Accessibility 101 for Publishers

• What can small publishers with limited resources do?
• What are best practices for individual publishing professionals such as designers, marketers, and editors?
• Developments and advice on STEM
• Legal questions: licensing agreements, exclusions provided by law
• What standards are going to be required, when, and by whom? For example, what is the new EU standard and how will it affect US publishers?

A handout of useful links will be provided. [session will be recorded]

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Bookshare is an ebook library that makes reading easier. People with reading barriers like dyslexia, blindness, and physical disabilities can read in ways that work for them with a huge collection of titles in audio, audio + highlighted text, braille, and other formats. Bookshare is FREE for all qualified US students and schools, and less than $1 per week for all other members.

Pamela Berkman is the Manager of Accessible Digital Content and Collection Development for Bookshare. She ensures smooth day-to-day operations of Bookshare’s collection of over 1 million titles in accessible formats for people with print disabilities, including working with donating publishers and supporting the Content team in ensuring high standards of accessibility. Pam has more than 30 years of experience in the publishing industry, and has served as the leader of the Content Management Department in San Francisco for John Wiley & Sons and as an Acquisitions Editor at North Atlantic Books. She is also a traditionally published children’s book author.

George Kerscher began his IT innovations in 1987 and coined the term “print disabled.” George is dedicated to developing technologies that make information not only accessible, but also fully functional in the hands of persons who are blind or who have a print disability. He believes properly designed digitally published materials and web pages can make information accessible to all people. He is an advocate for semantically rich content that can be used effectively by everybody. As Chief Innovations Officer of the DAISY Consortium, Senior Advisor, Global Literacy to Benetech, and member of Publishing Groups in the W3C, Kerscher is a recognized international leader in document access. In addition, George chairs the DAISY/NISO Standards committee, and chairs the Steering Council of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Ashley Wells Ajinkya is Benetech’s Global Certified Accessible Account Manager and has over 6 years of experience in the publishing industry. Before transitioning to publishing, Ashley obtained a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design + Art and spent 7 years as a designer. She is currently a member of Bay Area Women in Publishing and sits on the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee. Ashley is also a mental health and disability advocate, a writer, and a speaker based in Knoxville, Tennessee.