttons, it is also possible to navigate on one level. BAS can play not only DAISY content but also all available online audio, making it both simple and versatile.
Caption: image of the BAS audio speaker.
DAISY France
For DAISY France, 2023 presented an opportunity to actively participate in finalizing the transposition of European Directive 2019/882 into French law, especially concerning issues related to inherently accessible books. This involvement led to various participations and publications.
Moreover, the prospect of a national portal for adapted and accessible publishing, aiming to reference and gather all available adapted productions for the needs of individuals regardless of their disabilities, along with a catch-up plan to address the observed gaps in the collections of documents in adapted formats, also constituted a significant focus of this group’s work. This portal, planned for 2026, represents an important area of consideration for public authorities to structure the sectors and organize, on a national level, mediation around the collections.
Dedicon, the Netherlands
In 2023 we developed a series of training courses for publishers to aid the creation of born accessible publications. The training courses provide publishers an interactive program addressing the most important principles, standards and guidelines. The training courses begin in March 2024 and will also be part of the APACE project.
We were also busy preparing for the Tactile Reading and Graphics Conference 2025 which runs from 2 – 4 June 2025 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Conference website is now live where you can register to stay up to date with the latest information.
Dedicon also participated in the Make a Difference Award project with tactile maps, with the Dutch Land Registry and Esri Netherlands. The aim of the project was to help blind persons gain more spacial awareness by making more accessible topographical tactile maps with braille.
Dorina Nowill Foundation, Brazil
In 2023, Fundação Dorina’s Braille and Digital editorial offices together produced more than 360,000 pages of accessible books in braille, epub3 and HTML5 formats. In addition, our printing company has printed more than 14 million pages in Braille.
This work is essential so that we can bring more and more education, inclusion and access to books to people with visual impairments.
With the constant technological evolution and systematization of our production ecosystem, we are increasingly able to expand these brands and increase our production capacity.
https://www.fundacaodorina.org.br/
EBSCO, USA
In 2023 we updated our EPUB validation requirements to meet the latest EPUB and WCAG standards and revalidated 1.6 million EPUB files to interrogate their accessibility features and validate their compliance. This validation data enables EBSCO to inform our publishers about the accessibility of their files and allows us surface accessibility metadata in our products.
A brand-new user interface was developed which will be rolled out to EBSCO customers over the next 12-18 months. This interface improves accessibility across all EBSCO products, including eBooks. Users can expect accessible full-text formats such as HTML, EPUB and DRM-free articles and eBooks as well as descriptive text, text-to-speech, transcripts for videos, and a simplified and responsive design for a smoother experience on any device.
Digital Literacy Trust
Digital Literacy Trust member eKitabu in collaboration with RTI Tanzania and the Government of Tanzania, has been working under USAID Jifunze Uelewe since 2022 to address a major challenge: the limited availability of assistive technology and accessible learning materials for students with disabilities. In 2023, we delivered training to capacity-build teachers with the skills necessary to cultivate inclusive teaching and learning environments. Lazaro Baraka, a visually impaired teacher, is one of the passionate teachers who gained experience using accessible educational resources and incorporating them into teaching methods. With support from teachers trained in the workshop, students are better able to learn independently and with each other.
Caption: Teacher Lazaro (Blind, center) with other teachers interacting with the orbit reader 20 during the Jifunze Uelewe training in Iringa, Tanzania.
Caption: Teacher Lazaro facilitates a harmonious class session, bringing together mainstream and visually impaired students.
http://www.digitalliteracytrust.org
European Digital Reading Lab (EDRLab), France
EDRLab is an international, non-profit development laboratory, working on the deployment of an open, interoperable and accessible digital publishing ecosystem, worldwide. Founded by more than 70 members, the association actively participates in W3C Publishing group’s activities, and dedicates expert resources to the deployment of an open, interoperable and accessible digital publishing ecosystem, worldwide.
In 2023, EDRLab integrated one full-time project manager dedicated to accessibility and coordinated the Accessible Backlist Ebook Laboratory (ABELab) project, a Creative Europe funded initiative in partnership with the LIA Foundation and the Dutch National Library (KB).
The organisation also followed up with the important work of studying and defining better ways to efficiently inform the reader about ebook accessibility features and the development of Audiobooks in smart speaker applications.
https://www.edrlab.org/accessibility/
HumanWare, Canada
HumanWare’s landmark achievement of 2023 is the launch of Victor Reader Stream 3, the highly anticipated successor to the renowned Victor Reader Stream 2 and 1. Building upon a decade of innovation, this latest iteration embodies our commitment to advancing accessibility for blind users worldwide. With cutting-edge technology and enhanced features, including improved menus and updated hardware, Victor Reader Stream 3 sets a new standard in accessible reading solutions. Its seamless integration of DAISY formats ensures an enriching experience for users, empowering them to explore a vast array of digital content with unparalleled ease. We are honored to continue our legacy of innovation and inclusivity, reaffirming our dedication to creating a more accessible world for all.
Caption: The Victor Reader Stream 3 from HumanWare
LIA Foundation, Italy
In 2023, Fondazione LIA broadened its initiatives both within Italy and globally, encompassing training and consultancy services, accessibility audits for publications, websites, and platforms, as well as R&D.
It started offering at international level its Quality Assurance program that mirrors the title-by-title methodology adopted in the Italian market, to guarantee the adherence to international EPUB accessibility standards for each file.
LIA trained more than 350 publishing professionals at nationally and internationally on all the topics related to accessibility: production, image description, metadata, legal issues.
To promote accessibility and inclusion over the year LIA organized many awareness-raising initiatives and professional events as an Accessibility Camp during Readmagine in Madrid, bringing together publishing professionals and experts in digital accessibility, Readings in the Dark within the European project Aldus UP.
In 2023 the LIA catalogue of Italian Born accessible e-books passed 35.000 titles.
https://www.fondazionelia.org/
Medibus, Germany
In 2023 Medibus started the work on a project to set up a common webservice of all Medibus agencies, that are located in Germany. The goal is to provide one platform for customers, where they can search and lend digital files such as E-Books and digital Braille files. Medibus plans to go live with the platform in 2025.
Medibus is still working together with the German Associations of publishers to support publishing industry in the arena of inclusive publishing. Tutorials and FAQ have been developed and publish in the German language.
dzb lesen, as part of Medibus, started in cooperation with the ‘Friends of dzb lesen’ another project. It is called ‘Do it’ and aims to provide easy and intuitive information to learn an instrument. Several video tutorials have been designed and created for a beginner level. These will be published in 2024, with tutorials for advanced users scheduled for the following year.
Readium Foundation, International
The Readium community develops and maintains development toolkits, open interchange formats and best practices for digital publications. A non-exhaustive list of applications developed using the Readium toolkits can be found on the Awesome Readium webpage. Attention to accessibility is essential for the Readium Foundation, and the developments made by the Readium community reflect that attention.
In 2023, the most notable accessibility-related innovation is the addition of accessibility metadata inferences made available in the Readium Go Toolkit. This work has already been used to add context information to the De Marque web reader. Another use case has been the possibility to batch evaluate accessibility functionalities available in more than 2 million EPUB files available in 5 countries from the De Marque warehouses.
A new project has just started about collecting practices and defining how to efficiently display accessible content from fixed layout EPUBs, as audio or full text.
SBS Swiss Library for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Print Disabled, Switzerland
After intensive project work, SBS has managed to introduce an innovative new book format in August 2023.
Thanks to our “Text-Hörbücher” (Text-Audiobooks), SBS users are now able to listen to our professional narrators and at the same time read word-synchronised text on screen. The speed, font size and type as well as colour and contrast can be adjusted as required. Also the user can set how many lines are visible on screen and double tab on a word to listen to this word only.
Caption: tablet device with headphones showing the SBS online player
Technically, our new format is based on EPUB with media overlays. Our sophisticated process allows us to synchronise the audio books recorded with Obi very accurately with the respective words in the text. Among other tools, we use the Lipsync SDK from Annosoft for this purpose.
Our Text-Audiobooks can be enjoyed on our online player, as well as on Dolphin EasyReader (iOS, Android and Windows).
Sensotec, Belgium
Sensotec is dedicated to improving accessibility by using technology to make audiobooks available to as many reading impaired people as possible.
For 2023, Sensotec highlights are:
- Voiced Library solutions: Tests with AI and voice input to find information and select books, navigate within books and manage the bookshelf. Using Alexa, (web) app or Daisybox.
- With an increased support for more and more libraries around the world, libraries recognize the power of directly streaming the books to their users instead of sending out CD’s. By streaming books the Sensotec’s Daisybox helps reduce libraries environmental footprint and the transition to a connected library.
- The further expansion of our DODP services, called SensoReader server solutions, with two types of servers, dedicated and shared, and associated apps.
We look forward to presenting our innovations for 2024 so that more libraries, large and small, can offer their readers digital audiobooks through the most effective means.
Caption: photo of the Daisybox portable streaming device from Sensotec
Sightsavers, UK
Sightsavers is a UK-based international development organisation working with partners in 33 countries across Africa and South Asia to eliminate avoidable blindness and support the empowerment of people with disabilities to learn, earn and participate equally in society. We have a proven track-record and strong reputation for delivering effective pan-disability education and social inclusion programs at scale.
In 2023 Sightsavers:
- was the disability-lead for the UK government’s five-year flagship education programme in Sierra Leone supporting the education of up to 1.6 million children, and managed inclusive education projects in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Kenya, Pakistan, Senegal, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia.
- signed an agreement with CONFEMEN to make the PASEC assessment of mathematics and literacy accessible for learners with disabilities in 20 Francophone countries in West and Central Africa and beyond.
- supported the education of children with visual impairments across eight states in India, particularly through ensuring they were able to access ICT.
The South African Library for the Blind, South Africa
The South African Library for the Blind (SALB) plays a vital role in providing accessible reading materials to blind and visually impaired individuals in South Africa.
Audiobook Production Methods:
- Centralized Studio (Makhanda): Located at the SALB headquarters in Makhanda, these primary studios leverage a dedicated team of volunteers narrators who undergo training to ensure high-quality recordings.
- Home Volunteers: we also rely on a dedicated network of home volunteers who remotely narrate audiobooks and send the audio files to SALB headquarters for editing and processing using Obi software.
- Mini-Studios in Public Libraries: Recognizing South Africa’s diverse linguistic landscape, SALB established mini-studios within some public libraries. These studios serve as recording hubs in local communities where specific indigenous languages are spoken enabling books to be recorded and sent back to SALB for final processing and conversion.
- In total 272 titles were produces in-house, 330 were converted from external sources, and 57 indigenous language audiobooks were created.
Textalk, Sweden
At Textalk, our mission is to build stronger communities through products that enhance participation and belonging. In 2023, we achieved full coverage in the Swedish newspaper market with Prenly, our mainstream e-paper platform, significantly enhancing accessibility for readers with print disabilities. Our expansion into Denmark, Finland, and Norway established us as the premier provider of digital publications, enabling DAISY Members to have immediate access to a broad range of publications upon their release.
We proudly supported FSTF in expanding their talking newspaper service with cultural magazines by adding new export channels for some of our existing Prenly customers. This endeavor not only broadened the cultural horizons for readers but also showcased our capability to provide content in formats that cater to diverse needs.
Additionally, our Webarch product has seen significant advancements, particularly in optimizing the content conversion and validation process for books. Furthermore, a notable enhancement is the integration of text-to-speech (TTS) services directly from the Webarch interface, enabling on-demand audio with high quality voices.
Vision Ireland (previously NCBI), Ireland
Following the successful launch of Bookshare Ireland in November 2019, Bookshare Ireland continues to grow and develop its digital collection and content.
Bookshare Ireland currently holds over 1.3 million titles in PDF, EPUB, Word, DAISY, BRF and audio MP3. In the past year, we increased our school educational titles to over 1000 PDF books. We also work closely with Dolphin to promote the EasyReader App as an assistive technology tool to access Bookshare Ireland.
In 2023, we launched our audio magazine and newspaper service with Alexa. Library members can access the latest recordings of national magazines and newspapers using the Alexa Skill.
The Library Access Services is in regular talks with Irish Book publishers with regard to the European Accessibility Act ( June 2025) and its implications on ebook production and distribution. This legislative framework seeks to improve accessibility of a number of products including ebooks and our Library Access Service is advising publishers on this journey.
Next: Financial Review 2023
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