Abstract ＆ Presentation :

Print disability hampers access to information for large part of population. Inclusive publishing and inclusive library services can provide publications accessible to all. Conversion of traditionally published materials to accessible format which can be read with eyes ears and fingers need large financial and human resource. Very limited percentage of published material gets converted to accessible format. Marrakesh treaty provides international legal framework of copyright exceptions to make it easier to produce books in accessible format. It also enables international exchange of accessible format books so that we should not be wasting precious resources on production of same title in accessible format multiple times. All stake holders involved in drafting of the Marrakesh Treaty acknowledged that the first line of action to end the book famine for persons with print disabilities is through inclusive publishing and inclusive libraries. Exceptions for production and international exchange of accessible format books is seen as a fall-back mechanism to protect the right to access to information, education, livelihood and above all, right to life for persons with print disabilities.

Following can move our country towards an Inclusive Information Society:

• Ratification of Marrakesh Treaty
• Implement copyright exception for production and international exchange of accessible format books
• Compliance to standards such as EPUB Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG, Unicode, etc. for mainstream digital information infrastructure such as public documents, digital library and national digital archives, Web sites, text books, etc.
• Government procurement compliant to EN 301-459 or its national adaptations.
• Holistic solution of Kit, Content, Conduit and Confidence provided to persons with print disabilities
  • Kit: Assistive Technology devices compatible with local languages at affordable cost or with subsidy
  • Content: Accessible format content relevant to the requirements of the users
  • Conduit: Online/offline multimode system that can deliver content to the Kit
  • Confidence: Training to use Kit to read the content
• Capacity building of all stake holders involved in production, distribution and reading of accessible format digital content